Book Description
This book describes how understanding the structure of reality leads to the Theory of Everything Equation. The equation unifies the forces of nature and enables the merging of relativity with quantum theory. The book explains the big bang theory and everything else.
Customer Reviews:
The Real Deal.......2006-09-25
Although Mr. Wheatley is a little verbose in sections, his documentation of Zen Buddhistic Principles found throughout the disciplines of Mathematics, Physics, Theology, etc. forms a nice reference guide for anyone tuned into that wavelength. In particular, his explanation of how Godel's Theorem and Cantor's "Confusion" shed great light on the difference between GOD's Logic and Man's Logic should be a revelation to any undergraduate level math students who encounter these ideas for the first time. Curiously, Mr. Wheatley makes many misstatements about both Zen Buddhism Principles and the Bible, however. For example, by accepting the false biblical teaching of Original Sin, he misses the point that eating the proverbial apple gave Adam and Eve the ability to make Moral Discernments in fulfillment of GOD'S PERFECT PLAN. As proof, read Genesis 1 which states that Man and Woman were made in GOD's Image. Genesis 4 shows that Adam and Eve weren't the first humans on Earth at all, there were plenty of others by then. The allegorical meaning of the story of Eden, then, isn't that Adam and Eve were the first humans on Earth, but they were the first humans with the ability to make Moral Discernments (in GOD's Image). In fact, Moral Discernment is God's Unique Gift to Man, which is the basis of consciousness, not some Math Formula. But because the wages of the resulting, unavoidable sin are Death, many people foolishly try to return to Eden by: (1) living a sinless Life (2) by removing choice altogether by passing and enforcing strict Laws (3) by attempting to do away with Moral Discernment and the resulting consequences for our actions altogether by trying to remove Shame from Shameful actions. GOD is not some ethereal Man-In-Space, but is simply the Totality of all Real Things, The Set of All Real Sets. GOD's Love manifests itself from the amazing sub-atomic relationships that underly this magic Life all the way to the grandest of Macroscopic Scales, the Interconnected Totality itself. The Zen Buddhism connection can be found by simply superimposing the 0 symbol and the symbol for infinity (8 on its side) in Mr. Wheatley's supposedly "new" formulation that 1 = 0 x infinity. Superimposing them gives you the yin-yang symbol. A potential disadvantage of artificially separating the infinity from the zero, however, is that Mr. Wheatley is able to equate the entire expression to be equal to 1. This potentially might obscure the fact that the deepest meaning of the yin-yang symbol is that it is both 2 and 1 AT THE SAME TIME. His overall equation does preserve that important meaning by utilizing a single element on one side of the equation and two elements on the other side of his final TOE equation. This may be hard to see for some at first, however, which could potentially obscure the richest meaning of this beautiful symbol/equation. A much more GODLY TOE, in my opinion, comes from Euler, who discovered that e ^ (i * pi) - 1 = 0. When someone can explain that relationship, then they can say they know GOD.
A life changing experience??.......2005-06-13
This book is an easy read and does succeed in being somewhat thought-provoking. However, I am a little surprised at the awesome, "life changing" experience it apparently was for many of the readers. Wheatley's conclusions were interesting but nothing really new. All of his material should have passed through the mind of any thinking person without the aid of this book.
The reason I gave this book three stars is because he uses unneccessarily wordy ways of describing simple things. Also, the author and many other reviewers insist that Wheatley makes only one assumption. Wrong-his whole theory is one big assumption.
Overall though it was a very interesting and worthy book.
Should be Required Reading for everyone.......2004-06-26
This book will change your life. You will never think the same way you did before reading it.
I have a degree in chemistry and I think this book should be read by everyone in the sciences. Without a doubt, the best book I've ever read. Why and what are two of our best friends
A Very Important Book.......2004-01-26
I must preface my review by stating that I have never been so excited and moved by a book that I have wanted to contact the author. That is what I found myself doing upon reading this book. This book is just what its title says. The author does not "miss a beat" describing in great detail using practically every aspect of scientific knowledge from atomic structure through logic to quantum theory---we are even given a valuable explanation of Love. This text may be challenging to read for those unfamiliar with scientific terminology. And it can also be difficult for those with a science background, such as myself. However, for me it is well worth the work necessary to strive to understand the unfamiliar terminology. (I am continually learning from this book. I am presently on my third reread).
