Book Description
Winner of the 1973 National Book Award, Gravity's Rainbow is a postmodern epic, a work as exhaustively significant to the second half of the twentieth century as Joyce's Ulysses was to the first. Its sprawling, encyclopedic narrative and penetrating analysis of the impact of technology on society make it an intellectual tour de force.
Customer Reviews:
The Best Novel Since "Lolita" and "Ulysses".......2007-09-07
"Some joker put hashish in the hollandaise, causing a run on the brocolli." Just another event in the life of Lt. Tyron Slothrop, who was attending the wild party in question in the Herman Goering casino as part of his search for the Schwatzgerat--the V2 rocket (serial no. 00000) which carries the mysterious Imipolex G device--all over wartime Europe, while the British secret service, and assorted others, search for *him*.
Why? You'll have to read the book. Along the way, he meets--among many others--a British captain with black-market connections that allow him to have fresh bananas in London's wartime winter in return for homegrown "magic mushroom" drugs; an African tribe whose members serve in the SS as V2 crews; an insane American Major whose solidiers sing diry limmericks about the V2's various components; an Italian nobleman--and a British Brigadier--with odd sexual practices (even by Pynchon's standards); and that's just the start of it.
The adventures of Lt. Slothrop in this mad looking-glass world are funny, amusing, bizzare, and complex. What's more--and this is what makes the novel a masterpiece--Pynchon integrates so many actual facts into his fictional world that it makes it and its inhabitants have much more versimilitude than the people described in most *non*-fiction works about WWII. Slothrop is more "real" than the Hitler we read about in most biographies of the man; his friends and enemies more real than, say, the defendants in Nuremberg are in most books about the trial.
If Pynchon speaks, say, of a car used by a lieutenant in a specific sub-department of the German Army in 1944, you can be damn sure that particular car model was in fact used by just such lieutenants at the time in reality; that pynchon took into account the wartime shortages that made the car's quality to deteriorate from 1944 to 1941; and that the lieutenant's resentment of this would be relevant to the plot.
To be sure, the lieutenant might then want to kill Slothrop in order to fulfill an anient prophecy based on Mayan star charts (which you can bet are also accurately portrayed); or to have a homosexual affair with him; or to do any number of bizzare or absurd things that one would expect in the looking-glass world where the novel is set. But that is just what makes this novel so great: Pycnhon doesn't research to teach us facts about WWII--even if a lot of the facts he puts in the novel are probably unknown even to WWII history buffs (like myself). He *uses* his research to create his funny, bizzare, and incredibly engaging world.
Read it--perferably, with a glass of wine (or something stronger) at your side. You will laugh, chortle, be shocked, and be amazed. Rarely had a better novel been written.
The Rocket Arcs, the Fight Rages On, the Challenges Remain.......2007-08-06
Ever since I discovered Thomas Pynchon, in college in 1982, I have fought the battle between the two camps on this book ("greatest ever written" vs. "fraud") on the side of Pynchon, where I still stand today. Many of my friends, having heard me talk about this novel, have attempted it and given up. Not necessarily because of its difficulty, but more because of what they want in a book, or don't want, or because they were not interested in what Gravity's Rainbow does, offers, and succeeds at. I don't disparage anyone who does not like Pynchon, but you must conceed the notion that just because you don't like something doesn't mean it is bad. I can't stand rap music, but I would never tell anyone it has no validity for them, and I freely admit that I don't know what makes rap good. Therefore, we all need to be careful in judging Pynchon, and especially Gravity's Rainbow as bad when we just don't like it. For those it speaks to, it has no peer.
As a fiction writer myself, this book first served as an inspiration to me. Few writers since Shakespeare have Pynchon's vocabulary and word craftsmanship. He can write a sentence that you can read over and over and marvel at in its genius. Put a lot of those sentences together and you get a tome of genius. The most important moment for me when reading this novel for the first time was when I was reading along, and I stopped and actually said to myself "wow, I didn't know a novel could do that." This declaration was repeated many times before I reached the end, and it is that amazing realization that makes this novel so great, and so important to human letters. Even the naysayers, those who attempt to find flaw with this novel, those who hate it and find it unreadable, would be unable to point to another novel like it. No other novel takes you where Gravity's Rainbow does, no other novel challenges you in the way this one does. For me, a challenge is what makes a novel special. I don't mean a challenge to understand it, but a challenge to imagine the world it describes. A challenge to look into yourself and find the things that this novel thrives on, and the challenge of letting your mind float across language that the brilliance of which could not have been imagined before you read it. Gravity's Rainbow takes you to places and inspires thoughts that no other novels do.
Now, that being said, let's have a caveat. Gravity's Rainbow was written by a man with a wide range of knowledge, a large vocabulary, and a prodigious thought process. You'll need a dictionary close at hand and you should use it without shame. You might want to read one of Pynchon's shorter books to work your way up to this one, just to get the feel of how he operates. Lots of players spend time in the minors before they are ready for the major leagues. When I first read this novel I had read V and The Crying of Lot 49 before attempting it. I also had a literature class in which we discussed Pynchon and his themes (paranoia, conspiracy, what lies beneath the surface) Most of all, don't take anyone's word for anything about this book. Just read it and let the words do their work. Make of it whatever you want, and if you don't like what's happening to you as you read it, just stop. You're no less a person, no less a reader, no less an intellectual, it just wasn't for you, and this novel is not for everyone. That's one comforting thing about it, it makes no bones about the fact that it just isn't for everyone. Few things of quality are. For me this has always been the greatest novel I've ever read, but that may not be true for everyone. To those who tread the Pynchonian path and, like me, find a home there, I welcome you.
A very good 3 1/2 star book.......2007-06-29
Yes, there's a lot of gravity here - dense, intense, tyrannical and demanding gravity. It does demand. There's nothing wrong with a little work though. Some of the reviewers here had to attempt this thing a few times before actually making it - myself included.
It's a mountain and I the reader felt like a mountain climber, if you will, and when I got close to the top, even though I knew the view would not get any better I said to myself: I'll take the extra steps and finish this thing. Then I can say: I finished this thing. Was it worth it? For all the five star reasons, sure why not. There's gold in them hills.
But, too often I felt frustration knowing I have enjoyed journeys far more user-friendly that had just as good a pay off.
Sex and explosions, what more can you want?.......2007-06-11
What sets Gravity's Rainbow above other books, at least in my humble (but correct) opinion is that it changes your perception of how to tell a story. In this book we don't have a simple and straightforward storyline. We don't have just prose to tell it (there are many digressions in the form of songs and poems and details of the lives of inanimate objects). In the end, there is a story behind the madness, even if it's sometimes hard to see.
Also, a little tip. Tips don't work for everybody, but I think this is a good one. Re-read it. I don't think any human can read it once and get everything they can from it. Don't limit yourself to one reading and say "This is great!" or even the opposite. Do it again.
You can't polish a turd!.......2007-06-09
The one and only reason I bought this book was that Neil Gaiman mentioned it in the book American Gods. I was thinking wow, if Gaiman thought enough of this book to mention it, then it must be worth reading. Well, it wasn't!
You ever get the feeling that someone is just writing to read how eloquent he can be? This is that book. This is the emperor's new clothes. I am the kid that says, "Hey, what is that fat stinky man doing running around naked?" Why are all the other people saying he looks so great? Freakin Sheep!
I would have given it zero stars if that had been an option.
Book Description
The first complete translation of the classic Buddhist text
One of the greatest works created by any culture and overwhelmingly the most significant of all Tibetan Buddhist texts in the West, The Tibetan Book of the Dead has had a number of distinguished but partial translations. Now the entire text has not only been made available in English but also in a translation of remarkable clarity and beauty. Translated with the close support of leading contemporary masters, this complete edition faithfully presents the insights and intentions of the original work. It includes one of the most detailed and compelling descriptions of the after-death state in world literature, practices that can transform our experience of daily life, guidance on helping those who are dying, and an inspirational perspective on coping with bereavement.
