Book Description
Birds of East Africa is the first comprehensive field guide to this spectacular birding region--and one of the best to any region in the world. Covering all resident, migrant, and vagrant birds of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, this small and compact guide describes and illustrates a remarkable 1,388 species in convenient facing-page layout. Featuring 287 new color plates with 3,400 images painstakingly rendered by three experienced artists, the guide illustrates all the plumages and major races likely to be encountered. Set opposite the plates are range maps and concise accounts describing identification, status, range, habits, and voice for each species. Introductory sections provide notes on how to use the species accounts, the nomenclature adopted, conservation issues, where to send records, and maps of protected and other important bird areas.
Between them, Terry Stevenson and John Fanshawe have more than 40 years' experience leading bird tours and conducting conservation work in East Africa. The region shelters a remarkable diversity of birds, including many seriously threatened species with small and vulnerable ranges. The region's birds form a constantly colorful, noisy, and highly extroverted part of the landscape. The book is sure to become an indispensable guide for anyone interested in studying or conserving birds in East Africa, as well as the many visitors who simply want to enjoy the sheer beauty of its birds.
- First comprehensive field guide to the countries of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi
- Covers 1,388 species, with 3,400 color images on 287 plates
- Concise species accounts facing the plates describe appearance, status, range, habits, and voice
- A color distribution map is given for each species
- Information on habitats, protected areas, and conservation issues
- The essential guide to the birds of this spectacular region
- An overview of East African birds
- East African environment
- Seasonality
- Plumage
- Species accounts
- Common alternative names
- Conservation and threatened species
- The local scene
- Glossary, references, and an index
Key Features:
- Small and compact
- Comprehensive species
- All distinctive plumages and races illustrated
- Color plates
- Illustrations
- All species ranges mapped
- Key protected and important bird areas mapped
Customer Reviews:
Birds of East Africa Princeton Field Guide.......2007-09-20
At Last a concise well illustrated easy to manage field guide for bird watchers travelling to East Africa. Previous reviews although excellent are to heavy and bulky for international travellers with serious weight limitations on the luggage they are allowed.
The illustations are excellent and there is adequate factual information and good maps to accompany them.
Birds of East Africa book.......2007-07-03
This is a great book of African birds. Excellent plate pictures. Makes it very easy to identify. Book in excellent condition and received it as expected. Definitely would order from this seller again. Thanks.
Birds of east afrika.......2007-02-12
I was three weeks in Ethiopia and I took 1500 pgotos of Ethiopian birds during my trip. This book gave a magnificant basis for identifying and clssifying my material. Pictures are good, with good details and colours. I sincerally recommend this book to everybody who are interested in bird watching in East-Africa.
a must for the birder.......2007-01-17
everywhere you go in east africa you see birds. if you like them- you better be prepared for the trip! i got the guide a month before, and tried to get as familiar as possible with the birds before arriving to tanzania.
when we went on safari our guide pulled out his worn and faded zimmerman- the descriptions on one part, the illustrations on another and the distribution maps at the end. when i pulled my guide and gave him a try- he was very attached to his zimmerman but had to admit that the stevenson is indeed a worthy companion, with all the info about a species is on the same page...
compared to my european guide it is heavy and big- but the european contains only about 750 spp, while this one has more than 1200!
the illustrations are bright and clear.
i used it during my 30 day trip to tanzania and got more than 200 positive identifications, so i must go again to get the rest...
recommended!
Have guide book, will travel.......2006-11-05
This guide has the best illustrations of the 20+ bird guides I own. If any book can make the problem of learning and distinguishing the roughly 1400 species in the region - Uganda, Kenya, Tanganika, Rwanda, Burundi - possible, this book is the one. A little heavy for the field, but contains only the essential material: species accounts and range maps on the left page, illustrations on the right. Even after some study I will still have to refer to the guide to identify which of the 38 species of Cisticola I am looking at, but with this guide the chances are very good.
Average customer rating:
- Hawthorne the master of "the master" (Henry James)
- From a high school English teacher's P.O.V.
- The Scarlet Letter - should have been a short story
- A Review of The Scarlet Letter
- It was touching and really hit the spot!
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Nathaniel Hawthorne : Collected Novels: Fanshawe, The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables, The Blithedale Romance, The Marble Faun (Library of America)
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Manufacturer: Library of America
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Nathaniel Hawthorne : Tales and Sketches (Library of America)
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Herman Melville : Redburn, White-Jacket, Moby-Dick (Library of America)
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Washington Irving : History, Tales, and Sketches: The Sketch Book / A History of New York / Salmagundi / Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent. (Library of America)
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Henry David Thoreau : A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers / Walden; Or, Life in the Woods / The Maine Woods / Cape Cod (Library of America)
ASIN: 0940450089 |
Book Description
Here in one volume are all five of Nathaniel Hawthorne's world-famous novels. Written in a richly suggestive style that seems remarkably contemporary, they are permeated by America's and Hawthorne's own history. "The House of the Seven Gables" moves across 150 years from an ancestral crime condoned by the Puritan theocracy to a new beginning in the bustling and democratic Jacksonian era. Hawthorne's masterpiece, "The Scarlet Letter," is a dramatic allegory of the social consequences of adultery and the subversive force of personal desire in a community of laws. "The Blithedale Romance" explores the perils, which Hawthorne knew at first hand, of living in a utopian community, and the inextricability of political, personal, and sexual desires. "Fanshawe" is an engrossing apprentice work which Hawthorne published anonymously and later sought to suppress. "The Marble Faun," his last finished novel, involves mystery, murder, and romance among American artists in Rome.