One of the author's main messages is "not" to believe anything without first verifying it with reality, as we know it. He calls it the "Personal Explanation Principle". He indicates that religions are just such belief systems that we as people "fall" victims of; because we do not verify the beliefs with the facts, as we know them, of reality. He gives a very detailed explanation of how the New Testament can be explored using his methodology.
The author methodically and meticulously walks us through his thought processes, which took 30 years to assimilate, of delineating the structure of reality and the nature of consciousness. Included in the "walk" are many of reality's phenomena made revelatory. An example of that, for me, would be the dual nature of light. It's particle/wave duality, which is explained as "functions". Also, when the author took me on the mental journey of "Setness" an exhilaration of the magnificence of life swelled up in me.
To me this is a very important book that should be read by all that are seekers of truth. It is for all those wanting to gain an understanding of the purpose for their existence, wanting to know where life is headed towards, and wanting to know who God is.
This book will enlighten and develop one's mind substantially. You will discover that this is our objective.
And yes, I contacted the author and he responded openly.
Illuminating!!!.......2002-12-30
This is a really great book. It combines philosophy and science in order to tackle a multitude of existential problems. The author's style of writing is fresh and alive, I recommend ths book to anyone interested in expanding the fronteirs of their understanding. Books I also liked are a Universe in an Nutshell by Steven Hawkings and Descent into Illusions by Paul Omeziri.
Book Description
It was 1943. In Yosemite National Park, the magnificent Ahwahnee Hotel closed its doors to tourists, transformed into a temporary Naval convalescent hospital. Wartime shortages forced the rationing of gasoline, sugar, and film. Living with his wife, Virginia Best Adams and their children in Yosemite Valley, Ansel Adams, sought ways to help with the war effort. Too old to enlist, he volunteered for for a number of assignments in which his photographic skills were put to the countryÕs use. Among his contributions, he both escorted and photographed Army troops at Yosemite training for mountain warfare in Europe; he taught photography to the Signal Corps at Fort Ord, and traveled to the Presidio in San Francisco to print classified photographs of Japanese military installations on the Aleutian Islands. Despite his volunteer efforts, he was frustrated that he could not do more to help the war effort.
That summer, friend Ralph Merritt asked Adams if he would be interested in creating a photographic record of a little-known government facility in the Owens Valley, on the east side of the Sierra Nevada. ÒI cannot pay you a cent,Ó Merritt told Adams, Òbut I can put you up and feed you.Ó Merritt was director of the Manzanar War Relocation Center, a collection of hundreds of tar-paper barracks hastily built to house more than 10,000 people, behind barbed wire and gun towers. All were of Japanese Ancestry, but most were American citizens, forcibly removed from their homes to ten relocation centers across the country by presidential order. The resulting effort was the book Born Free and Equal: The Story of Loyal Japanese Americans published by U.S. Camera in 1944 under the direction of the War Relocation Authority.
While at Manzanar, Adams met Toyo Miyatake, the official camp photographer, interned with his wife and children. A student of the great photographer, Edward Weston, Miyatake had established his own respected professional photography studio in Los Angeles before the war. In the introduction to this book, MiyatakeÕs son, Archie, who was then 16-years old, recalls the visit made so long ago.
In 1965, Adams wrote in a letter to Dr. Edgar Brietenbach at the Library of Congress: Ò . . . I think this Manzanar Collection is an important historical document and I trust it can be put to good use. . . Ó With the goal of realizing that Ògood use,Ó Spotted Dog Press presents Born Free and Equal to new generations of Americans who may come to a better understanding of a distant incident in our recent history that should not be forgotten.
Customer Reviews:
informative and elegant.......2007-05-20
I have read quite a few books and articles about the unfortuante/sad/?criminal Japanese-American experience during WW II. This book, although it does not add to the historical record per se, includes rich, wonderful pictures from Ansel Adams that bring more visual support to ones' images of how terrible the situation was, but also how strong and resourceful the Japanese-American people were and hopefully still are (just look up the Japanese word "gaman")
A powerful, highly recommended, historically factual book.......2002-05-06
Born Free And Equal: The Story Of Loyal Japanese Americans is an impressive combination of historic photographs and writings about the Japanese-Americans who were imprisoned in Manzanar, one of ten such relocation camps, as a result of wartime fears regarding possible sabotage by members of the Japanese and Nisei (American-born men and women of Japanese ancestry) living along the American west coast. During the era of World War II, virtually all the American people of Japanese descent in the states of California, Oregon and Washington (most of them citizens), were interned in relocation camps scattered through the Midwest. Born Free And Equal captures memories of this prison community and how the families in it lived in broad, sweeping, black-and-white photographs. Born Free And Equal is a powerful, highly recommended, historically factual book, accurately capturing with poetic realism a dark and controversial aspect of America's WW II effort, which, along with such horrors as the European Holocaust and the Japanese atrocities in the Far East, must never be forgotten.