Customer Reviews:
A Perfectionists' Translation of Not Really Accessible Death-Transition Rites.......2007-09-07
To begin with: Whatever you do, do not touch the upper and lower ends of the spine of the 2007 Deluxe Edition, or it will look like a shabby edition ugly quickly. The cogwheelish cutting of the page edges are nice and unusual to look at, but it is a nightmare to quickly leaf through the book that way in order to find a specific page. Which you are supposed to do, as the book is very footnote ridden (32 pages of small print). That in itself wouldn't be the problem. But from there, you may get directed further into the glossary of key terms (85 pages). One glossary entry may include, say, 16 more terms to be looked up in the same glossary... and so on so forth. From there, you might get directed to Appendix One or Two (together 22 pages). You get the drift: Major obstacle reading. My advice: Read the glossary before you read anything else, attempt to remember it all and check the footnotes only while reading the book. And remember: While you are paging forward and backward - don't touch the edges of the spine or the fancy color will come off!
So much for what is more easily rated. Originally published in 2005, the many centuries old "The Great Liberation by Hearing in the Intermediate States" - as the literal translation of the Tibetan title really reads - had been translated into English in part and faulty at that in 1927. The Dalai Lama and other dignitaries thought it would be about time to introduce a complete and better translation. That work is comprised of 14 chapters (379 pages), including even three chapters which aren't really part of the book but fit in neatly for further overstanding. The XIVth Dalai Lama provided part of the introduction (14 pages). Altogether, there are 51 introductory pages. Together with the bibliography, index and 16 full color picture pages (which are actually two related subjects only, but each enlarged in sections on the respective following pages), this book is 607 pages heavy.
The theme of the book is the myths and rites approaching, during and after the transition from one body to the next as in the context of reincarnation. The book is best for those who would like to really delve into Buddhism, as the translation is done for perfectionists, students of religion and of course Buddhists in the English speaking world. The more generally interested may be put off by the concentration on utterly unexplained rites. As in: How do they know all those things from the intermediate states? By remembering? By a prophesy? By divine telling? The rites (of reading texts) are extremely repetitive. Which has the function of conditioning in a positive sense: The neophyte is supposed to automatically recall certain passages as only then the right behavior has a chance in the dream-like states of "death". Even more difficult to read are the many Tibetan words still included. There is no chance of even guessing how to pronounce them correctly. Many are unavoidable names, but many are also regular words. Even if difficult to translate, neologisms overstandable in English would have been my choice, such as this one Iyaric term in this sentence. And let's put it this way: Tibetan words do not easily roll off the tongue such as "Mandala". There are others such as "Sarvadurgatiparisodhanatantra", not even including the many potential accents unproducable on my current keyboard. In other words, this book may be appreciated most by those who already have some prior knowledge.
The rites are a lot about veneration of and prostrating to a caleidoscope of deities. Who are one, but splintered at the same time. I was hoping to find a bit more mysticism in this book. Well, at least the chapter on the confession of sins in the beliefs of dualisms are rewarding. If you are a mystic (no matter of what branch of religion), that is. There were more traces of mysticism in the introduction than the book itself, though.
Many words of advice from Buddhism I can take, no matter wether everything corresponds to my door which leads to the same room or wether the same door shines in my light. I find the book Mind of Clear Light: Advice on Living Well and Dying Consciously by the XIVth Dalai Lama on the same subject much more accessible, if I am correct on the English title of a book I read in another language. If I would follow "The Tibetan Book of the Dead", I would think of myself to be occupied with "death" way too much. As a mystic I don't believe in death anyway, therefore I am less obsessed with checking myself for potential advance signs of death all the Imes as suggested here. The book works under the premise that life is a very bad thing anyway which should be avoided by all means. That is not my approach. Maybe there's suffering in the everlasting cycle of life, but that's fine with me, for there are some nice moments in between all the suffering. Besides: What if God/the universe/Jah/etc., which we are all part of in the mystic overstanding LIKES to experience life in the forms of various bodies, accepting the suffering along the way? Wouldn't it be egoistical to refuse life? What if "everybody" would refuse "rebirth"? I had a lot of questions like that popping up while reading this book. Other Imes, the book put a smile on my face. For example, when I imagined another religious leader, such as the Pope, giving the advice, in a certain context, to inhale one's semen through the nose, while the former is still warm. I am not that sure, wether I will ever follow THAT advice either. But it's refreshing that we can talk about any possible body function and unorthodox use. I forgot: In Tibet, that IS orthodox...
It would take you a lifetime to understand this book........2007-05-15
I just got this book, and it is so deep and exciting I want to just study it forever to find out all about what it has to say.
Expanded version with authoritative interpretations. Important!.......2006-02-07
The Tibetan Book of the Dead edited by Graham Coleman, Thupten Jinpa, translated by Gyurme Dorje (Viking) is by far the most popular example of indigenous Tibetan Buddhist treasure literature. An edition was issued in 1927 by Oxford University Press under the general editorship of W. Y. Evans-Wentz. The block-print copy, he used was an abridgment obtained in Nepal and translated by a Tibetan lama. Evans-Wentz was a scholarly Theosophist who imported certain Theosophical preconceptions into his commentary on the work. Carl Jung the prominent analytical psychologist even wrote a psychological commentary on the work prompted by Evans-Wentz. Since the 1970s, beginning with Francesca Fremantle and Chogyam Trungpa's edition of the text and more recently Robert Thurman's translation, corrected versions of the Tibetan Book of the Dead are well represented in English and other European languages. The mistakes and egregious errors of the pioneering edition have been corrected and Tibetan Buddhism now in America and Europe has been flourishing with many translations and commentaries on basic Buddhist practices as well as the indigenous literatures of Tibet.
This new edition by Graham Coleman and Thupten Jinpa uses a fuller edition of the work for translating, adding new chapters and reflecting the interpretation of contemporary masters and lineage holders of this tradition. In many ways this is the first complete The Tibetan Book of the Dead. In many ways this book is both a guide for living as well as a how to consciously move on after death. The book has been extremely popular in Central Asia among Buddhists. The Tibetan Book of the Dead contains especially written guidance and practices related to transforming our experience of daily life, on how to address the process of dying in the after-death states, and on how to help those who are dying. Some of these teachings include: methods for investigating and cultivating our experience of the ultimate nature of mind in our daily practice, guidance on the recognition of the science of impending death and a detailed description of the mental and physical processes of dying, rituals for the avoidance of premature death, the now famous great liberation by hearing that is read to the dying and the dead, special prayers are read at the time of death, and allegorical masque play that lightheartedly dramatizes the journey through the intermediate state, and a translation of the sacred mantras that are attached to the body after death and are said to bring liberation by wearing. The editors have also included two additional texts are not usually included in the first chapter there is a preliminary meditation and practices related to the cycle of teachings, and in chapter 10, instructions on methods of transforming consciousness at the point of death into a enlightened state and are an essential aspect of the practices related to dying.
The editors have gone out of their way to be sure to relate what the actual masters of these traditions mean by these practices. For that reason alone, makes this new edition of The Tibetan Book of the Dead authoritative in ways that previous editions have not been. Needless to say, this book should capture the imagination not only of students of Buddhism, but psychologists, philosophers, spiritual directors, and chaplains as well as anyone who wishes to entertain profound teachings about the survival of consciousness after death as well as ways to encourage the meaning of our own life in the everyday world.
Immense........2005-11-11
Having just recieved this book, I wonder if I will ever have time to read it. It is a stunning piece of work that has been hidden away for centuries. A must have for any buddhist library.
