History & Criticism Books - Page 12

The Cult of Alien Gods: H.P. Lovecraft And Extraterrestial Pop Culture

Jason Colavito

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Nearly half of all Americans believe in existence of extraterrestrials, and many are also convinced that aliens have visited Earth at some point in history. Included in such popular beliefs is the notion that so-called ancient astronauts (visitors from outer space) were responsible for wonders like the Pyramids. Shocking new evidence proves that the entire genre is based on fictional horror stories, whose author once wrote that they never wished to mislead anyone. In this entertaining and informative book, the author traces the origins of a belief in these visitors to the work of H P Lovecraft (1890-1937). This amazing tale takes the reader through 50 years of pop culture and pseudoscience highlighting a number of influential figures and developments. Beyond documenting Lovecraft's influence on ancient astronaut theories and Raelian cloning efforts, Colavito also argues that the appeal of such myths is a troubling sign on an age when science is having its greatest success. He suggests that at the dawn of the 21st century Western society is witnessing a deep-seated erosion of Enlightenment values that are the basis of a modern world.

The Valdemar Companion

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Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Disappointment 1 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

After much hesitation, I finally picked up The Valdemar Companion with a Christmas gift certificate. If you have read and enjoyed the Valdemar series, please DO NOT bother with this book. The novella was dull and tried to cram the training of a Herald (from age 12 to 20) in less than forty pages, a task which the author used to devote an entire trilogy. While perhaps, this 'average' Herald doesn't have enough importance to rate a series, I would have preferred to read a well developed story, with some character development rather than trite anecdotes. The interviews, travel section, and music section read as though they were slapped together in a hurry, if you really want to know about this series, ask someone who has read them instead. The music section listed only the ballad titles, I would have appreciated a re-print of the lyrics (which are found in the last book of the Arrow's, Oath, and Magic trilogies). Finally, the concordance, (a glossary of people and things) was incomplete at best, and inaccurate at worst. Minor walk on characters were given as much space as major players, there was no organization or cross reference of Heralds with their companions.
As a fan of the author I have been disapointed with her latest books (although I do recommend Exile's Honor, its probably the best released in the last five years) The concordance is not worth your money

Editorial Review:

Mercedes Lackey's novels of Valdemar are among the most popular-and best-selling-fantasy books in the world. This unique authorized guide to everything Valdemar includes:

€ A new Valdemar novella by Mercedes Lackey
€ An essay about Valdemar by Lackey herself
€ An exclusive interview with Mercedes Lackey
€ Detailed summaries of all the Valdemar novels
€ A complete overview of Valdemar's history
€ The various races, kingdoms and characters of Valdemar
€ The importance of magic in Valdemar
€ The roles of Heralds and Companions
€ The songs of Valdemar
€ Valdemar maps and artwork
€ Valdemar fan clubs

Phantasmagoria: Spirit Visions, Metaphors, and Media

Marina Warner

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Phantasmagoria explores ideas of spirit and soul since the Enlightenment; it traces metaphors that have traditionally conveyed the presence of immaterial forces, and reveals how such pagan and Christian imagery about ethereal beings are embedded in a logic of the imagination, clothing spirits in the languages of air, clouds, light and shadow, glass, and ether itself. Moving from Wax to Film, the book also discusses key questions of imagination and cognition, and probes the perceived distinctions between fantasy and deception; it uncovers a host of spirit forms--angels, ghosts, fairies, revenants, and zombies--that are still actively present in contemporary culture. It reveals how their transformations over time illuminate changing ideas about the self. Phantasmagoria also tells the accompanying story about the means used to communicate such ideas, and relates how the new technologies of the Victorian era were applied to figuring the invisible and the impalpable, and how magic lanterns (the phantasmagoria shows themselves), radio, photography and then moving pictures spread ideas about spirit forces. As the story unfolds, the book features the many eminent men and women--scientists and philosophers--who in the Society of Psychical Research applied their considerable energies to the question of other worlds and other states of mind: they staged trance seances in which mediums produced spirit phenomena, including ectoplasm. The book shows how this often embarrassing story connects with some of the important scientific discoveries of a fertile age, in psychology and physics.
Over a sequence of twenty-eight chapters, with over thirty illustrations in color and black and white, Phantasmagoria thus tells an unexpected and often uncomfortable story about shifts in thought about consciousness and the individual person, from the first public waxworks portraits at the end of the eighteenth century to stories of hauntings, possession, and loss of self as in the case of the zombie, a popular figure of soulessness, in modern times.

The Baum Plan for Financial Independence: and Other Stories

John Kessel

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

“These stories offer a sustained exploration of the ways gender dynamics can both empower and enslave us. Kessel’s wit sparkles throughout, peaking with the most uproariously weird phone-sex conversation you’ll ever read (‘The Red Phone’).” Grade: A- —Entertainment Weekly

“One of the best collections of the year.”—Locus

“These well-crafted stories, full of elegantly drawn characters, deliver a powerful emotional punch.”—Publishers Weekly

A long-awaited collection that intersects imaginatively with Pride and Prejudice, Frankenstein, The Wizard of Oz, and Flannery O’Connor. Includes John Kessel’s modern classic sequence about life on the moon.