A fascinating look at this historical tragedy.......2002-03-07
In the autumn of 1943, the eminently talented photographer Ansel Adams traveled to the Relocation Center at Manzanar, California. This was one of the camps where the United States government relocated (some would say "imprisoned") the many people of Japanese descent who lived in the western, Military Zone 1, so that they could not assist Imperial Japan in its war against the United States. Among the many people sent to this camp were men, women, children and the elderly; immigrants from Japan, the children (born in the U.S.) of Japanese immigrants, and the those even farther removed from Japan; not to mention a decorated veteran of the Spanish-American War (Seaman 1st Class Harry Sumida of the U.S.S. Indiana).
It was here that Ansel Adams set up his camera, and put a human face on this tragedy. This is his book; the pictures he took, and the text he wrote. Originally published in 1944, this newer edition (published in 2001) contains all of the original photos, several additional photos that Mr. Adams took but didn't include in the original, and several fascinating introductions written by Japanese-Americans.
Considering the topic of this book is something of a cause celebre, one might imagine that this book was something of an anti-American screed. Well, if you thought that, you would be wrong. This book is a very balanced look at what happened, and the people who were caught up in it. Mr. Adams wanted the book to be factual, so both the good aspects and bad aspects are covered. That said, though, the book was something of an expose of what happened, and is not a whitewash. Therefore, if you are looking for a book that will tell you about this historical tragedy, then I highly recommend this book.
A magnificent work!.......2002-01-17
Finally, I was able to pick up a copy of this long-awaited book. The original is extremely expensive to pick up, and with the additional introductory information, this is an improvement. A fascinating read, fantastic print quality... A must have!
Book Description
The Bible examined from a freethought perspective. Combined with autobiographical "The Book of Ruth."
Customer Reviews:
Ruth is gone, but the Bible's still here.......2007-08-11
In the prologue to The Born Again Skeptic's Guide to the Bible, Green states that she is not a Bible scholar--and she spends the next 300 pages proving it.
There are some scholarly, well written books by skeptics who present a thoughtful argument against the Bible, but this is not one of them.
It is apparent, however, that Green did spend many hours studying the Bible in her research. The question it, did she read the Bible with an open mind, willing to learn something, or did she open it with preconceived notions, which she then set out to prove by twisting Scripture, taking Bible verses out of context, and treating the Bible in a shallow manner, without objectively looking for the true meaning of the text?
Her arguments against the Bible might have been more believable if she had treated the Book, and those who live by it, with more respect instead of taking every opportunity to ridicule and mock the Bible and Christians. The Bible is the most widely printed book since Gutenberg, and the most widely quoted book, but Ms. Green could find virtually nothing positive to say about it.
Green does, to be sure, bring up a lot of difficulties found in the Bible, including the fact that the God of the Old Testament seems to be cruel and violent, contrasting with the compassionate God of the New Testament. If she had bothered to look, though, she would have found that this, as well as the other Bible difficulties she mentions, have been addressed and resolved by real Bible scholars.
And am I the only reader who found her sense of humor lame and unfunny?
Another thing that I found annoying about Green is that she's constantly instructing the reader on how they should react, what they should conclude, and what they should believe. This reader, Ms Green, is quite capable of making those decisions for himself.
After reading the book, I had to ask myself why she wrote it in the first place. Here is a woman who doesn't believe in God, any God, and she's writing a book about another book that claims to be the inspired word of a being she doesn't even believe in. She tells us what's wrong with the book, and how she would have written it if she'd been the Almighty. Wouldn't it have made more sense if she'd written a book explaining why she doesn't believe God exists?
I as a Christian did not find her book offensive, as other critics have said. I did, however, find it poorly written, biased, sarcastic, unpersuasive and humorless (but trying very hard to be funny).