Average customer rating:
- The Greatest Adventure of all Time
- Great Eyewitness account
- Amazing first person historical account
- Every mexican and american in the west should read this.
- A great history of Mexico
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The Conquest of New Spain (Penguin Classics)
Bernal Diaz del Castillo
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
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Binding: Paperback
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The Four Voyages: Being His Own Log-Book, Letters and Dispatches with Connecting Narratives.. (Penguin Classics)
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Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest
ASIN: 0140441239 |
Customer Reviews:
The Greatest Adventure of all Time.......2007-05-26
When I first read the 1800 English translation, I could not put it down. Here are the first lines--a real grabbers! "In the year 1514, I left Castile (Spain) in company with Pedro Arias de Avila, who was then appointed governor of Tierra Firma (east Panama)...but afterwards suspicious that his son-in-law had an intention of revolting, he caused him to be beheaded."
Bernal's description of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan is amazing: "To many of us it appeared doubtful whether we were asleep of awake; nor is the manner in which I express myself to be wondered at, for it must be considered, that never yet did man see, hear or dream of anything equal to the spectacle which appeared to our eyes on this day."
And how about this magnificent line: "And now, let who can, tell me, where are men in this world to be found, except ourselves, who would have hazarded such an attempt."
And here is the horrific vision the Spaniards beheld when they climbed to the top of the great Aztec temple-pyramid. Remember that nearby, and looming up like a nightmare, was the stupendous "tzompantli," or skull rack. By careful Spanish count, it contained the grinning remains of 136,000 human beings.
"In this place they had a drum of most enormous size, the head of which was made of the skins of large serpents: this instrument when struck resounded with a noise that could be heard to the distance of two leagues, and so doleful that it deserved to be named the music of the infernal regions; and with their horrible sounding horns and trumpets, their great knives for sacrifice, their human victims, and their blood besprinkled altars, I devoted them, and all their wickedness to God's vengeance, and thought that the time would never arrive, that I should escape from this scene of human butchery, horrible smells, and more detestable sights."
The Conquest takes on a different color when seen through the eyes of the Spanish. Yes, they were greedy and cruel, but the scale of human sacrifice practiced by the Aztecs was beyond imagination. It is said that some twenty thousand people were sacrificed for the dedication of the Temple of the Sun. The Aztec priests worked for hours on end cutting out human hearts. They worked until they collapsed from exhaustion.
Bernal's history is also interesting for another entirely different reason. Joseph Smith (born 1805), the Mormon prophet, came of age during the period of English translations of Spanish histories (Bernal's in 1800 in London, and 1803 in the US, and Clevigero's "History of Mexico" in 1806 in Virginia and 1817 in Philadelphia).
Therefore, the golden splendor of the Spanish conquests of Mexico and Peru was fresh on everyone's mind, especially because the Spanish colony of Florida had become an American state (1821).
Thus, any notion that Americans were unaware of the great civilizations of ancient America is without foundation in real history. Ancient civilizations in America were so on the mind of people that in 1816, Solomon Spaulding wrote a history about a white and dark race in ancient America. His novel, "Manuscript Found," had the white race of mound builders destroyed by a darker-skin race.
Read my review of Robert Silverberg's magnificent book, "The Mound Builders of Ancient America: The Archaeology of a Myth." A must-read for anyone interested in the archaeology and myths about ancient America. Click here: Mound Builders
Great Eyewitness account.......2006-12-28
Diaz was one of the soldiers who accompanied Cortez to invade the Aztec Empire. His account is one of the best we have of the whole affair. It is not written with much bias and was written to discount historical myths after the invasion had taken place. It is very analytical at times and his analysis of what happened is given added authority since he was present at the events. If you want to understand what happened this is a great book to read.
Amazing first person historical account.......2006-02-15
First person historical accounts are generally the best way to read history and have it come alive in the mind of the reader. This book by Bernal Diaz is certainly no exception to that rule. Although Diaz wrote this much later in life, and doubtless his memory was not perfect, it is obvious that the experience of marching with Cortez in the conquest of the Aztec empire left innumerable vivid memories in his mind.
I am very sensitive to the fact that the conquest of the Aztec empire and other native empires in the Americas left a horrific legacy which is still felt dramatically throughout the hemisphere. Despite the fact that in many ways, the conquistadors should not be considered "heroes," I think we still can admire and be awed by their courage and fortitude in the face of unbelievable odds in facing the Aztecs and not only escaping with their lives, but eventually conquering the entire civilization. Diaz brings these events to life better than any history book I ever read, and I highly commend this book to anyone interested in the history of this period, of Mexico, or Latin America in general.
Every mexican and american in the west should read this........2005-09-25
most mexican-pride types haven't hit this book. if they did they would be greatly enlightened by the fact that mexico was not a united nation from campeche to oregon. the aztecs subjugated their neighbors just like the mexico city elite subjugate the common mexican to this day. this is one of the best books i've ever read and if you plan to visit mexico city it is a must-read if you want to have any basic understanding of modern mexico city and mexico in general. read it.
A great history of Mexico.......2005-07-25
This is the classic book on the history of the conquest of Mexico. Bernal Diaz fought on the front lines of Cortez's war, and he reports everything well in this book.
While Diaz may have been a great soldier, he was an awful writer. He wrote this book as he was aging well after he returned home to Spain. In his original edition, there were hundreds of pages of rambling personal attacks against various people in his life. As a result, Penguin has heavily edited this edition -- it's only about half the size of the original. However, the book is greatly improved this way, and Penguin's version is very easy to read and never gets boring.
Of course, Diaz doesn't have many negitive things to say about the Conquest, and he was a true believer in the religious mission of the conquistadors. Diaz essentially makes genocide seem not so bad. Read Bartolome de las Casas' books to balance out some of the propaganda contained in this book.
Book Description
Written four hundred years before the birth of Christ, this detailed contemporary account of the struggle between Athens and Sparta stands an excellent chance of fulfilling the author's ambitious claim that the work "was done to last forever." The conflicts between the two empires over shipping, trade, and colonial expansion came to a head in 431 b.c. in Northern Greece, and the entire Greek world was plunged into 27 years of war. Thucydides applied a passion for accuracy and a contempt for myth and romance in compiling this exhaustively factual record of the disastrous conflict that eventually ended the Athenian empire.
Customer Reviews:
Translations of Thucydides.......2007-05-20
There are three main translations of Thucydides available for the English reader:
Thomas Hobbes' 1628 version. Although made over 300 years ago this translation is still considered a classic by many in the English-speaking world. His vigorous and lively Jacobean English prose will enchant those more literary minded souls, but Hobbes version has been noted for some inaccuracies due to the lack of proper understanding of the original Greek language text.
William Smith's 1754 translation. Most know of Crawley and Hobbes works but Smith's excellent 18th century version has been almost forgotten. Smith's prose is as majestic and virile as Hobbes while avoiding the sometimes vapid modernity of Crawley and Warner. While a bit hard to read for most modern readers Smith's prose is worth the effort if you stick with him. Some things were not meant to be "dumbed down".
Rex Warner's Penguin edition. This is the version offered here. Warner is excellent for those who want to avoid the archaic and more challenging prose of Hobbes, Smith, or Crawley. He is very clear and lucid in his rendition of the text. For those of you who are first embarking on your exploration of Thucydides I would recommend this edition.
A Masterpiece.......2007-05-08
A true masterpiece of historical literature. As modern today as it was when written. Any understanding of human and national behavior is incomplete without a thorough understanding of Thucydides' magnificient work. One of those works you could read every year of your life and never quite come to terms with the totality of the lessons it contains.
Great Book.......2007-03-20
I am a total history buff and this book has really expanded my knowledge. Great to use in class to gain that upper hand in the philosophical arguments. I highly suggest you pick it up.