Winner of the Nebula, Sturgeon, Locus, and Tiptree awards, John Kessel is the author of The New York Times Notable Book Meeting in Infinity. He co-edited the anthologies Feeling Very Strange and Rewired. Kessel and his family live in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he co-directs the creative writing program at North Carolina State University.

Spenser: The Faerie Queene (2nd Edition) (Longman Annotated English Poets)

A.C. Hamilton, Shohachi Fukuda, Hiroshi Yamashita, Toshiyuki Suzuki.

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Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Poetry -> Criticism

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Poetry sinks under the weight of scholarship 3 out of 5 stars.
18 of 25 people found this review helpful.

There's no question that this is a lot of book for the money, and it's an essential volume for the serious student. The introductory matter is a disappointment, though; instead of guiding us into this massive work with a view to our gaining pleasure from it, Hamilton gives us a dense and barely readable collection of quotations from other critics and cross-references to scholarly papers. Many of the footnotes in the text suffer from the same kind of high-priestly scholarship, mixed with a tendency to ferret out sexual symbolism wherever it can be found. There is plenty of information in the notes to clear up the inevitable confusion modern readers must experience, but at times one wishes a giant could wield a club without being followed by a tribe of commentators chattering about phalluses and biblical parallels.

In short, this volume contains all that is good and all that is bad about "literary criticism". It is illuminating for those who want to dig deeper into the meaning of the poem, but it takes a lot of fun out of the reading. After all, The Faerie Queene wasn't written to keep academics busy; it was an entertainment, to be read aloud in groups, and to inspire wonder and laughter.

My advice to those who are new to Spenser is to read the poem quickly, without worrying too much about full comprehension, and referring to the notes only occasionally. You may be surprised at how quickly the antiquated language (much of it idiosyncratic even in Spenser's day) becomes familiar to you. First learn to love the flow of words, the characters, the action, and the humor; later you can come back for deeper study.

Editorial Review:

/* LC275, 0-582-09951-X, Hamilton, A.C., Spenser: The Faerie Queene, Second Edition */ The first edition book of this book has become essential to the study of one of the seminal masterpieces of English literature. The Faerie Queen has influenced, inspired and challenged generations of writers, readers and scholars since its completion in 1596. And, due to its epic length, it is also one of the hardest to comprehend. In this fully revised second edition, the poem has been freshly annotated throughout, as has the additional material which includes a chronology, a letter to Raleigh, commendatory verses, and dedicatory sonnets. A list of characters and their appearances has been compiled by Shohachi Fakuda and the text has been newly edited by Hiroshi Yamashita and Toshiyuki Suzuki. Those wishing to read and/or better understand the Faerie Queene.

Codex Derynianus

Katherine Kurtz, Robert Reginald

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Good, but not quite up to Hype 3 out of 5 stars.
47 of 48 people found this review helpful.

As a dedicated reader of the Deryni books, I have been looking for a copy of this book -- the Holy Grail of the Deryni world -- for years. I was therefore very excited to find a new edition at my local bookstore. Now, don't get me wrong -- I enjoyed this book, which contains a lot of interesting information about the Eleven Kingdoms...although most of the "new" information seems to be about Torenth and Ms. Kurtz's versions of the Roman and Byzantine Empires. But ignore the hyped descriptions of what this book is: it is primarily an A-Z encyclopedia of characters, places etc. in the books. The genealogies did not reveal much more than what is in the books, and frankly the maps were, IMHO, better in the books.

Worst amongst the misleading description found on the book (and in most professional reviews) is the claim that the book "is also an ambitious work of creative fiction as penned by Brother Theophilus from within the setting of the Eleven Kingdoms, providing original stories, vignettes, humorous pieces, serials, and poems that expand and enrich the Deryni universe." I'm not really sure where this was supposed to be. The "Brother Theophilus" material appears to be a relatively short prologue and epilogue. Amongst the enclopedia entries there are a couple lengthy entries that take the form of travelogues -- but they usually describe very minor characters or locations, which I found less interesting than they could have been.

The bottom line is that this is a good enclopedic listing of the characters and, to a lesser degree, the places of the Deryni Universe, but I would not buy it if you are looking for more than that.

Editorial Review:

In 1998, the first edition of Codex Derynianus was published in a limited edition that quickly became astronomically expensive. Now fans can have the entire text of that edition along with extensive new material. This encyclopedic overview details Katherine Kurtz's Deryni world, the setting of her 17-book saga that began with Camber of Culdi. and reveals many never-before-told details of the people, places, and objects of importance to the world of the magic-wielding Deryni. The book is packed with chronologies of events, genealogies of the peoples, and colorful maps of the Deryni world, exploring every aspect of the Eleven Kingdoms. In addition to being an authoritative reference, Codex Derynianus is also an ambitious work of creative fiction as penned by Brother Theophilus from within the setting of the Eleven Kingdoms, providing original stories, vignettes, humorous pieces, serials, and poems that expand and enrich the Deryni universe.

