Customer Reviews:
Please Use Biblical Discernment.......2007-07-04
On the surface, this book appears to fit into biblical principles. Except for one thing, one of the authors uses his or her young son as a Christian "medium" to located demonic spirits and report what the spirits are doing. The Bible is quite clear on the use of mediums [Deuteronomy 18:9-12], even those who claim to be speaking for God [Acts 16:16-19]. This book has charismatic overtones. If you read this book, have your Bible open so that you can readily compare everything to Scripture. The devil loves to mix a "little" deception with "a lot" of Christian doctrine.
A Must Read Book to protect your home and family.......2007-06-27
This is a must-read book to educate you about protecting your home from spiritual darkness, just as the title states. The book points out things that are happening in the spiritual realm of homes. The authors teach you about protecting your home as well as cleaning your home.
Beginner Book.......2007-01-12
This is a great book for all beginners to the spiritual warfare aspect of their Christian walk.
WOW!.......2007-01-12
What an eye opener. Every christian should read and pray this one through. I read this through so quickly I could not put it down! And I could think of several people to pass it on to. There are several things that caught my attention. And got me to work on spiritual housecleaning. Movies mostly and after you read this you will watch movies television and books with different eyes.
And when I got to the chapter about the masons and shriners.... I went to sleep thinking I had no concerns about this part and closed my eyes, but when I woke the next morning the Holy Spirit said "Oh yes you do!" and gave me visions of my parents leaving the house with their vests on, full of patches they had earned.
This would also be a good way of helping others that you know that are doing things that you know they shouldn't but you don't know how to tell them they are messing with the dark side like reading the horoscope etc.
A must read for all.
Protecting your home from spiritual darkness.......2006-08-03
Awesome easy to read book.
Right to the point.
A very honest book related to real life experiences.
Book Description
The man whom W.H. Auden called `perhaps the greatest genius that ever lived' has inspired extremes of adulation and loathing. In this penetrating analysis, Bryan Magee outlines the range and depth of Wagner's achievement, and shows how his sensational and erotic music expresses the repressed and highly charged contents of the psyche. He also examines Wagner's detailed stage directions, and the prose works in which he formulated his ideas, and sheds interesting new light on his anti-semitism. This new edition has been extensively revised. It includes a fresh chapter, `Wagner as Music'.
Customer Reviews:
4 and 1/2 for Being TOO SHORT!.......2007-05-28
Magee ended up outdoing himself in his later work "The Tristan Chord". And this is worth overall 4.5 stars for the same reasons: balanced, eminently insightful writing and just enough quirkiness to keep the interest at a high level throughout.
I guess it says alot for this book that I knocked off a half star entirely for its brevity. You end up wanting MORE at the end. Maybe I should have just relented and given this one 5 huh?
Think outside the opera box.......2006-08-28
Even though this book is years old, the ideas remain fresh and challenging. Questions of pacing in performance (maybe the dreaded longueurs are not necessary), and origins of Wagner's antiSemitism (an interesting twist on the privilege of the cultural outsider).
An easy read, something to discuss at intermission.
Brilliantly .......2006-08-21
This may seem odd, but to those of you interested enough to read reviews of this short book of essays on Wagner written nearly 40 years ago, my first advice is to read (no, run!) to Byran McGee's "Tristan Chord," published only a couple years ago, which in my humble opinion is one of the two greatest analytical works of Wagner's operas published in the last century. (The other is Deryck Cooke's "I Saw the World End"--an analysis of the "Ring" first published in 1979.)
McGee in that longer book and in this shorter collection of brief essays exemplifies the finest qualities of the English in his Wagner criticism: common sense, plain language, brilliant argumentation. He is such a relief from scholars (sorry, particularly German scholars) who think that opaque or convoluted rhetoric suggests depth. That's a [...]. Mr. McGee by comparison is fresh air...and his brilliance is self-evident.
This is a short book, six essays, each well defined on various aspects of Wagner. Two are clearly the most interesting: first, McGee's analysis of why Wagner's music excites such passion (pro or con)--i.e., what makes that music so affecting, so transcendant, so "dangerous" to many of us. He explores our guilty pleasure in Wagner better than any author has ever done. And second, his book offers a very interesting essay on the reasons for the flowering of Jewish intellectuals who so dominated and contributed to late 19th and early 20th century culture after over a thousand years of Jewish irrelevance to wider Western culture.
Those two essays make the book definitely worth acquiring and reading. The other essays are fine, if less sparkling. But I cannot emphasize enough: if you have any interest in Wagner, you must acquire Mr. McGee's "Tristan Chord." It is the best overall key to understanding Wagner's operas in print today.
Concise Examination of a Master Composer.......2005-02-08
More than any other figure in the classical Canon, Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883) has provoked a dichotomy of passion in regards to his music, character and legacy. Bryan Magee's *Aspects of Wagner*, a series of concise, articulate essays about the composer and theorist, confronts both sides of the polarization, examining the essential components that inspire such adulation, probing with unusual insight the negative connotations ever associated with mere mention of the name.
These aspects, in brief:
THEORY: After the success of Lohengrin, Wagner took a six-year break from composing to recharge the cylinders, theorize and re-examine the operatic form. The result of this sabbatical would shake the foundations of the Canon. For Wagner, no longer would drama be a means to a musical end - window-garnishing syntax to embellish the sonic - instead, music would be the means with which to express the dramatic ~emotion~ of the piece. Music would emphasize, shift and elucidate to the passage of the text, a notion that has proved indescribably influential: the whole of modern film-symphonic owes its debt to this innovation.