Customer Reviews:
Hawthorne the master of "the master" (Henry James).......2006-11-24
I strongly agree with Richard's comments. Hawthorne should be read again and again throughout one's life. Even the great master of the novel, Henry James, found himself coming back time and again to Hawthorne as a touchstone of his creative imagination. We are fortunate to have dedicated teachers lead us through Hawthorne's work while we are teenagers, as adults we can read his work and appreciate it as a great work of art. Those who prefer to run through literature at a rapid pace would be better off staying with Marvel Comics. Library of America has provided a great service by publishing the Centenary Edition of Hawthorne in this beautiful edition. We are the better for it who can meditate deeply on the art and imagination of Nathaniel Hawthorne.
From a high school English teacher's P.O.V........2005-10-29
Please, whatever you do, don't categorize Hawthorne's (or any writer's) work as a long-winded relic from some gradeschool lit class. True, we English teachers are about the only folks left trying to keep this literature alive, but we do it because it's so worth preserving. I'll admit we do a disservice to Hawthorne by "forcing" young people to read it. Often a lack of maturity in the reader only translates to resentment for the writer, which in Hawthorne's case is a real shame. So you were "bored" by The Scarlet Letter when you were 15 years old... What a surprise... Has anything about you changed since then? Have you matured? Is there any possibility that you are more prepared today, as a thirty year old, to read, understand and appreciate Hawthorne's stories (and his brilliant style) than you were fifteen years ago? Give yourself some credit and give these great writers another try. You may be surprised at how deeply Hawthorne's insights into human nature cut after experiencing more of life yourself.
The Scarlet Letter - should have been a short story.......2004-12-29
I am going against the grain here but can anyone explain how this story can take so long to tell. Trying to enjoy the majority of American authors, Hawthornes works have not be an easy go. Though admittedly not a fan of Hawthornes full length works, his short stores can be enjoyable. But a book that begins with 28 pages of 'The Custom House', before the story even begins, is already very dull. I, like many other people, was forced to read this work for a sophomore literature class. That was 31 years ago and I still remember thinking what a moderately entertaining short story this would have made. In its form, its unbearable.
A Review of The Scarlet Letter.......2002-03-15
The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, will intreset readers who like romance and drama. In this novel, not only does romance and drama appear, but questions of morals of the characters. Also, the novel discusses the consequences that the characters must go through for their bad choices and mistakes.
Pearl, the child of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, was born in jail, when her mother was sentenced for commiting adultury against her husband Roger Chillingworth. Due to her crime, Hester was sentenced to wearing a red scarlet letter A on her chest, and Raising an evil daughter, that refuses to follow the laws.
Pearl as well as the red scarlet letter A is a symbol of wrong doing. Pearl could be described as the scarlet letter in human form. She is a very important character in this novel, she is the person that allows the story to continue. Pearl goes through her life, everyone looking down on her for her parents' crime. The very crime that pushes her father overboard.
Arthur Dimmesdale kept the secret that he was Pearl's father. He didn't want people to know of his sin because he was supposed to be a holy man. The fact that he didn't tell the truth to people, ate him up inside. Finally Dimmesdale admitted to his sin, and thgen died. His part of the story was very real, because if someone keeps a secret for so long they can just burst.
All the events that take place in the novel relate in some manner. Which ends up linking all of the characters together. Hawthorne does a good job of making his characters feel the pain of their mistakes. Each character is trying to overcome their past. Some due to sin, others due to jealousy, and to hatred.
As a result of his jealousy against Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, Hester's ex-husband, ends up having a miserable, torturous life. Chillingworth hates the thought that his wife could have had an affair with Dimmesdale. Then when Arthur Dimmesdale dies, Chillingworth's life also ends, because he cannot destroy his enemy's life anymore.
In addition to Chillingworth's jealousy and hatred for Dimmesdale, there is also Pearl's hatred for her parents. Pearl hates being blamed for her parents' crime, which leads to her hating them. People looked at Pearl the same way they looked at the scarlet letter, a reminder of adultury and sin against the Puritain faith. Hawthorne was able to link all his characters together with all the events that were taking place in the story.
This novel can affect the reader's emotions and fellings. One minute leaving the reader feel bad for one of the characters, and the next hating them, because of something they did. If a reader finds suspense, romance, and emotional ups and downs interesting they should read this book. However, it might not be recommended for younger readers because, it can be a little hard to follow at sometimes, but overall it is a good book.