Good version of Thucydides.......2007-03-05
This is one of the early classic "histories" written. Of course, Herodotus had written his "History" before. But his acceptance of the role of gods in history renders Thucydides' hard-headed accounts of the Greek internecine warfare a further advance in historiography. Thus, we begin to experience something like a real history in this volume (and that does not denigrate the real contributions of Herodotus).
This is a nice volume. The Introduction by M. I. Finley sets the stage; the translation by Rex Warner is (as far as I can tell) serviceable. The work of Thucydides comes through in this collaboration.
Thucydides' focus is on the origins of this bloody inter-Greek war. The forces of Athens (and her allies) against Sparta (and her allies) is the center of this work. He notes the cause (page 49): "What made war inevitable was the growth of Athenian power and the fear which this caused in Sparta." This is, as noted earlier, a fairly hard-headed view of history. To use contemporary terms, the author was something like a "realist."
Some major parts of the work. . . . One of these is the funeral oration by Pericles, the Athenian leader. He spoke of what made Athens special. His death, according to Thucydides, was harmful to the Athenian cause. He says (page 163): "For Pericles had said that Athens would be victorious if she bided her time and took care of the navy, if she avoided trying to add to the empire during the course of the war, and if she did nothing to risk the safety of the city itself. But his successors did the exact opposite. . . ."
This work has much of interest in it. Just one example. The Melian dialogue featured a debate between the Melians and Athenians. The Melians argued that morality was on their side. The Athenians acknowledged the argument, but also noted that they had the numbers and the weapons. This is an early debate between two schools of thought in international relations--idealists versus realists. The hard-nosed attitude of the Athenians won out in this case. . . .
In some ways, Thucydides is best understood by reading Herodotus and then comparing the two, so that one can get a sense of one of the first historians and then someone who adopts a different posture as historian. This is a very good version of Thucydides (from someone who cannot read Greek, by the way). Well worth looking at if a person is interested in the devastating Peloponnesian War.
Some strategy and a lot of history.......2007-01-03
First of all, I find it close to impossible to rate such a book as this, as it is truly great as an insight into events that happened thousands of years ago, while the writing and accessibility of the work clearly could have been better. Nevertheless, in my opinion this is a 5-star book, as the detail and insight into a war that took place ~400bc is such a great read.
Thucydides shows a himself as a great analyst of the conficts he relates, and instead of just relating the facts, he guides us through the actors motivations and the reasons for what takes place. THAT is the value of this book as far as I'm concerned, the strategic approach to conflict, and the massive amount of strategy in regards to alliances and battles that we get to share through this book.
Being a student of political philosophy I read this book because of my fascination with Thomas Hobbes (Allthough not the Hobbes-translation). It will be hard for anyone to understand Hobbes through this though, and I must question the usefulness for most of such a linkage on the whole. There is also a lot of history in this book that will interest a lot of you (Those that are like me), rather little, but one gets through it, and when one is done with the book I truly feel I have gotten a great lecture in strategy and conflict!
Book Description
Hannah Arendt's authoritative report on the trial of Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann includes further factual material that came to light after the trial, as well as Arendt's postscript directly addressing the controversy that arose over her account.
Customer Reviews:
A Classic that Elaborates on the Genocide of Jews and Others.......2007-09-20
I am delighted to see this classic back in print. Jewish author Hannah Arendt has provided a wealth of timeless information that goes far beyond the trial of the German war criminal Adolf Eichmann. This review is based on the original (1964) edition.
Arendt (p. 39) gives the readers a taste of the scale of the Kristallnacht (November 1938): 7,500 Jewish shop windows broken, all synagogues burned, and 20,000 Jewish men incarcerated in concentration camps. In common with many others who wrote during the first two decades after WWII, Arendt (p. 5, 11-12) addresses the issue of Jewish passivity in the face of death during the later roundups and transports to the death camps.
Arendt briefly discusses the fate of Jews of some individual European nations. She mentions the conniving of the Bulgarians (with, of course, the implied freedom to do so) performed in order to avoid sending their Jews to the death camps, and the fact that Finland, Germany's ally, was never seriously pressured to turn over her 2,000 Jews to be murdered (p. 170). Clearly, the latter part of the oft-repeated statement, "Not all of the victims of the Nazis were Jews, but all Jews were victims of the Nazis" is incorrect.
Throughout this work, Arendt gives various biographical details of Adolf Eichmann. For example, she mentions that he was a Gottglaubiger (p. 27), a Nazi term for those who had broken with Christianity, and which Eichmann maintained right up to the very moment of his hanging, having refused the solace and Bible reading of a Protestant minister (p. 252).
Arendt briefly discusses Hitler's flouting of the Versailles treaty and his rise to power. While Jan T. Gross has asserted that there were Poles who praised Hitler in the 1930's, Arendt makes it clear that this was far from limited to Poland during that time: "...Hitler was admired everywhere as a great national statesman." (p. 37).
While most recent Holocaust materials focus on the real or imagined collaboration of locals in the sending of Jews to their deaths, Arendt is unsparing in her criticism of Jewish collaborators in this regard: "Without Jewish help in administrative and police work--the final roundup of Jews in Berlin was, as I have mentioned, done entirely by Jewish police--there would have been either complete chaos or an impossibly severe drain on German manpower. (p. 117). She adds that, because of this collaboration, only a few thousand Germans, most of whom furthermore only did office work, were able to send hundreds of thousands of Jews to their deaths (p. 117). Finally, Arendt concludes that: "Wherever Jews lived, there were recognized Jewish leaders, and this leadership, almost without exception, cooperated in one way or another, for one reason or another, with the Nazis. The whole truth was that if the Jewish people had been unorganized and leaderless, there would have been chaos and plenty of misery but the total number of victims would hardly have been between four and a half and six million. (According to Freudiger's calculations about half of them could have saved themselves if they had not followed the instructions of the Jewish councils..." (p. 125).
Arendt (p. 42, 118, etc.) elaborates on the actions of a Jew, Rudolf Kastner (Kasztner). He made a deal with Eichmann in which 1,684 Jews were allowed to go to Palestine in exchange for Kastner's silence before and during which 476,000 Hungarian Jews were sent to the gas chambers of Auschwitz.
Jan Tomasz Gross, who has gotten a great deal of publicity for his books (NEIGHBORS and FEAR), has stated that the 2-3 million Poles who died in the hands of the Germans were largely the collateral victims of military action. Arendt knows better: "...Eichmann knew that right behind the front lines all Russian functionaries ("Communists"), all Polish members of the professional classes, and all native Jews were being killed in mass shootings." (p. 95). "At no point, however, either in the proceedings or the judgment, did the Jerusalem trial mention even the possibility that extermination of whole ethnic groups--the Jews, or the Poles, or the Gypsies--might be more than a crime against the Jewish or the Polish or the Gypsy people, that the international order, and mankind in its entirety, might have been grievously hurt and endangered." (pp. 275-276). Arendt realizes the alternative future: "The measures against Eastern Jews were not only the result of anti-Semitism, they were part and parcel of an all-embracing demographic policy, in the course of which, had the Germans won the war, the Poles would have suffered the same fate as the Jews--genocide. This is no mere conjecture: the Poles in Germany were already being forced to wear a distinguishing badge in which the "P" replaced the Jewish star, and this, which we have seen, was always the first measure to be taken by the police in instituting the process of destruction)." (pp. 217-218).
Arendt praises the Danes for saving Jews during WWII and then, without mentioning the incomparably more difficult conditions under which Polish rescuers of Jews labored, nevertheless gives the Poles their due. After listing some individual examples of Polish assistance to Jews, Arendt adds the following: "One witness claimed that the Polish underground had supplied many Jews with weapons and had saved thousands of Jewish children by placing them with Polish families. The risks were prohibitive; there was the story of an entire Polish family who had been executed in the most brutal manner because they had adopted a six-year-old Jewish girl." (p. 231).