JEWS: A virulent anti-Semitist, repelled by the physical aspect of Jews and critical of their compositional abilities - "shallow and artificial" - Wagner espoused these opinions in the public forum and, in reality, reflected the mindset of mainstream German society during his time. Further propagated by Wagner's widow and offspring, these views influenced Hitler as a youth and were taken verbatim for his totalitarian platform. Wagner's demand for Judiasm to be eradicated, via renouncement of faith and conversion to Christian theism, was corrupted by the Nazi propagandists as a call for physical annihilation. More fuel for the critical fire! And yet, one of Wagner's closest companions, Hermann Levi, was a Jew, and conducted the premiere of Parsifal; moreover, Wagner's worldview of pacifism and assimilation doesn't jive at all with the Fascist manifesto - the Nazis took what was useful and abandoned the 'feel good' vibes. Bryan Magee doesn't really address any of this, however: rather, he theorizes as to ~why~ Wagner considered Jews inferior artists, especially in regard to the fact that three of the dominant geniuses of our modern culture were Jewish - Marx, Freud and Einstein. Magee points to the cultural repression of Judaism throughout hundreds of years, an isolationist subjugation that was only beginning to disintegrate by the start of 19th century; the flowering of Jewish intellect - and assimilation of Western culture - would take several generations to unfold. The resultant revolutionary thought of the triumvirate above, undeniable in their influence, stemmed from an outward contemplation and subsequent deconstruction of the adopted conventional standards. Indeed, Wagner's original essays are surprisingly insightful as to the underlying reasons for the artifice of Jewish composers of his day, though the eventual intellectual aptitude they would bring to the table undoubtedly eluded the composer.
IDOLATRY: As much the subject of abject idolatry as venomous refutation, Wagner is a love-or-hate figure, with little ground of compromise between. Magee theorizes that this is because the music, in harmonic construction and theme, gives expression to all that unconscious and repressed in the human mind, including Oedipal sexuality, unleashed eroticism, moral questioning and violence; the tonal qualities stir forth base, animalistic urges to the forefront, taboos further exemplified by the stage-work. The composer's emphasis on the undercurrents of the psyche predated modern psychology by fifty years: thus the subconscious ~rejection~ of many to his music, and its appeal to the more questing intellect.
INFLUENCE: A short list: Gustav Mahler, Anton Schonberg, Richard Strauss, Dvorak, Piotr Tchaikovsky, Claude Dubussy, Edward Elgar, Dmitry Shostakovich, Anton Bruckner; James Joyce, Bernard Shaw, Marcel Proust, D.H. Lawerence, Oscar Wilde, E.M. Forster, Thomas Mann, Virginia Wolff; T.S. Elliot, Baudelaire, Lytton, Ezra Pound; Nietzsche and Freud. When one contemplates the authority these people had over their disciples, the position of Wagner, in terms of all aspects of modern thought, truly staggers the mind, and lends credit to Magee's conclusion that "...Wagner has had greater influence than any other artist on our culture of the age."
PERFORMANCE: The greatest compositions can never reach true interpretation, according to Magee; each conductor brings something different to the performance, and only reaches an approximation of that on paper - even the creator fails to achieve a definitive performance! Magee also goes into depth about what is needed to properly stage a Wagner spectacle, and uses the model of Bayreuth's opera house, constructed by the composer himself, as the epitome surroundings. Wagner set the orchestra out-of-sight, so as not to distract the audience from the on-stage drama; he arranged the acoustics of the opera house to give emphasis to the words, with the music hovering beneath as counterpoint and ambient emphasis. Another issue in this essay is the conflict that arises in non-German speakers listening to Wagner. With the text so critical to the overall appreciation, and the differences of semantic inflection taken into account, there are two choices: learn German, or seek out the better translations that, although conforming to the grammar, sometimes lose the power of meaning.
MUSIC: Magee criticizes the (then) contemporary adaptation of Wagner's sound-cycles to politically-correct allegory. Wagner deliberately utilized myth and archetypes to simplify the narrative and give emphasis on emotional undercurrents; using it as critical commentary on current issues (1960's) was, to Magee, a debasement of Wagner's ideal. Magee also notes how difficult it is to write about the music ~itself~: thus the glut of media talking about every aspect of Wagner *except* that which he is most famous for, that which firmly set his place on the Romantic pantheon!
This book serves as an insightful analysis of Wagner, in all his complexities and contradictions. Recommended for the student of the classical Canon.
Brilliant.......2003-05-10
This penetrating essay on Wagner's works is deceptively brief. Magee's analysis is brilliant and right on target. He manages to say in a few well chosen words what other books ramble on about for pages. This book is well written, authoritative, and masterful. I can't recommend it highly enough.
Book Description
Peace, Conflict, and Violence brings together the key concepts, themes, theories, and practices that are defining peace psychology as we begin the 21st century. This comprehensive book is rooted in psychology, but includes a wide range of interpersonal, community, national and international contexts, multiple levels of analysis from micro to macro, and multi-disciplinary perspectives. It reflects the breadth of the field and captures the main intellectual currents in peace psychology. Presents 4 main currents: violence, social inequalities, peacemaking, and the pursuit of social justice. Contains a wide range of topics, including ethnic conflict, family violence, hate crimes, militarism, conflict management, social justice, nonviolent approaches to peace, and peace education. Ideal for readers interested in peace education, international studies, psychology, political science, anthropology, and sociology.