There is no part of the Bible that I would avoid discussing with skeptics and critics. If I were to discuss a particular Bible topic, I would not, however, gloss over the subject and quote Bible verses out of context in order to prove my preconceived ideas.
But I must say, thank you, Ms Green, wherever your soul is resting, for writing your book. It has given me a better appreciation for that Book you so hated.
Junk Writing .......2007-08-09
This book does not deserve more than one star, maybe this rating will upset may people especially who review it and give it 5 star, all the author points Criticizing some parts from the bible Christians fundaments have more convincing idea than his, it is true that I'm Christian but I'm a reader too, and I'm not convince with his thoughts and his ideas, my advice to him before you attack and criticize the bible go deeply study it first.
Loved it!! Nancy Hicks-MA.......2007-03-20
You get your money's worth with this book it is thorough but I didn't find it too tedious, Ruth put alittle humor here and there to keep it interesting. I was a very avid Bible student I read all of the Bible not just the stuff people hear at church. Alot of it bothered me I had alot apologetic books and something still just didn't seem right. There was glaring violence and contradictions that just kept bothering me so I embarked on a quest to see if anyone else felt the same way. I have read several books written by people who used to be Christians I like this one the best but I would also recommend " Losing Faith in Faith"by Dan Barker and for some easy reading "Like rolling up hill" by Dianna Narciso.There are some websites in these books that may be helpful also.
Great reference book.......2006-11-18
Here's why I consider this a valuable book. In one book, you have just about every negative, unbelievable passage in the bible (and there are plenty.) You want to quickly get a feel for the unimaginable creulty throughout the bible? She has a chapter, and it can be read pretty quickly. Preposterous passages? Again, there's a chapter. It's hard to imagine how an unbiased (that's the key, almost all believers have a bias) Christian could read through the passages referenced and not seriously question their faith.
The major negative is there's too much commentary. The same points tend to be made over and over again. A format I would have prefered is maybe a commentary at the beginning or end of a chapter, and then a list of passages, with only occasional commentary. Plus Ruth's sense of humor is pretty lame. Some of the sarcastic comments will make you roll your eyes.
This book is a keeper. Most books you will want to read only once, but this is one that you will refer to time and again.
Sour Grapes?.......2006-10-17
I first read this book in the '70s. It did not convince me to become an atheist, as I was one since about the age of 10, after reading a book on Greek and Roman mythology. Even as a child, it occurred to me that the ancient peoples believed just as strongly in their pantheon of gods as Christians believe in theirs, and that all of it was just fairy tales made up to explain the unexplainable. Ruth Green just let me know I was not alone in my beliefs.
I've read the criticisms of Ruth Green's book and can only say that they are being so harsh because Mrs. Green's observations have hit home. Atheists have had to endure cruel criticisms and diatribes from "believers", and so have learned to expect such treatment.
It is not Ruth Green taking the bible out of context: its believers are doing that everyday. And she should have been given an award for having been able to read the bible from cover to cover. That has to reign as a lifetime achievement award in itself.
As she so elegantly writes, a person can be saved if they believe in a god who sacrifices himself to himself, to appease himself.
Next riddle, please....
Amazon.com
First published in 1960 and closely followed by a hit movie of the same name, Joy Adamson's now classic memoir Born Free continues to introduce countless young people to the wildlife of Africa. Adamson recounts her adventures as the surrogate mother of an orphaned lion cub named Elsa (with parenting duties shared by her husband George and by a delightfully imperturbable rock hyrax named Pati), whom she raised as a welcome member of her human and animal family while painstakingly teaching Elsa the skills she would need to survive in the wild. Her teaching, against all odds, was effective: three years later, the Adamsons took Elsa to a place near that of her birth and set her loose, hoping that she would find her "real pride" among other lions of the Kenya grasslands--as she soon did.
Long targeted to preteen readers, Born Free is in fact a sophisticated work of environmental consciousness-raising, for Joy Adamson believed that any relationship between humans and wild animals had to be conditioned by an attitude "of absolute equality quite different from that between a dog and his master." Although Elsa's story had an ultimately tragic ending--the young lioness died of disease and, in separate incidents, Joy and George Adamson were both murdered--Joy Adamson's book continues to instruct and entertain readers of all ages. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
There have been many accounts of the return to the wild of tame animals, but since its original publication in 1960, when the New York Times hailed it as a "fascinating and remarkable book,"
Born Free has stood alone in its power to move us.