Beneath the thin layer of civilization.......2007-07-19
In covering, from a moral and ethical rather than legal standpoint, the trial of former Nazi Adolf Eichmann, Arendt must have known she was jumping head first into certain controversy. While I disagree with her insistence on international law, as opposed to an Israeli-ran trial (unlike Arendt, I have the hindsight of the Milosevic trial, not to mention pretty much every other pathetic joke of international law flouted by the U.N. but to which no nation honestly adheres outside Belgium), I must say that she made a rather convincing case regarding the "banality of evil".
Her point seemed to be, to the outrage of her critics, that seemingly normal men are capable of doing terrible deeds. It doesn't take a monster to act monstrous. Her critics accused her of attempting to humanize a Nazi war criminal, but I think what most people were secretly offended at was her assertion of the duality of human nature. We like to think of history and sociology in terms of black and white, good and evil. There are good guys, and there are bad guys, and there is no blur between them...
What Arendt is saying is that, save the occasional saint, we are all capable of committing the crimes that Eichmann did. It may take years of systematic propaganda, carrots and sticks, career enhancements, and whatnot, but in the end, the leap Eichmann took from ethical civilization into barbaric genocide wasn't a far leap at all. Weimar Germany wasn't a Third World country. For an industrialized, cultured, and Western nation to descend so rapidly into the dark age of Nazism is not a sign of any inherent flaw in German civilization, but rather of how thin the line between humanity and barbarism truly is.
Whether you agree with Arendt or not, the book will make you think. There's nothing wrong with hearing a fresh and opposing viewpoint, even for debate's sake.
Customer Reviews:
One of the best travel books written by one of the best scientists.......2007-10-04
Forget the image of Darwin as an old white-beard scholar. In The Voyage of The Beagle, written in 1839, we have the discoverer of the theory of evolution as an energetic young man in his early twenties travelling aroung the world in a three-mast ship. After a brief stop in Cape Verde, he travels to then slaveholding Brazil (where he visits for the first time a tropical jungle), to the Plata region (he visits both Buenos Aires and Montevideo and travels on horseback on the surroundings), to the Patagonia (where he meets strongman Juan Manuel de Rosas as he launches a campaign against the pampa Indians), the Falkland Islands, Southern Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego (where they bring back three Fuegians previously kidnapped by an earlier expedition), Chile from south to north, the Galapagos Islands (whose findings would be crucial for the theory of evolution), Polynesia, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa. As he travels, he writes about both the natural history of the places as well as the people he meets. He does a lot of fearless things, travelling on horseback around the Pampas then under the dominion of hostile indians, crossing the Andes from Chile to Argentina through some of the world's highest mountains outside the Himalayas, witnessing the life of the now extinguished Fuegians (considered to be among the most primitive societies in the world), crossing the dense, cold forests of the island of Chiloe, witnessing the aboriginal australians as they cope with the massive arrival of white people to their land, seeing the gravestone of Napoleon Bonaparte in the island of Saint Helena. Darwin was no racist and he forcefully denounces the slavery he witnesses in Brazil (in this respect, he was much more thoughtful and liberal than some of his later disciples). In short, one of the greatest travel/adventure books by one of the greatest scientists of all time.
Must-Read Combo of Science, Adventure, and Literary Flair.......2007-06-07
Darwin's autobiography gives us some idea of his zeal for the study of the natural world (remember the bug-in-mouth incident?) and The Origin of Species provides us with more than enough evidence of Darwin's incredible capacity for logically combining empircal evidence in support of his theory, but is his autobiographical Voyage of the Beagle that gives us the best look at Darwin's habits as a naturalist and that provides us with a deeper understanding of his unmatched skills of observation and analysis.
While the voyage is most famous for being the time when Darwin visited the Galapagos, it is striking that he actually spends very little time discussing this segment of his journey. Much of his time is instead spent on the portion of his trip that was spent in Argentina, and it is his observations of the wildlife, the landscape, and the locals here that make for the most enjoyable reading.
The Voyage works because of its successful combination of science, adventure, and literary flair (he often gets rather poetic) that Darwin was superbly capable of. While certainly long (and possibly even too long for some readers), The Voyage is a must-read for any self-respecting Darwinophile.
Another Handy Penguin Edition of Darwin.......2007-05-17
Much as is the case with the Penguin edition of Darwin's "On the Origin of Species," this relatively inexpensive edition is packed with helpful features that add to the reader's understanding of what Darwin was about on his prolonged scientific voyage. First among these features is an excellent introduction by Janet Browne and Michael Neve, both of that wonderful Wellcome Institute in London. Dr. Browne is the author of what many consider to be the finest biography of Darwin ever written; Dr. Neve also has contributed to the Darwin literature. Although 26 pages in length, a bit shorter than that in the "Origin" edition by J.W. Burrow, this introduction nicely puts the "Journal of Researches" into context, while pointing out several areas that are of special interest to the reader. While the text is abridged about 1/3 in length, a Note carefully explains how and why the deletions were made. For example, nothing relating to the Galapagos has been cut. The editors have added a brief guide to the individuals and books mentioned in the text which is quite helpful. Also added as appendices are the Admiralty Instructions for the Beagle voyage and an essay by Captain Robert FitzRoy on "Remarks with reference to the Deluge," reflecting his reversion to traditional Christian thinking during the voyage. Several very helpful maps and a chronology are also included, which come in quite handy. Obviously, it is of immeasurable value to read the "Journal of Researches" in conjunction wit the "Origin." One comes away truly amazed at the dedication and professionalism of Darwin (who was only 22 when he commenced his five year excursion) as he collects his speciments and charts various geological dimensions. So, this book is to my way of thinking indispensable for getting a grasp on Darwin, and this skillfully edited edition makes the experience a most pleasing one.
For the Serious Darwin Fan Only.......2007-05-14
Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle is an interesting, but often tedious detail of his journey around the world. With this in mind, I would have to recommend this book to the Darwin enthusiast and to those who are just looking for a deeper grasp of Darwin, the man. It's not for anyone looking for a quick, easy, or particularly exciting or sensationalist read. If that's what you're looking for, I recommend Cyril Aydon's biography.
With this disclaimer, the book really does offer insight into Darwin and why this journey would be such a critical point in his life. Darwin is incredibly observant, and details flora and fauna throughout with sometimes discouraging detail. But this fact just gives us a clue as to what made this man different from all the other preeminent scientists of the day. Why did Darwin fully get evolution while the others didn't? Certainly this incredible power to really see things provided him with evidence that others might have missed.
My favorite parts would have to be Darwin's description of his time in the inside of South America and his interactions with the people living there. His reactions were varied. He often voices disgust at the barbarism of the settlers towards the Indians in the wars that occur there, while simultaneously describing the Indians as savages with terrible habits. Overall, however, he seems impressed with South America from the classical liberal point of view, saying "It is impossible to doubt that the extreme liberalism of these countries, must ultimately lead to good results." It would be interesting to see what Darwin would think of South America today. Throughout the book he adamately denounces the slavery sees with a keen insight, saying of an escaped slave woman who killed herself rather than be reenslaved, "In a Roman matron this would have been called the noble love of freedom: in a poor negress it is mere brutal obstinancy." Darwin was ahead of his time in this respect.
The part of the book covering his time in the Galapagos is surprisingly short, at least in respect to the emphasis Darwin later put on his time in the islands. It's also interesting to consider Darwin's reaction to them (he thought they were ugly and barren) when considering the impact the diversity of species on the islands played in his evidence for evolution.
All in all, the book has really good, insightful things to pick up, but other parts, such as Darwin's lengthy description of the masses of tiny floating sea creatures, I could have done without. Pick it up if you are really looking to put together a really complete picture of Darwin's life, with tedious details included.