Customer Reviews:
Brilliant.......2004-10-21
This book covers the connections between how we think and behave as individuals and communities and the larger political and cultural contexts to further understanding of the aspects that maintain violence and the 7 core feature that promote peace.
Book Description
Release the power of the Church in the marketplace!
Peter Wagner, "faith and work movement" expert, shares the most significant paradigm shift since the Reformation: bridge-building between the nuclear church and the extended church. But there's a gap between the once-a-week church and the church in the workplace. Creating Harmony between these two powerful forces allows believers in both realms to fulfill their God-given mandates.
God's people make up the Church every day, not just on Sunday. On the other six days, we transform into the "extended church." Wagner's comprehensive volume shows Christians how to expand their vision and live out their faith both on the clock and in the pews.
Jesus ministered in the marketplace. So should we. But the culture won't be transformed unless it happens through us. The Church in the Workplace is a comprehensive guide to workplace transformation and will help you understand your call to service, to sense that God stands ready to anoint your work.
All Christians, no matter the task or employer, can grasp God's authority and power when they see their job as a holy invitation to claim souls for the Kingdom.
Customer Reviews:
Faith and Work Movement Expert?.......2006-07-15
It's difficult to be succinct with a review when the book in question covers so much "debatable" ground. This is the case with Wagner's latest, The Church in the Workplace.
To be fair, Wagner seems to have his heart in the right place. He thoroughly believes that the church must be "extended" out of the sanctuary and into the workplace. He echoes the thoughts of many (myself included) when he argues that the "clergy/laity" chasm has done more harm than good and that the one who serves God in the 9-5 is just as much a minister as the professional pastor.
But it's in the details where Wagner throws caution to the wind and comes off very UN-scholarly for a former Fuller prof.
So, before you buy this book, be aware that Wagner is attempting to establish a new way of thinking for many believers, a shift that mimics his own theological journey since leaving Fuller. This new paradigm includes:
1. A shift from premillenial theology (the Kingdom of God is still to come) to Dominion or "Kingdom Now" theology (the Kingdom has already come but the church is not taking advantage of it).
2. A shift in mission for the church (from "making disciples" to "social transformation")
3. A shift in church government (from all current forms to the "New Apostolic Reformation")
4. A shift in economic philosophy (from a cautious and often complex view of biblical economics to a full-fledged, unashamed approach to the "prosperity gospel" endorsed by many Charismatics).
It may be hard to believe for some, but the list above is not hidden between the lines of the text. Wagner boldly and unapologetically seeks to make the case for each of these ideas, often times mutilating key passages of Scripture in the process.
To his credit, though, Wagner admits to being a "doctrinal minimalist" and to being more concerned about "pragmatics" than "theology or exegesis."
So if you're looking for a solid, biblical mandate for the faith@work movement, this is the wrong place to look. Instead, Wagner spends his energy trying to establish a "phenomenological" argument for his theory of why social transformation must take place but has yet to come to fruition. The key, according to Wagner, is power and money. Once "workplace apostles" are in position and wielding their proper "God-given authority," they can begin the process of transferring wealth out of the "world" and into the Kingdom of God.
If the above points inspire you, then you'll love Wagner's book and you should buy it now. If you are concerned by some of the points above, then you might want to drop by your local bookstore to browse through the book before coming back and making your Amazon purchase.
Book Description
If you've given up hope that anyone would ever understand the depth of your love for animals, or your profound grief when you lose them, take heart. The support you've been yearning for may be right here.
With extraordinary empathy and love, The Legacies of Love audiobook brings all animal lovers a compelling message of hope and renewal during their time of loss. The author's healing and gentle voice leads the listener through a journey of understanding, grief and how animal loss is different.
Listeners learn not only how to survive and cope through loss, but to navigate their way to truly heal and find meaningful growth. They are guided through a magical meditation with an original score of soothing music.
For anyone who deeply loves and grieves animals, Legacies of Love will be a nurturing and powerful part of their healing journey.
This audiobook provides comfort and healing for the hearts of all people who love animals, including those for whom animals are not merely pets, but full family members, equal spiritual partners in life.
Customer Reviews:
Great source of comfort.......2003-02-27
For those who have ever loved and lost a beloved, this guide is a great source of comfort. Sensitive and heartwarming, a wonderful gift when words just are not appropriate. The unconditional love of a pet is such a source of joy, but when we lose them, the heartache can be unbearable. Having been there, I understand how paralyzing grief can be. Arlene Millman...
For Those Deeply Grieving, You Have Found Help.......2002-03-30
Purchasing "Legacies of Love" was perhaps one of the best things I could have done to help me through my grief after losing my precious dog on 3/7/02. It has only been a few weeks, and I listen to Teresa's soothing voice and comforting words every day to get through this "coping" period. Her validation that deep grieving over pet loss is undervalued by many on-lookers and "supporters", but completely normal to those of us grieving, brought a sense of peace during a time when there are so many emotions. Those who have lost their companion(s) and don't know how they will go on, will find Teresa's tapes a tremendous source of comfort and graceful inspiration. In honor of my beloved Pupster, I have purchased two additional sets of "Legacies of Love" to donate to my veterinarian's office in the hope that someone facing deep grief after losing their animal will find as much comfort in her words and wisdom as I have.