Joy Adamson's story of a lion cub in transition between the captivity in which she is raised and the fearsome wild to which she is returned captures the abilities of both humans and animals to cross the seemingly unbridgeable gap between their radically different worlds. Especially now, at a time when the sanctity of the wild and its inhabitants is increasingly threatened by human development and natural disaster, Adamson's remarkable tale is an idyll, and a model, to return to again and again.
Illustrated with the same beautiful, evocative photographs that first enchanted the world forty years ago and updated with a new introduction by George Page, former host and executive editor of the PBS series Nature and author of Inside the Animal Mind, this anniversary edition introduces to a new generation one of the most heartwarming associations between man and animal.
Customer Reviews:
Born Free Book Reveiw.......2006-11-04
Born Free
Joy Adamson
1960
ISBN: 0-375-71438-3
196 pages
When Elsa's natural instincts soften, reality becomes harder and harder to face.
After a young lioness has been raised and transformed from fierce predator to loving house
cat by her owner Joy, the thought of releasing Elsa into the wild seems to be the greatest
challenge the two have had to face.
Born Free is a true story about a woman ,Joy, and a lioness ,Elsa. Joy's husband
was a game warden in Africa, so the two went on many safaris together. During one of these
safaris, they find three orphaned lion cubs and decide to raise and take care of them during
their cub life. The day finally arrives when the cubs are to be shipped to a European zoo,
and Joy just cannot part with the smallest cub, Elsa. Elsa stays with the two of them and
becomes part of the family for many months. Between all of the fun and
suspense, the truth of the matter finally reveals itself. Elsa, though removed of all the natural
instincts she needs to survive, must soon be permanently released into the wild.
Filled with laughter and excitement, Born Free is a terrific bittersweet adventure,
giving people the ability to learn about a miraculous breakthrough in human and animal
interaction. This book is a timeless classic that you can read again
and again.
By: Amy Schmidt
THE CLASSIC TRUE LIFE ADVENTURE.......2006-05-04
Animals have always been a favorite topic of mine, but as a young person who just happened to find a copy of this book some 39 years ago, with the cover torn off, I consider it one of the great discoveries of my life. It was summertime, and I was headed to the 7th grade. I wasn't much of a reader until that momentous day. The story of Elsa and the Adamsons totally transported me to another place, and many wondrous adventures in Africa. Due much to this book, I now am a voracious reader. The story is heartwarming, and is the reason I insisted my 7th grade son read it for his current book report.
Whether you're 9 or 99, Elsa's antics and her loving bond with Joy and George will capture your heart. I guarantee it. And with Africa's Lion population dwindling to probably less than 30,000 today, I can't think of a more timely book, in honour of conserving their remaining habitat. Especially when one considers that Africa had over 100,000 Lions when I first read it.
Born Free.......2005-04-25
This book touched my heart, to actually realize how one woman could bome so close to animals that we look at and call beasts. The compassion that one woman had is enough to change they way you may think about how we live. And once you read this book, dont forget that it is a true story. After seeing what Joyce had done wither her love for animals, any dream can come true.
Great Stroy for all ages.......2003-11-13
This book is one of my favorites. This book tells you the story of a bond between a hunan and a lioness. This is a great book because it shows you a different side of wild animals and the way they live. When you read it, you will get the excitement as if you are along on the safari with them!
A Powerful, Moving Story of Elsa.......2003-06-27
My first introduction to the Born Free books when I was a child learning to read in school. And what a great introduction to reading it was. The story of Elsa and the Adamsons who saved her life as a cub along with her sisters and raised her brought me into a world of wanting to be there with all the animals and see Africa. This seemed to be treated more as a children's book in my time than an adult book. The idea of the book was to teach people the importance of environmental conservation awareness. The first book, tells Elsa's early life from a cub raised by Joy and George Adamson and their pet rock hyrax, Pati. Joy is Elsa's surrogate mom and with great pains to teach Elsa the skills to survive in the wild. With lots of work Joy did it with success that Elsa was capable of living in the wild again. They released her near her birthplace and hoping Elsa would find and connect with her pride-in which she did. There is the tragedy not long afterward I had read this amazing story that Elsa had died in the Kenya bush of disease. Something of life that I learned early in my life that it was reality in the wilds of Africa or anywhere for that matter. But the cycle of life lives on in Elsa's pride. Still another grim incident ended the lives of Joy and George Adamson. Both were found murdered.