Did I Just Return from South America? No Wait, I Read Darwin.......2007-05-10
The striking characteristic of Darwin's "Voyage of the Beagle" is its completeness. Not only is Darwin infinitely observant and insightful in all of his descriptions, he takes interest in everything! He continues for pages about worms (Planaria) and fireflies (Lampyris occidentalis) in Rio de Janeiro, gauchos and the pampas in Argentina, and of course the famous giant tortoises (Testudo Indicus) in the Galapagos-- just for a few examples. The scope of his observations is stunning; he is equally comfortable discussing algae or societal conventions, such as slavery. However, the depth is equally impressive; the amount of information provided on, for instance, ostrich breeding patterns, makes one wonder how Darwin possibly absorbed so much information on such a relatively short trip-- five years is not so long when you're trying to catalog every single animal, plant, and person around you! The extraordinary detail combined with the range of subject matter creates such a vivid image that the journal reads more like an travel book than anything else; I definitely recommend it for an engaging and both naturally and historically informative read.
Amazon.com
Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres... It is, perhaps, the most famous opening line of any memoir in Western civilization. What Caesar and the Romans called "Gaul," although we usually think of it as France, also comprised Belgium, the German lands west of the Rhine, southern Holland, and much of Switzerland. This is the only military campaign of the ancient world for which we have a chronicle written by the general who conducted it, and Julius Caesar is an insightful historian, with a keen eye for detail, as in this scene from the repulsion of the forces of the German king Ariovistus:
Caesar placed each of his five generals ahead of a legion and detailed his quaestor to command the remaining legion, so that every soldier might know that there was a high officer in a position to observe the courage with which he conducted himself, and then led the right wing first into action, because he had noticed that the enemy's line was weakest on that side.
Customer Reviews:
2000 Plus years old and still going strong.......2007-01-10
If the pre-christian world is where your interests are this book belongs in your collection. The good old days when power and might formed and held together the greatest empire to ever rule the known world.
Caesar third person account of his conquest of the Gallia.......2006-12-22
De Bello Gallico - Julius Caesar third person account of his conquest of Gaul (modern day France, and large parts of Switzerland and Belgium, approximately) is well known for its opening line: Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres... This military chronicle brings us back to a time when rules of engagement were very different to our own: today, Caesar would be facing charges of genocide at the International Criminal Court for wiping out the Helvetii, for example. The book is fascinating at times but is also repetitive - so many tribes gets you confused. But it allows us to see a very different morality to our own - Caesar naturally thought nothing of killing, ethnically cleansing or enslaving his enemies, as well as a picture of the lives of the european tribes that lived outside the Roman empire. A must for Asterix fans.
Insights into a Brilliant Mind.......2006-12-01
I found this book very hard to put down once I finished the introduction. Caesar's writing style is crisp (and unique - he writes in the third person) and blatantly political. The best parts of the book are his descriptions of the customs and habits of the various peoples, and the self laudatory comments that pepper the narrative. An opportunity to see into the mind of one of history's most fantastic figures.
For Miss Rogers who loved her Latin so much A note on the style of the work .......2005-11-08
Miss Rogers was a Latin teacher in Troy, New York for many years. She loved Latin and had a pleasant and loving attitude to her students. It was from her that I first heard, "Omnia Gallia in tres partes divisa est" She made us memorize certain passages in her beloved language.
So my first view of this ' classic' is not as a 'book to be read' but as a text to be studied in order to learn Latin grammar.
And what I felt in learning this is how logical, clear and straightforward it all seems to be. The style of the work as I understand it is a reflection of that strong, determined, clear, goal- oriented, straightforward moving Roman spirit that conquered a great part of the world.
As for the text itself, the character of Caesar, the military operations. Others more qualified than myself have already commented on this on the 'Amazon site'. I would just say that for some reason I had at that time years ago great sympathy for Vercingetorix, the defeated leader of the Gauls. I could not understand why he had to be defeated since he was in his own land fighting to defend his own people. I thought simple Justice would have him prevail. And as a young person I was dismayed at his despite his great courage being defeated.
As for the Romans even Caesar they inspire respect more than love, and admiration for their courage is balanced by a disdain for their appetite for conquest and domination.
The Greatest General - in his own words.......2005-10-28
This used to be the manual for every young noble going to war as an officer. Today it is a historical document showing the roman republic in war, and in particular a portrait of how the great Ceasar would like his friends, enemies and history to see him. This book has shaped the thinking of allmost every military commander for 2000 years, and it would be a shame not to read the words penned by the dictator himself.
Customer Reviews:
Fact, Fiction, and Political Insight.......2007-10-12
Herodotus (c. 485 BC-427 BC)was one of the first if not the first Western historian. His book titled THE HISTORIES is a collage of historical accounts, social and political commentary, plus geography. Herodotus'work contains exaggerations and misconceptions, but he also reveals that many of the Greek rulers were as tyrannical as their "Asian" counterparts.
One useful characteristic of this book is that Herodotus gave his readers a detailed geography of Egypt and parts of Western Asia. Some of these descriptions are in error, but some of his descriptions are good. What may surprise readers is Herodotus' attempt to combine geography with history. Given the fact that too many people in contemporary America cannot locate the oceans on a globe or world map, Herotodus' goegraphical accounts were surprisingly accurate given his limited resources. Readers should know that geography has influenced historical events.
Probably the best known sections of the book are Herodotus' treatment of the Persian Wars. Some of his commentary on the Persian Wars is obviously exaggerations. For example, Herodotus states that the Persians invaded Greece with an army of five million men which was well beyond the resources of the Ancients and even many countries today. Yet, his accounts of the Battle of Marathon (490 B.C.)are detailed. Herodotus informed readers of Miltiades (c. 520 BC-c. 480 BC)military ability in defeating a Persian army twice the size of the Athenian army.
Herodotus gave readers careful accounts of political maneuvering of the Athenian admiral Themistocles (c. 527 BC-c. 460 BC ) successfully commanded Athenian naval forces vs. the Persians at the Battle of Salmais in 480 BC. Yet, Themistocles ended his days in the court of Xerces who was the Persian emperor. Herodotus showed insight into the nature of politics and undermined the notiond of political virtue by detailing the political designs of the Greeks.
As stated above Herodotus exaggerated the size of the Persian forces during the second Persian War which began in 480 BC. On the other hand, Herodotus showed himself as a careful writer regarding the Battle of Thermopylae. Herodotus' surprisingly detailed account of this battle exaggerates the Spartans at the expense of the Persians. He could have mentioned that Persian military tactis were disigned for flat desert and steppe terrain. But Herodotus gave vivid detail of the three day battle. Readers should note that some popular descriptions of this battle are simply wrong. The Spartan commanded, Leonides, had more than his 300 elite troops. He also had Spartan allied forces of approxmiately 7,000 men. Herodotus' account of this battle is probably the best we have.
As mentioned above, Herodotus knew how treacherous and dangerous political power was and is. A good example of this understanding is Herodotus' account of the Corinthian tyrant named Periander. According to Herodotus Periander sent a herald to visit the tyrant of Miletus named Thrasybulus. Supposedly Thrasyulus to this herald to a corn field and destroyed the best crops without saying much. The herald reported to Periander these obversations and complained that Thrasybulus was apparently mad in the wanton destruction of the best of the crops. Yet,Periander understood well how he as a tyrant should rule. The message was that Periander should destroy the best and most talented of his citizens to remain in firm control of Corinth.
Other reviwers have chided Herodotus for digressions from his themes. This is an accurate obversation. Herodotus stated he would return to a certain topic after such digression and apparently forgot. Herodotus's THE HISTORIES is an oleo of social/political commentary, geography, history, and at times gossip. Yet this book has interesting anecdotes and some good detailed descriptions. Herodotus' THE HISTORIES is an early history and written record that informed readers of imoportant events in Ancient Greek history. Readers should not be too critical of Herodotus given his limited resources. Readers should also note that Herodotus' THE HISTORIES is one of the very few written resources we of have of an important era in Ancient Greek history.