Soothing.......2001-11-27
Very soothing voice, tone and message. She really helps the hurt and I am glad I made this purchase. I will share it with others and recommend it. I only wish there was a bit more insight into the religious side of loss - something that I could know was of God. Still - excellent.
Deeply caring message and a practical support tool.......2000-10-07
This tape provides important comfort and guidance during one of life's
most difficult experiences. Don't miss it.
Meaningful, and deaply healing.......2000-07-12
Haveing lost my beloved mare in a tragic, unexpected accedent, I have been lost and confused. It can be difficult to find someone who understands just how painful it can be to loose a close friend that happens to have four legs.
Teresa understands. She knows what it is like, and her voice is like a soothing guide to recovery. The tapes are filled with information and guidence, as well as personal experiences. I found them to be profoundly healing as I began to accept her death, and learn to get past coping. If you have experienced the death of your animal friend, you won't be sorry you bought this.
This would also be a welcome gift for those who have lost their animal friends.
Book Description
What is joy? What isn't joy? And most important, how can we experience it?
After all, isn't that what we long for--something that goes beyond a smiley face and takes hold of the fullness Jesus promised his followers? C. S. Lewis said he was "surprised by joy," but the reality is that most Christians today are just plain confused by it. While paying lip service to joy, we replace it in favor of a cheap substitute--happiness.
In The Myth of Happiness, Rich Wagner dispels our misconceptions and reveals the true nature of biblical joy. He wrestles honestly with the tough questions many of us wonder but haven't known how to ask. Is joy anything more than a plastic smile? Can we experience joy while battling fear and uncertainty? Are Christians honestly expected to "count it all joy," rejoicing in the midst of turmoil and tragedy? Can real joy possibly live up to the hype?
Joy transforms. It's God's most tangible gift available to believers this side of heaven. Wagner debunks the myth of happiness and helps us receive the unquenchable joy Christ promises.
Customer Reviews:
Incredible insight - this book figures it out for us!.......2007-04-19
Just when you thought you couldn't figure out why you weren't "happy" all the time, along comes this book...get it, read it, and buy two more copies to give to others...make sure they read it, too.
Book Description
This fascinating exchange between two of the most prominent figures in contemporary culture, Daniel Barenboim, Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, and Edward W. Said, the eminent literary critic and scholar and a leading expert on the Middle East, grew out of the acclaimed Carnegie Hall Talks. A unique and impassioned discussion about politics and culture, it touches on many diverse subjects: the importance of a sense of place; the differences between writing prose and music; the conductors Wilhelm Fürtwangler and Arturo Toscanini; Beethoven as the greatest sonata composer; the difficulty of playing Wagner; the sound at Bayreuth; the writers Balzac, Dickens, and Adorno; the importance of great teachers; and the power of culture to transcend all national and political differences——something they both witnessed when they brought together young Arab and Israeli musicians to play at Weimar in 1999.
Although Barenboim and Said have very different points of view, they act as catalysts for each other. The originality of their ideas makes this a book that is both accessible and compelling for anyone who is interested in the culture of the twenty-first century.
Customer Reviews:
Parallels and Paradoxes.......2007-02-07
I never received this book. Your earlier message said it was sent the middle of January but to day it was not received. Please track for me. David Fine
Mildly interesting, but we've sorta been here before.......2004-09-10
This book encompasses a series of talks between conductor Daniel Barenboims and writer Edward Said just before the turn of the millenium. It is short and an easy read, and to my mind doesn't really go anywhere bold or surprising. If you've seen intervies with Barenboim before--on 60 Minutes, for example, or on the several conductor and pianist DVDs on which he appears--you've heard him say much of this before--music is the opposite of silence and it is not the printed page but rather the notes the of the orchestra that are the composition. He also talks about such subjects as the "velocity" of music (a subject distinct from tempo) and the interrelation between music and politics. It is here in particular that he and Said go off on all sorts of tangents about the Israel-Palestine peace process (a process that has since basically collapsed), as well as the role of anti-Semitism in Germany, in Wagner's time, Hitler's time and now. Again, I've heard this before from Barenboim and Said many times--the difference between Wagner's ideals and Wagner's art and whether the two are separable, and so forth.
The most interesting chapter to me was the last, where both men made a very persuasive argument that classical music is dying or dead because of a narrowing of our cultural and intellectual life, especially in America, excluding anything universal and to limiting one's knowledge deliberately to a narrow sphere. It's virtually a proud provincialism, reinforced and encouraged by our consumerism culture that discourages critical thinking and expanding horizons, prefering sheep to minds. Wisely, neither man professes to have "the solution" but they do show how it's hard to really grasp the message of Beethoven this way, and I feel they have a strong point, one you won't find dealt with in most classical magazines or programs, as they too are an encouragement of a sort of mindless capitalism (disguised as "Art").
However, the best thing I can say about this volume is it refers often to the writings of Theodore Adorno, whose dense essays, though in some cases dated, are far far more penetrating and interesting than the rather pedestrian concepts bandied about here. At least this book is inexpensive and a quick read, so if you're curious it can't hurt to check it out. However, this volume will be taken to the second-hand shop the next time I go weeding through my stuff. For those of you who think you may be interested in this, and who don't mind thick, densely-written books, check out Adorno's "Essays on Music," also available from Amazon.