Private Woman, Public Stage: Literary Domesticity in Nineteenth-Century America (Galaxy Books)

Mary Kelley

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Editorial Review:

Kelley explores the lives and careers of 12 popular nineteenth-century women authors--including Harriet Beecher Stowe, Maria Sedgwick, and Susan Warner--highlighting the ways in which their personal lives intertwined with and informed the novels they wrote.

Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

But it's just a book for children... 5 out of 5 stars.
77 of 87 people found this review helpful.

That was often the comment I received when I wrote my senior thesis last fall about the Harry Potter series. Specifically, I wrote a feminist criticism of the series exploring the ways in which Hermione resists and reaffirms gender stereotypes--"Miss Smarty Pants," "The Damsel in Distress," etc. Although I am a huge fan of this series (even my dog's name is Muggle), I couldn't believe that I was the only adult concerned about issues of gender, class, and so forth in the books. So imagine my delight upon finding this book...until I realized it wouldn't be published until January 2003, and I was presenting my thesis on December 13, 2002. Not only is this a well-presented and organized collection of essays from a variety of perspectives, but it is also edited by the outstanding & very generous Dr. Heilman. I wrote personally to her about my paper (and dilemma), and she provided to me the working & yet unpublished copy of her essay dealing with gender issues. Luckily, the book was released ahead of schedule so I was able to cite from her published version. My own experience with this book aside, I highly recommend it to Harry fans who would enjoy thoughtful academic discourse on the series.

Editorial Review:

The Harry Potter books have become ubiquitous early texts for children, and are also a popular choice for many adults. Potter-mania has expanded to become a significant cultural phenomenon complete with a feature film and a wide range of paraphernalia. However, there has been little critical attention devoted to these books and the cultural phenomenon surrounding them. Containing powerful, thought-provoking literary themes as well as portrayals of social and cultural normalcy, the Potter books cumulatively serve as a powerful form of social text and deserve serious critical attention. Elizabeth Heilman brings together scholars from various disciplines to provide literary, cultural, sociological, and psychological examinations of the Harry Potter books as both cultural product and social text. DISCLAIMER: This book is not authorized, approved, licensed, or endorsed by J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., or anyone associated with the Harry Potter books or movies.

Target: A History of the Target Doctor Who Books

David Howe

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Editorial Review:

From 1973 until 1994, the Target Doctor Who paperbacks were a mainstay of the publishing world. From humble beginnings, they grew into a list running to 156 individual titles and selling over 13 million copies world-wide.

This is the story of Target Books. Noted researcher and historian David J Howe chronicles the origins of the imprint, speaking to all the major players in its development, from editors to art directors, managing directors to artists and authors, and charts the books' critical reception as well as the fortunes and failings of the many publishing houses involved in their production.

Profusely illustrated with all the covers, plus rare and unseen sketches and unused concepts and ideas, The Target Book is the definitive guide to a range of books which shaped the reading habits of a generation.

Introduction by writer Terrance Dicks.

J. R. R. Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth: Understanding Middle-Earth

Bradley J. Birzer

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Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A lot of value in a small volume 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.

This is an engaging and, considering its length, remarkably wide-ranging book. It would have to be, to live up to its subtitle -- "Understanding Middle-earth" -- as Middle-earth was the life work of a remarkably productive man. But Dr. Birzer has done a fine job. He has shown us the key, I believe, to unlocking the true richness, value, and depth of Tolkien's work. And he has put together a strong argument for Tolkien's place among the most significant Christian writers of the twentieth century.

When I first approached this title, I was afraid it might be like "The Parables of Peanuts," the well-known work that grafted more symbolism than Charles M. Schulz probably ever intended onto his classic tales of Charlie Brown and Snoopy. Or, even worse, that book (the name of which escaped me years ago) which tried to interpret "Star Wars" as a Christian allegory: Luke Skywalker = Protestant Christians; Han Solo = Catholic Christians; and so on.

Imagine my relief to discover that Dr. Birzer's work is richly grounded in Tolkien himself ... both his published works and his unpublished notes, manuscripts, and private letters. Much more than Birzer's own interpretations, what we get here are *Tolkien's* own meanings, interpretations, and intentions. That makes reading this a richly rewarding experience.

In my experience, the best books are the ones that I complete having compiled a new list of other titles I need to read too. "Sanctifying Myth" definitely fits into that category. It's a pointed reminder of all the other Christian Humanists I need to read, not to mention the (*ahem*) parts of the Tolkien bibliography itself I haven't yet read. And Dr. Birzer himself being a fine stylist as well as scholar, his name is on my list too.

Whether you're a Tolkien fan looking for new windows into a beloved world ... a Christian wondering whether hobbits and Elves are compatible with a Biblical worldview ... a literary critic seeking new insights ... a skeptic wondering what all the fuss is about ... or any combination of the above, I predict you'll find this a satisfying, even eye-opening read. I sure did.

Editorial Review:

Author Bradley Birzer offers a full and accessible treatment of Tolkien's Middle-earth mythology in Tolkien's trilogy the "Lord of the Rings, examining its religious symbolism and significance.