. . . excellent for Graduate students and pundits as well........2002-12-25
The Histories, as pointed out by a previous reviewer, are a vital text that every person who has succeeded in graduating high school should be exposed to. It should be included in all World Literature approaches, which is why, if you are reading this review for a reference or encouragement to read the Histories, take it just as that.
I would simply like to stipulate that, while many view the book (as mentioned in previous reviews) as "fun" and for "the laymen," it is also a gateway to the classical works, of many that only lofty intellectuals clame credible interpretations; the rest of us laymens [sic] are in a state of perpetual comitatus. Herodutus is vital, credible (well, the read is credible), viable, and a neccesity to anyone who has an inkling of interest in the classics. If you fit in this category, READ THE BOOK!!
Awesome book by our Father of History.......2002-10-14
This book rocks the bookshelf! Not only do you get history, you get zoology, anthropology, myth, and geography. There are many funny things too. You will read about the gold digging ants and the ox that cooks itself. The history concerning the great Persian Wars are spiced up with the dramatics and an exaggeration of numbers. Herodotus believes that Xerses invading army was 3,000,000 strong not including the fleet. The army was so big that it took one week to cross the bridge over the Hellespont and they drank whole rivers dry, according to Herodotus. Read about the heroes of Marathon and Thermopylae in this epic battle between East and West. This is surely a classic for all the ages. Read it today!
Excellent for undergraduates and the layperson.......2002-09-18
Herodotus is often called the "father of history" or if one is more picky and less kind the "father of lies". Regardless of which title you believe he deserves, his "Histories" are a valuable source of information about the Ancient Greek world and their opinions and experiences with other ancient peoples. This translation by de Selincourt and Marincola flows smoothly, students and laypeople should have little trouble understanding the content at least on the surface. Furthermore they have done all of us a great service by keeping traditional enumeration of the lines. My only complaint are the endnotes -- I hate endnotes because I have seen how rarely readers will use them compared to footnotes. Currently (fall 2002) the professor I'm assisting is using this in his ancient survey course.
Not Just for Scholars.......2002-07-21
Let's assume you are not a classics major, and you are not all that interested in military history. Should you read the "Histories" of Herodotus? The answer is a resounding "Yes", and here are some of the reasons why:
While the bulk of the book is devoted to the Persian Wars (and you certainly can skip over the catalogs and battle details) it's the digressions and anecdotes that make Herodotus fascinating reading. Dates, numbers and even names are often of dubious validity, so you need not waste a lot of time on them. The political, social, ethnographic and anthropological commentary is more intriguing, albeit frequently wide of the mark. But that is exactly why you should read it: what and where is "the mark"? If a sophisticated writer and traveler like H. accepted obvious whoppers at face value and passed them on to credulous readers - what does that tell us about our own credulity?
The intrigues and deceptions involved in forging alliances; the constant juggling of self-interest vs. "the greater good"; the importance of skillful rhetoric and propaganda in promoting one's cause; the treachery and rapaciousness of famous leaders like Themistocles, and the self-indulgence and hubris of splendid figures like Xerxes; the extreme dependence of Greeks and Persians alike on oracles and omens ( nowadays we call them "polls"): all these phenomena are uncomfortably familiar to us.
Once you have become engrossed in H.'s narrative, you may want to linger a little over some of the "human achievements" and "great and marvellous deeds" he promises to record. There is for instance the canal Xerxes is said to have constructed across Athos, in order to avoid circumnavigation of the peninsula - an engineering feat and display of hubris reminiscent of "Fitzcarraldo". Until recently, no trace of this technical marvel had been found. But lo: a team of British and Greek geophysicists has located the structure with seismic measurements, as reported in the "Journal of Applied Geophysics". So, while a healthy dose of skepticism is in order (as with all historiographic literature), some achievements that had been doubted by scholars may turn out to be "real" after all.
H. closes his wide-ranging narrative with a statement attributed to Cyrus, whom he credits with foresight and wisdom: "Soft countries breed soft men. It is not the property of any one soil to produce fine fruits and good soldiers too." Therefore "the Persians should choose to live in a rugged land and rule rather than to cultivate rich plains and be slaves to others". Now there is a thought worth pondering!
A smooth translation and an exemplary critical apparatus combine to engage the reader's curiosity and invite reflection.
Book Description
A memoir of astonishing power, savagery, and ashen lyricism, Storm of Steel illuminates not only the horrors but also the fascination of total war, seen through the eyes of an ordinary German soldier. Young, tough, patriotic, but also disturbingly self-aware, Jünger exulted in the Great War, which he saw not just as a great national conflict but—more importantly—as a unique personal struggle. Leading raiding parties, defending trenches against murderous British incursions, simply enduring as shells tore his comrades apart, Jünger kept testing himself, braced for the death that will mark his failure.
Published shortly after the war's end, Storm of Steel was a worldwide bestseller and can now be rediscovered through Michael Hofmann's brilliant new translation.
Customer Reviews:
Good but not as good as all the hype.......2007-07-24
This book is well written, well translated and flows well on the memoirs of a german private at the start of WW1 and officer by the end, but for all the hype that I had heard about this book it is no where near as good as Rommel's ATTACK and his experience of WW1 that book was full on action.
Storm of Steel does give graphic details of life in and out of the front line including some major battles he took part in, still overrated
A Differnt Perspective of World War I.......2007-07-17
History is written by the victors. What makes Storm of Steel so unique is that this autobiographical account of the Great War was written by one of the losers. It is interesting to read about why this young German soldier fights but also of the respect he has for his opponents on the other side of No Man's Land. Ernst Junger does not shy away from the graphic truth about the horrors of war. Every recollection of battle is filled with descriptions of the grisly deaths of fellow soldiers and the horrid conditions of life in the trenches. This eye opening account of the horrors of war is a must read for any student of history.
"The Europe of today appeared here for the first time on the field of battle".......2007-05-14
Jünger's book Storm of Steel is an exceptionally well written and almost romantic (not in the sense of romance novel but rather a piece which illicits an emotive response much like painting of the 19th century) It is one individual's reaction to life in Europe before, during and after WWI. Many of the statements of the text had several implications. Such as his assertion that "the Europe of today appeared here for the first time on the field of battle?" When read in context with the previous paragraphs the statement seemed to be remarking on the damaging will imposed on the European landscape. He spoke of machinery and how before the use of contemporary weaponry the most harm inflicted was the burning of towns and villages. Now because of new `scientific war' or a war of machines not man, nature was impacted. To burn a village was to bruise culture, but not destroy it. Culture could be rebuilt. To create craters and desert out of a once pristine landscape was to demolish it. The author seems to suggest that the damage inflicted by machine was irreparable. Furthermore, describing the war as scientific or a war of machines removed all traces of humanity. The exile of humanness can also be seen in his remarks that chivalry and basic politeness ("all fine and personal feeling") succumb to machinery. Machinery becomes the all invading. In his text, man becomes machine when he "wore the steel helmet." Steel and flesh, man and machine melt into one. The Europe of today was one of cold technology devoid of humanity and nature. Jünger suggested that man had to adapt to machine not machine to man when he discussed the change of fighting strategy. He ended this excerpt with his assessment that everything that was great about the German race or even Europe as a whole drowned during WWI "in a sea of mud and blood."
Journey through the Valley..........2007-02-13
Storm of Steel is one of those rare birds of literature, the war diary that doesn`t condemn war. Ernst Junger`s diary of his officer years in the Imperial German army during that slaughter that ironically came to be known as the Great War, stands alone among `war books.` Unlike Remarque, Graves or even Hemingway, Junger refuses to beat his reader over the head with an overtly edifying message. Ironically, Junger exposes the repellent nature of war by seeming to embrace its proported `virtue-building` properties.