The meaning and value of music.......2004-01-25
I was very excited to read a book written by one of my favorite 20th century intellectuals and one of my favorite pianists. This is not a musicology text; it is perhaps, something more valuable than that. Edward Said, who died recently, was a pianist himself; this fact combined with his explorations into the meaning of democracy and social culture made reading this book a very interesting proposition alone. The book did not disappoint and offered many surprises both in terms of exploring what classical music can offer to contemporary culture and what music - especially Beethoven's music - means in political terms. The book is organized as a series of conversations in which Baremboim and Said discuss topics that include the apparent detachment that classical music has today from the rest of culture as opposed to the time when an understanding and admiration for it was deemed indispensable for the educated and higher classes. However, what makes the book a pleasure to read is one one level Said and Baremboim clealry love music passionatley, on the other Baremboim is an Israeli citizen, who was the first to perform in the occupied Territories with a palestinian orchestra and also sponsored a Palestinian orchestra to play inn Germany. Edward Said was an intellaetcual that argued passionatley for the Palestinian cause. Their firendship and coomon interest in music offers an undeniable sense of hope for those of us, like myself, who are troubled by the ongiong Arab-Israeli conflict that appears to worsen ebery day. That this hope should be nunaced and coloured with the music of Beethoven seems to be not only fascinating and beautiful, but a tribute to a composer who saw and used music to shake the world and argue for freedom. In so doing baremboim and Said discuss the possibility that music can serve as a model or for undertsanding between peoples and global citizenship. They are both idealists in this sense, but their vision makes beautiful sense nonetheless.
Two cultures, one uniting force.......2003-06-17
Having heard Barenboim and Said interviewed on NPR I rushed to Amazon to acquire this book. I was not disppointed! These are highly literate men, wise men, who see music in a social context. Although their roots are Israeli and Palestinian, their exposure to other cultures has broadened their perspectives so that their opinions are informed by their experiences in Egypt, Argentina, America, Germany, Israel, etc. The continuing theme is music, especially that of Beethoven and later Wagner, but in the context of their societies and ours. It may be that the hope forpeace in the world is shared music!
A Book So Full.......2002-12-17
If there is a book that presents valuable and valid lessons in how to resolve differences, be they in attitudes towards the arts, the lack of music in our educational system, the etiology of the Israeli/Palestinian dichotomy, and so much more, then this collection of conversations between Daniel Barenboim and Edward W. Said as edited and synthesized by Ara Guzelimian is it. This powerful but too brief book reaches for the Nobel Peace Prize in its courage, exploration of the state of man and the possibilities for the future, and in its tremendously accessible format that makes the workings of these three great minds available for us all. Each of the extended conversations taped betaween 1995 and 1999 addresses an interesting topic that serves to open vistas that go far beyond the crux of the topic. Hearing Barenboim expound on the fact that no one can exactly interpret a composer's score because the spirit is not on the page but in the making and experiencing the 'sound' that happens in a live performance rather obliterates all critics who descry individual interpretation of the great composers as "not the composer's intention!" Said carries this into the realm of literature, suggesting that contemporary writers are where they are because of the giants of the past and that we, as readers, are influenced in our interpretation of new work dependent upon our exposure and digestion of works by the old masters. Contemporary music by composers such as Carter, Schoenberg, and Birtwistle are discussed in a way that assists our concept of listening and learning in the concert hall. Similar parallels and similar paradoxes in the international political arena are given the same level of inspiring dialog and paths to understanding. This is a fine, fine book and we are indebted to Ara Guzelimian not only for his written and conversational contributions, but for persevering in having this volume published. Read this and gain insight and intelligence on many streams of thought that will help us all save this planet.
Book Description
A revealing and affectionate account of the personal and political lives of the left-wing screenwriters, directors, and actors behind Hollywood's Golden Age. The first comprehensive book about Hollywood's future blacklistees and the hundreds of films they wrote or directed from the dawn of sound movies to the early 1950s, Radical Hollywood traces the political and personal lives of the activists along with the often-decisive impact of their work upon American film's Golden Age. A highly readable, anecdotal history, featuring an insert of classic film stills, , Radical Hollywood describes the story-behind-the-story of such famous films as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Casablanca, and Woman of the Year, alongside such campy items as The Adventures of Captain Marvel, Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror, and Kiss the Blood off My Hands. Genres like crime and women's films, family cinema, war, animation and, above all, film noir are reconsidered here, with fresh evidence drawn from interviews and recent archival breakthroughs. A long-awaited rediscovery of an overlooked intellectual-artistic milieu, , Radical Hollywood will interest all film-lovers and devotees of political culture. 16 pages b/w photographs.