Joy Adamson has left behind a legacy of these fascinating books that moves us to treat our world with respect and have a better understanding between human-animal relationship. Joy Adamson before her death had also written, 'Living Free: Elsa and her Cubs' and 'Forever Free: Elsa's Pride.' Her family extended even further across the grasslands of Africa as she tells about them in her other books, 'The Spotted Sphinx' (about Pippa the Cheetah), 'Pippa's Challenge,' 'Pippa: The Cheetah and her Cubs,' 'Queen of Shaba: The Story of an African Leopard,' and 'Friends of the Forest.' Joy Adamson's book 'Peoples of Kenya' reflects upon the life of the Kenyan people, her concern for the people welfare there and their struggles to make an existence in a harsh, beautiful land. If you want to know more about Joy Adamson read her autobiography, 'The Searching Spirit.'
Customer Reviews:
BORN FREE RULES.......2003-10-18
In my opinion, Born Free is the very BEST cat-book ever writen! Recommended to nature/Africa lovers. You'll enjoy it!
Average customer rating:
- Brilliant Bio of Paleo-libertarian Hero!
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Free-Born John: A Biography of John Lilburne
Pauline Gregg
Manufacturer: Phoenix Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1842122002 |
Book Description
"I neither love a slave nor fear a tyrant." Thus spoke John Lilburne, one of the 17th century's most vivid figures. Head of the Levellers, it was he, over 300 years ago, who spelled out to the English the true meaning of democracy. An agitator supreme, he stopped at nothing to further his cause--whether it meant attacking Cromwell or King Charles I, or "stage managing" his own trial for life as though it were a play. He had no equal. "...successfully conveys the nature of his personality as well as his ideas...authoritative and illuminating..."--C.V. Wedgwood, Daily Telegraph.
Customer Reviews:
Brilliant Bio of Paleo-libertarian Hero!.......2002-11-18
John Lilburne, a brilliant pamphleteer and a passionately courageous political agitator, was the most prominent leader of the paleo-libertarian "Leveller" movement during the English Civil War of the seventeenth century.
Lilburne was tossed into prison both under the monarchy of Charles I and by the republican regime of Oliver Cromwell. Lilburne was a fervent defender of freedom of speech, of the press, and of religion. He was also an unyielding supporter of economic freedom and of the rights of private property.
Pauline Gregg, herself a democratic socialist, found it difficult to comprehend how Lilburne could be both a defender of civil liberties and a proponent of economic freedom, but she nonetheless accurately reports Lilburne's beliefs and libertarian philosophy. In a brief review, it is difficult to convey how vividly Gregg depicts the events Lilburne experienced and the courage and integrity which illuminated Lilburne's life.
Aside from his political commitments, Lilburne was also, from a mainstream twenty-first-century perspective, a religious fanatic: metaphorically speaking, he was "drunk on God." In terms of understanding the history of natural-rights/libertarian philosophy, this is a crucial fact: historically speaking, the Lockean libertarian philosophy of the American founding was born among passionate evangelical Christians, such as John Lilburne, in seventeenth-century Britain.
That historical fact is an embarrassment to modern mainstream libertarians. The mainstream modern libertarian movement, whether in the Libertarian Party, in the "Objectivist" movement founded by Ayn Rand, or in various independent think tanks, is firmly anti-religious and is dedicated to an "anything-goes" philosophy that hates government becuase of a hatred of any sort of social or ethical authority which restrains an individual from pursuing his or her own individual whims and desires.
Free-Born John is a reproach to these modern-day "libertarians." Lilburne would surely have agreed with present-day libertarians about ending the War on Drugs, abolishing the income tax, etc. But Lilburne would have seen liberation from paternalistic government and the reinstatement of natural rights as merely the first step along a path upon which an individual tried to live his life as a creature made in the image of God.
There is a dissident movement among modern libertarians, the so-called "paleo-libertarians," who take the natural-law, natural-rights perspective of John Lilburne seriously (the paleos are best represented by the Mises Institute and the Center for Libertarian Studies, both of whom offer Websites and a number of books which are available here on amazon.com). Unlike the libertarian mainstream, the "paleos" are not reflexively hostile to religion, hateful of any social authority or traditions, nor focused solely on the satisfaction of egoistic, material desires.