Those looking for a pacifist tract or probing expose into man as killer, would best look elsewhere. Storm of Steel is one man`s existential journey through the unimaginable maelstorm of 1914--1918. Junger begins his story at the very beginning of that awful conflict when his proud unit---67th Hanoverian Fusiliers---marches across the fields of Champagne to meet the French during the autumn of 1914. Here, Junger`s diary gives the impression of boys off to a rugby match. Junger`s high-spirited warrior-athletes soon learn otherwise. Junger deftly and piercingly chronicles the devolution of the assumed football match` into the Boschian reality that would last for the next four years: trench warfare.
In deceptively simple descriptive sentences, Junger manages to paint a vibrant canvas of the world about him. Each chapter jockeys back and forth between brazen dawn attacks across no-man`s land, midnight reconnaissance forays into enemy trenches and the daily and nightly lot of the soldier`s worst nightmare: the artillery barrage. Most of SOS`s richest passages center around such barrages. Rightly so, as Junger`s diary records what was heard, seen, and felt by the Great War grunt. And constant shelling was the mainstay of trench life.
Shrapnel shells burst overhead spitting out their steely balls of destruction, high-explosive shells churn up the Artois farmland into sometimes geysers, sometimes volcanos. The world around Junger is in a constant state of upheaveal and change. Mother Earth violated by the hour, contorts herself around the bloodied figures who dive from crater to crater in search of momentary respite from fate. Junger seems to view the shells and whizzing bullets as messages from another world. Everybody is sentenced to one, it`s all a matter of when it will hit and what it`ll contain, instant death or a few more minutes, hours, days of life.
SOS covers the range of major Western front offensives, the Somme, Cambrai, the final German offensive of 1918, and ends with the Allied breakthrough of the summer of 1918. And through it all, Lieutenant Junger comes across as a man of daring, courage and noblesse oblige, a leader beloved by his underlings and one alternately ruthless and merciful towards his French and British opponents. Junger rarely reflects for long on his actions. As the sole voice of the book, Junger carries you from page to page as a man of action. Here leading a grenade attack across and through an enemy trench, there regrouping his dazed and decimated platoon after an especially virile bombardment. Moments of emotional or even mental interaction with the chaos that surrounds is minimal. SOS captures the moments in which one either lives or dies, kills or is killed. And Junger is supremely faithful to that experience. Post-experience editorializing is all but absent from SOS.
Yet, it is the lack of such emotional contact with the action that separates SOS from that other grand tome of war, the Iliad. When Achilles weeps over Patroclus` mangled body, we also weep, when Achilles stops his rage-driven chariot with Hector`s body tied to it, we, like Achilles, reflect on the bestial power of our anger. Storms of Steel has few such moments. When a dear friend is gunned down moments after sharing words with each other, Junger`s response appears prosaic. `That news floored me. A friend of mine with noble qualities, with whom I had shared joy, sorrow and danger for years now, who only a few moments ago had called out some pleasantry to me, taken from life by a tiny piece of lead!` Yet, here like everywhere in SOS, Junger painstakingly documents. This isn`t war as Achilles and Hector knew it, face to face with one`s opponent. Here, death came from an invisible shell splinter or the yellow muzzle flash, a mile away. You rarely saw he you killed or who killed you. This conflict was altogether different. A war where the human took a back seat to steel. An eerie premonition hovers over SOS. Killing has now become more efficient and quicker, euphemisms soon to be used in the battlefields and death camps to come. Junger kills with similar detachment. Throwing a grenade into a British dugout, he describes the results as, `rough, but satisfactory.` Occasionally though, Junger also records the human element that can`t help but burst through the storm. His unit the recipient of a direct shell hit, Junger drops an innocuous sentence that rings with understatement. `One baby-faced fellow, who was mocked a few days ago by his comrades, and on exercises had wept under the weight of the big munitions boxes, was now loyally carrying them on our heavy way, having picked them up unasked in the crater. Seeing that did it for me. I threw myself to the ground, and sobbed hysterically...`
After killing a young British soldier, Junger makes an enlightening confession. `He lay there, looking quite relaxed...I often thought back on him; and more with the passing of the years. The state, which relieves us of the responsibility, cannot take away our remorse; and we must exercise it.` Profound words as timely today as then.
Junger sweeps his reader across experiences that most readers will never taste. And in a langauge stripped of all moral posturing, preaching or correcting, Storm at times glances the heavy topics with a beauty approaching the poetic. Junger`s matter of fact and stolid Lower Saxon can surprise us with its unexpected layers. Junger describes his final wounding with such words. `As I fell, I saw the smooth, white pebbles in the muddy road; their arrangement made sense, it was as necessary as that of the stars, and certainly great wisdom was hidden in it.` And then the telling next sentence. `That concerned me, and mattered more than the slaughter that was going on all round me.` Such philosophical detachment from the human and moral swamp that surrounds him, separates Junger from other writers of war.
Reaching the final page, I felt as if I had been privy to something quite special. A peep show into another`s man`s harrowing experience. An experience I hope never to have. While Junger`s cavalier and sportsmanlike attitude to war left a bitter taste in my mouth, his struggle to portray war, warts and all, only strengthened my resolve to avoid and condemn it. Therein lays the grand irony of Storm of Steel; the least overtly moralizing of war texts makes the strongest plea for peace, that imaginary place about which the horribly wounded Junger muses,`Where I was going, there was neither war nor enmity.`
one darn thing after another.......2007-01-21
After following Junger from one battle to another, and one close call to another, it's almost fitting that he lived another eighty years. Junger counts at least 14 wounds by his own reckoning, with a nearly unbelievable number of close calls besides those. Soldiers are killed with alarming frequency all about him. A few times his wounds probably saved Junger's life, as when his platoon was wiped out after he had gone to the rear for treatment. This is all described so matter-of-factly as to be disarming.
Junger is a very impressive young man, clearly highly intelligent, mature, well educated, brave, loyal, and with good leadership skills among fellow infantry. He knocks off literary references and English and French dialog as if they were a natural occurrence. He even hobnobs effectively with the natives.
The tremendous waste of human talent in the western front, in actions that in reality accomplish little but move lines back and forth, is the most depressing theme that runs through the journal. Junger is relatively upbeat most of the time, which is perhaps why the book has a reputation for being too militaristic. No doubt Junger had a taste for action and itched for many of the battles. I never felt he was a bloodthirsty fanatic, eager to die, although he was ready and willing to do so. He mourns the loss of individuals regularly and has no hate for his worthy foes.
The narrative's strength is the description of life on the western front among the trenches. I had little idea how much emphasis there was on artillery in the battles and in hassling the enemy between fights. One of the best chapters is "Daily Life in the Trenches", which is a break from the campaigns with a discussion of how the trenches were organized, how the soldiers lived, and the logistics. The trenches were effectively small villages with whatever amenities could be collected. Such a contrast to the western action in WW II with the early blitzkrieg and the action after D-Day where troops swept along.
What's missing is any perspective of what was going on in the big picture, either with the military strategy or the political scene. The participation of the Americans and the end of the war, for example, go unremarked. For a person of Junger's intellect, obviously he excluded those thoughts and supporting information deliberately. Perhaps he only wanted to show the low-level war through one person's life and stick to that microcosm, and he did that very well. I wanted to know more of what he thought about beyond the immediate circumstances. For me, the tight focus kept the book from being five stars.
The translation by Hofman reads superbly. The English is poetic at times, with impressive use of colorful terminology and slang. Of course, some of that is due to the literary skills and wit of Junger. Even so, the creativity required to come up with many of the words and phrases repeatedly surprised me.
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