Films discussed include: The Adventures of Captain Marvel • The Big Clock • Body and Soul • Back Door to Heaven • Blues in the Night • Cabin in the Sky • Caged • Casablanca • Champion • Deadline at Dawn • Destry Rides Again • The Devil-Doll • Diplomaniacs • Dynamite • Frankenstein • G. I. Joe • Give Us This Day • Gun Crazy • High Noon • Hitler's Children • Hold That Ghost • Honky Tonk • Keeper of the Flame • Kiss the Blood off My Hands • Kitty Foyle • Lassie, Come Home • The Lawless • Life with Father • The Long Night • The Maltese Falcon • The Man Who Reclaimed His Head • Marked Woman • Mayor of Hell • Meet the People • Mission to Moscow • Monsieur Verdoux • Mr. Smith Goes to Washington • None but the Lonely Heart • Our Vines Have Tender Grapes • Phantom Lady • The Philadelphia Story • A Place in the Sun • The President's Mystery • Pride of the Marines • The Public Enemy • Ruthless • The Sea Hawk • Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror • Stella Dallas • Stormy Weather • The Story of G.I. Joe • Talk of the Town • Theodora Goes Wild • The Thin Man • Thirty Seconds over Tokyo • A Tree Grows in Brooklyn • Watch on the Rhine • The Wizard of Oz • Woman of the Year
Customer Reviews:
Hollywood's Travels -- and Travails.......2004-03-29
Radical Hollywood, by Paul Buhle and David Wagner, is an exhaustively (if at times exhaustingly) comprehensive and, as far as I can tell, mostly accurate (if at times chronologically confusing) catalog of the many U.S. motion pictures created during the brief cinematic "Golden Age" from roughly the beginning of the New Deal to the onset of the Cold War by what could loosely be called the Hollywood Left -- or the Left in Hollywood, such as it was.
The fact, though, that Buhle and Wagner had to write a book largely to explain the alleged "radical" subtext in these films by their non-monolithic screenwriters illustrates how the "threat" posed to U.S. society (read: the capitalist class) by such pictures was wildly exaggerated by right-wing anti-communists for political reasons. (Was Lassie Come Home, for example, going to undermine the foundations of capitalism simply because it was adapted for the screen by a Communist?) And yet, maybe that perceived subtlety (where present, enforced perhaps at least as much by studio economics and cultural restraints as by national politics) was the kind of "subversion" the inquisitors found so dangerous to the interests of the social class they actually represented.
Or maybe it was a case of guilt by either membership or association, with the work of any Communist -- or anyone associated however remotely with a Communist or the Communist Party -- being cast under suspicion, whatever the nature of his or her work. But just as Freud is reputed to have said that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, sometimes, say, an expressly comedic film is just that, and nothing more. And even from a Leftist perspective, that is not necessarily bad. Consider, though, Sullivan's Travels, which oddly political yet intriguing picture instead of self-consciously being "an answer to communism," actually makes a case for it in spite of itself, and which despite its intentions (or perhaps because of them), may be more politically effective than many a more tendentiously political piece of cinema, even when the title character keenly observes that, "There's a lot to be said for making people laugh," it being "all some people have." (Curiously, the opening scene-within-a-scene of this 1941 comedy -- written and directed by Preston Sturges, who, like this film, is not mentioned by Buhle and Wagner nor is he identified by them as being a part of the Hollywood Left community -- anticipated the ending of the 1948 drama Ruthless, co-scripted by one of the Hollywood Ten and discussed by the authors.) Indeed, there is nothing inherently wrong or reactionary with making people laugh, provided one sees that culture can and should be for the edification as well as the entertainment of the public. And this is where skilled and honest Leftist cultural workers are in their element. But just as an artist must elect to fight for freedom or slavery, according to the great Paul Robeson, so, ultimately, must an artist's audience.
However, Buhle and Wagner betray a kind of not so much discernibly anti-communist as anti-Communist (or anti-Communist Party) subtext of their own throughout the book -- typical of that tendency of neo-Left thought developing in the 1960s which, by intent or in effect, sought the very break with the historical continuity of the Communist Left that Buhle and Wagner see as a consequence of the Hollywood blacklist, as when they blame "Party bureaucrats" for the demise of the Hollywood Left (or what passed for it), when were it not for the (albeit imperfect) agency of the Communist Party (often in the midst of internal struggle as well as external attack, the effect of the former evidently not sufficiently and fairly understood or appreciated by the authors), most of those who became the radical screenwriters and filmmakers of Hollywood would likely never have even thought of attempting what they somehow managed in some form to bring to the movie screen.
A fascinating journey.......2003-10-03
"Radical Hollywood" is both fabulously entertaining and enlightening. For movie fans (who isn't) and students of American history, it provides a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the radical politics of the directors, screen writers, and actors who were part of the Hollywood mainstream until McCarthyism drove them out. When you reflect on the greatness of their work, you realize that the witch-hunt was our loss as well as theirs.
The cover photo of "Radical Hollywood" suggests that many of these figures were not ordinarily associated with the left. With James Cagney placing his hand somewhat menacingly on Jean Harlow in "The Public Enemy", you have to wonder what the connection is. As it turns out, the script was written by William Bright, who was one of the first left-wing innovators in Hollywood. Hailing from Chicago, he was part of a group of youngsters around Dr. Ben Reitman, Emma Goldman's longtime lover. During the Great Depression, he worked for a time as a smalltime bootlegger and was inspired by this experience to write about criminal life, emphasizing how social relations are distorted by capitalism.
Cagney threw his support to the burgeoning labor movement in the 1930s on Bright's prompting. He signed on to a support committee for strikers in the San Joaquin Valley in 1934. When the Hearst press began to redbait Cagney, he pulled back from future involvement with the left. If witch-hunting had not been a factor in Hollywood from the beginning, it is not too difficult to imagine much more willingness on the part of movie stars to speak out on social and political questions.
To see how figures such as Ed Asner, Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn are stigmatized in the equivalent of the Hearst press today for having the temerity to speak out about US foreign policy, you can only appreciate the scholarly effort that went into "Radical Hollywood". For in the final analysis its authors demonstrate that radicalism is very much a phenomenon that grew out of the American soil and was not imported by agents of a foreign power.