If you are a "paleo-libertarian," you will love this book. If you are a mainstream libertarian or a non-libertarian, you will find John Lilburne as enigmatic as did Ms. Gregg. But if you make the effort to understand this man's mind and character, you may come to better understand the nature of human liberty and of the human condition.
Book Description
This volume is produced from digital images from the Cornell University Library Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Collection
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Born Free Wild Animals with Other
Beckie Williams
Manufacturer: Top That! Kids
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Cut & Assemble
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- equally hilarious and depressing...
- Mining the Depths of Family Misery
- Sad but True
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Born Free
Laura Hird
Manufacturer: Canongate Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1841950483 |
Book Description
Laura Hird's superb debut novel is a punchy, acerbic, sharp-witted, and, above all, acutely observed account of family life set in a deprived area of west Edinburgh. Published to outstanding acclaim in Britain, Born Free tells the story of an ordinary family who is trying to escape from something ... and each other. The interactions between Jake, Joni, Angie, and Vic reveal a hellish cocktail of adolescent and midlife crises; the savagery of sibling rivalry; the waking nightmare of a marriage gone cold; and, naturally, the unbridgeable, infernal chasm between the generations. It's a story of everyday life.
Customer Reviews:
equally hilarious and depressing..........2004-04-03
... sort of like real life. exactly like real life. the fact that the book is written, in the style also used by irvine welsh, in scottish dialect, makes it even more amusing. however, the story is very dark. told by four different family members, mum, dad, joni and jake, this is the tale of modern dysfunction taken to extremes. it's a hard book to describe, because while it is a light read, there is so much plot packed in, and so many subjects, from lust to misogyny to abuse, addressed here... just read this book... i'm glad to see it back in print. this is the best book i have ever just randomly picked up because i thought it looked cool.
Mining the Depths of Family Misery.......2003-10-02
As she did in many of her short stories in the collection entitled NAIL, Laura Hird has once again mined the depths of a dysfunctional family. Vic and Angie, a bus driver and bookie's assistant respectively, have two kids, Joni, 15, and Jake, 14, neither of whom is happy. The story of this family, who live in Edinburgh, Scotland, is told from all four characters' points of view, and Hird captures their voices perfectly. Jake's longings, Joni's petulance and savagery, their mother's alcoholic binges and affair, and their father's resignation to his empty life are all rendered flawlessly.
The prose is energetic and cutting; the story, by turns, ugly and bleak. But the novel is also darkly comic, rising up into moments of hilarity. You can't resist laughing while at the same time feeling appalled and uncomfortable by the events and attitudes of the characters.
Hird's take on this Scottish family is a frightening look at the characters' failure to connect with one another, to escape their dismal situations, or to even imagine rising above the circumstances they face. They are alienated, angry, and unable to see any alternative solutions. In that way, there is a universality in the theme Hird is illuminating: that of the desperation and lack of hope some families face and the destruction and misery that follows in their wake. ~Lori L. Lake, Midwest Book Review
Sad but True.......2002-09-12
I first came across Laura Hird through her story "The Dilating Pupil" in the Children of Albion Rovers collection. In this, her first novel, she tells the depressing story of a wreck of a family living in Edinburgh. The chapters alternate between the voices of Vic, Angie, Jonie, and Jake (father, mother, 15-year-old, and 14-year-old), as they each seek escape from the shell of domestic life. Vic and Angie are going through agonizing midlife crises and a marriage that's totally dead. He's a bus driver on Prozac struggling to be decent and win the love of his family, she's a bitter, contemptuous bookie's assistant who's having a blast falling off the wagon. Meanwhile, their two teenagers are caught up in their own selfish angst of sex, friendships, drugs, and avoiding their parents.
The book is like a Mike Leigh film, brilliantly put together, but totally depressing. There are many moments of humor and recognition throughout, but ultimately there's not a whole lot of hope to be found anywhere. Given how awful the women act, it's hard to imagine a man being able to write this book without getting attacked as a misogynist. In any event, Hird's obviously got loads of talent, and this book should put her right there with her male Scottish peers like Welsh, Warner, McLean, Legge, and the like.
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Books Index
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