Man the pumps, it's too thin to shovel.......2003-01-17
It's quite true that the authors' knowledge of Hollywood film history is encyclopedic, and this alone makes the book an indispensable reference to the stories behind the stories of innumerable great and less-than-great films. Described elsewhere as "the Abbott and Costello of film studies," these two spew forth gallons of embarrassingly wrongheaded and outmoded leftie humbug; nevertheless this is exactly what makes their work so useful. Yes, all those "paranoid" right-wingers were right all along about the real motives and agendas in Hollywood "back then." And not much has changed...it's still "Fantasyland" in more ways than one, which ought to be an important clue to the etiology of leftism. My only real objection to this work is that being so thoroughly deluded by their own political fantasies as they are, the authors attempt to claim almost everyone in Hollywood as a real, potential, or lapsed leftie, whether or not there was ever much actual evidence of it...a kind of triple-reverse McCarthyism. One final tip: buy this book second-hand. I'd hate to think I'd given one red cent (no pun intended) to either of these authors or their publisher.
Encyclopedic.......2002-07-19
This is a good look at the often ignored early radicals of hollywood. It gives a good history of the time leading up to and the aftermath of the Blacklist and it's antisemitic tendencies. Paul Buhle, et al seem to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the subject but I found their method of sharing the information a little overwhelming and pedantic. Every page is dotted with references to very obscure films, many with alternative titles, that are impossible to find. It's difficult to envision many of the situations and influential aspects of the films when you can find no more information on them much less see them. Taking all of the authors information on faith is not the usual film studies method. In contrast to many books about hollywood this one dosn't have many salacious details about harlets and moguls. I would recommend this book to serious film/hollywood history buffs only.
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Basic Intro to Themes and Plot of Wagner's Ring.......2005-09-30
Jean Shinoda Bolen's book on Wagner is appropriately titled - with a complete absence of poetry, it is what it is. The only amendment I could propose would be to add the phrase "A Brief Introduction to" at the beginning.
Full disclosure -- I found Ms. Bolen's book after my first "work-through" of the Karajan recording of the complete Ring, and I was eager to delve deeper into Wagner's titanic opera. Bolen's work is fine, as far as it goes, but it doesn't go very far.
A brief book (around 200 pages, with very large type), "Ring of Power" restricts itself to the visual and textual aspects of Wagner's opera. Divided into four main chapters -- one for each of the operas of the Ring -- "Ring of Power" provides a brief plot synopsis of each opera followed by an exploration of some of the Jungian themes contained in the opera. The synopses are workmanlike and relatively thorough textual analyses, and I can safely say that I have a clearer picture of the action than after listening to the opera on CD.
The exploration of Jungian themes is a bit difficult to swallow at times. Bolen relates many of the ideas Wagner explores (sacrificing love for power, the problems of patriarchy, the insidious impact of child abuse, etc.) to her current practice as clinical psychologist (or some other mental health professional -- sorry, Ms. Bolen). It is rather jarring to juxtapose one of the most titanic, mythic operas to some of the "crises" Ms. Bolen witnesses in her practice, which seem just so mundane. Ms. Bolen defends her analogies and her theories as much as she needs to in this brief work, but even this solidly-written book cannot be considered to have the heft of actual "proof."
The most jarring omission from "Ring of Power" is a near-complete absence of any discussion of the role of music. We are talking opera here, and one of the defining works of the genre. Wagner's musical achievements in the Ring have been documented over and over, and Ms. Bolen virtually ignores this subject. The end result is that she reduces Wagner's Ring to a story -- a powerful one, to be sure, but an opera is so much more than its storyline.
For those, like me, who are new to this wonder that is Wagner's Ring, Ms. Bolen's book is a fine exploration of some of the basic plot points and themes. I am no student of Jung, so I really wasn't too jazzed about the analogies to Ms. Bolen's patients, although some were more interesting than others. However, the scope of this book is too limited for it to qualify as a suitable "companion" to the Ring or an exploration of all the ideas -- both textual and musical -- contained in this wondrous creation.
Donington redux, from a female point of view.......2004-05-19
While reading Donington's brilliant analysis of Wagner's Nibelungenring, I often feel that he has a blind spot for women's psychology and experiences. This is most evident in how all the female (as well as some male) characters are generally seen as mere aspects of the central, male psychology of Wotan. My question was, does this blindness come from Donnington, or from Wagner? To answer this question, I went looking for a woman's interpretation of the Ring, and I found Bolen's. In short, Bolen's book shows that Wagner's insight into female psychology goes further than what Donington reveals.
Bolen's background is in clinical psychology, and this colours her analysis. Where Donington sees the cast of the Ring as aspects of one single (male) psychology, Bolen sees it as a dysfunctional family ruled by a narcissistic patriarch. In a way she falls into a trap which is very similar to Donington's, as she reduces Wotan to a one-dimensional character whose relevance is only that of the guilty party in the dysfunction of the whole "family". However, the proof of the pudding is whether her analysis rings true, and for me she does shed new light on this story that has been with me for a long time.
As an example I will mention what is perhaps the most difficult part of the story to understand at a psychological level, Siegfried's betrayal of Brunhilde. In Bolen's analysis, Siegfried, having been brought up by Mime, has never experienced love, but merely the pretense of love. When he meets Brunhilde, he is therefore unable to understand the depth of emotion that she has for him. While he benefits from her love, he does not understand the degree to which his commitment to her is expected and required, since the only other "love" he has experienced was that of Mime, which contained no commitment at all. This makes Siegfried able to betray.
She then compares Siegfried's encounter with the Gibichungs to that of a social climber, noting how Siegfried, like Gunther and Gutrune, stand to gain in social standing by their association. Surrounded by members of a higher social class, to which he want to gain entry, Siegfried now also has the incentive to betray Brunhilde, which he does. To me, this way of looking at the story is refreshingly different from Donington's, yet based on a similar psychological foundations, and in no way in conflict with it.
Bolen is not a long-time "Ring-head" (to use her own phrase), the book appears to have been written rather soon after a powerful first encounter with Wagner's work. For instance, she makes a point of Gunther attempting to avert Hagen's murder of Siegfried --- something that I don't believe is in Wagner's text, but which may have been done at the particular Ring production she happened to see. The analysis is based almost entirely on the story and the libretto (and on Donington as well), and makes few references to the music. She does not have Donington's complete mastery of the text, the music and Wagner's biography (including factual errors like saying that the Ring was written in four years). What she does bring is a feminist viewpoint, as well as many convincing examples of modern day situations that may produce similar dysfunctions to the ones she sees in the Ring. Bolen's text does in no way replace Donningtons, but it makes a valuable companion to it, one that for me filled a gaping hole in that otherwise invaluable text. To me, this book opens up the parts of the Ring that is outside of my personal experience as a man, and I would imagine it might also be a good point of entry for women into the world of the Ring.
A simplistic interpretation, at best.......2002-05-14
This is the kind of book which would have some appeal to devotees of the typical 'feminist spirituality'. Unfortunately, her appeals to the 'ancient matriarchy' are ahistorical, and her analysis of the Ring itself simple. A book does not need to be intensely musical, but the opera itself is rather neglected. The story can be made to fit into the Jungian paradigm, but only by a very selective reading of the poetry, which neglects the richness of the Ring. If you have to go Jungian, go with Donington. Better yet, go with Deryck Cooke for an introduction.
Jung, Women & Wagner: A Powerful Trio.......2001-11-27
I won't launch into an academic review or a precise of the story. Suffice to say that this is a wonderful book. For 30 - something women, particularly who identify with a patriarchal 'Wotan' figure and his defiant daughter (Brunnhilde) who forsakes wealth and power for love, this is a journey with which you will be familiar. And a wonderfully warm insight into what can be acheived by such women should they take some risks and act from their hearts! Many books have been written on the suppression of the feminine in society but this multi faceted gem allows a glimpse of so many layers of understanding in such an accessible way that it is irresistible. A peek at Carl Jung, an introduction to the genius of Wagner, the insights of the mythologies and the interpretation and storytelling genius of Jean Shinoda Bolen. If nothing else, this book is good value! So much in one package - a rare find these days indeed!
Cold Wind To Valhalla.......2001-11-14
Certainly one of Bolen's most essential works. Ring Of Power provides a valuable guide to Wagner's classic Ring Cycle, yet it is Bolen's grasp of the archetypal basis for the mythology that gives the book its power.
All creation comes from an archetypal base, and in The Ring, it is the symbolic sacrificing of the Sacred Feminine that drives the entire story. This principle is fundamental to many pieces, including Faust, the Grail legends and even Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
In each case, only the restoration of that which has been sacrificed in a Faustian pact can make healing occur. Bolen's genius is never clearer than in this book, and it was pivotal to the concluding sections of my own book, Sirius Moonlight: The Origins Of The Suppression Of The Feminine.
I would strongly recommend Ring Of Power, and indeed all of Bolen's works - especially her autobiographical Crossing To Avalon. People who doubt the importance of Thinking Person's Feminism might consider this... 84 years ago Jean Shinoda Bolen would not have been able to vote, own her own house or inherit property from her father. Like every other woman in the highly civilized English-speaking world.
My own book is dedicated to the nine million women who were murdered by the Church during the Inquisition, for such heinous crimes as being midwives and healers. Lest we forget. If the patriarchal Valhalla is now burning, all I can say is pass the gasoline. Good job, Jean.
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Freshwater Prawn Culture: The Farming of Macrobrachium Rosenbergii
Michael B. New , and
Wagner Cotroni Valenti
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishing Limited
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Book Description
Edited by two world authorities on freshwater prawn farming and comprising the contributions of more than twenty distinguished, international experts selected from the scientific, development and commercial sectors, this new text is destined to become the definitive work on the culture of Macrobrachium rosenbergii.All aspects of the biology, culture techniques, health, nutrition genetics, marketing, economics and management are covered, including the sustainability of freshwater prawn farming compared with marine shrimp farming.
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- Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd: The inventories of the Wardrobe of Robes prepared in July 1600, edited from Stowe MS 557 in the British Library, MS LR 2/121 in the Public Record Office, London, and MS V.b.72 in the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington DC
- Residential and Light Commercial Construction Standards: The All-In-One, Authoritative Reference Compiled from Major Building Codes, Recognized Trade Custom, Industry Standards
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
- Savage Kingdom: The True Story of Jamestown, 1607, and the Settlement of America
- South Park Conservatives: The Revolt Against Liberal Media Bias
- Sugar Shock!: How Sweets and Simple Carbs Can Derail Your Life-- and How YouCan Get Back on Track
- Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation: A History of Literary Paris in the Twenties and Thirties
- The Absorbent Mind
- The Annotated Pride and Prejudice
- The Battle of Gettysburg: A Guided Tour
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