It was touching and really hit the spot!.......1999-04-30
I love all of Hawthorne's books but this one was his all time best
Book Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1881 edition by Longmans, Green, and Co., London.
Book Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1869 edition by John Murray, London.
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Arabian fantasy
Herbert Chappell
Manufacturer: Quartet Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: 0704321297 |
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The Blithedale Romance and Fanshawe
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Manufacturer: Ohio State University Press
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: B000K0RKQM |
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- Last stop on this ride for me
- Just Could Not Finish It
- A Little Too Weird
- Goodness.
- good sequel
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Temple of the Winds (Sword of Truth)
Terry Goodkind
Manufacturer: Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD
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ASIN: 1423321677
Release Date: 2007-02-25 |
Book Description
Book Four of The Sword of Truth, the series first begun in Wizard's First Rule, returns listeners to the world of Richard Cypher, a simple woods guide who never dreamed he would be named the Seeker of Truth and become caught up in magic, war, and dangers so extraordinary that the fate of his entire world would hang on his actions and decisions.
The dangerous, fanatical Imperial Order, under the leadership of the power-mad Emperor Jagang and his multitude of demonic underlings, unleashes a deadly plague. To find a cure Richard Cypher and his beloved Kahlan Amnell must seek out the legendary Temple of the Winds, a fortress of evil sealed away for three thousand years. But the path of the Seeker of Truth is never an easy one - even if he can reach the Temple at all, there is no guarantee he'll ever return.
Customer Reviews:
Last stop on this ride for me.......2007-08-01
First, you need to know what you're dealing with in this series. Goodkind is an Objectivist (hence, the Sword of Truth), which means he's a disciple of Ayn Rand and the Objectivist movement she started. There's nothing right or wrong with that in and of itself, but his politics suffuses his writing more than any other fantasist writing in the 700+ volume/multivolume series aspect of the genre. The political backdrop is mild in book one, a little stronger in book two and really gets brought to the fore in book three.
Temple of the Winds was the stop point for me with the Goodkind series and not because of his politics. The first two books were solid adventures, the third added intrigue with the rise of the Imperial Order and the war against a foe only Richard could truly see. But this one was interminable: lengthy dialogues more appropriate for a therapy session with a tough psychiatrist, a maudlin self-flagellating relationship between Richard and Kahlan, a protagonist whose self-pity reaches preposterous proportions, and revelations at the end that were basically obvious throughout the book. Once it became obvious to me that Goodkind was not advancing the story and was merely writing a bunch of morality tales before the finale of the series (which now runs more than 10 books long), I decided to cut my losses.
No regrets.
Just Could Not Finish It.......2007-07-27
I read the first three novels in the series and they were entertaining. But, I just could not get through this book and about halfway through I put it down to read something else. Will I ever finish it? Probably not. I just do not care about the neverending soap opera of Richard and his friends anymore. Maybe you can finish it, others surely like it, but I think at least for the foreseeable future I am done with the series.
A Little Too Weird.......2007-06-09
Goodkind seems to be in more of a killing mood with each subsequent book. Death, death, death seems to be the theme. There is plague killing thousands, Richards 1/2 brother torturing and raping women to death, plus all of the slashing Richard, Kahlan, and Cara do. Not only is there more killing, Goodkind goes into detail to describe the suffering deaths of children, and women. OK we know the Imperial Order is Evil now, can we get on with the story.
Unfortunately, the same theme of Richard and Kahlan being pulled apart and then questioning their love for each other really gets tiresome in this one. When they end up making love to each other with Kahlan believing that she is making love to Richard's evil brother it is just too unbelievable (not to mention kinky)! Give me a break.
Nadine has to be the most annoying character ever. Richard should have sliced and diced her after about a minute of meeting her again. Richard's 1/2 brother did us all a favor by killing her......he is the hero of this book IMO.
It is also a little tiresome to always have Richard suddenly realize the answer to the puzzle at the end of the book and then miraculously pull his tail out of the fire at the last second.
For me this was the worst book so far in the series.
Goodness........2007-04-28
I am well versed in all things fantasy. You name it - rare or popular - I have probably read and/or watched it. I will let nothing get in the way of my search for the most entertaining, enlightening, life-complimenting reads... not even biased readers whose only goal in life seems to be nitpicking instead of enjoying the things they read. (You can find a few of their reviews here. Look for the reviews with 1-3 stars.)
An overwhelming number of readers criticize Goodkind's writing in the Sword of Truth series, using the phrases "cliche" and "cookie-cutter" all too often. How funny. "Cookie-cutter" is itself a painfully cliche phrase. This hypocrisy, to me, is grounds enough to mistrust the opinions of those naysayers...
As I said, I know a thing or two about fantasy. Few books have affected me as deeply as the Sword of Truth series. Heck, I haven't written an Amazon review in years; I'm only here now because I'm offended at the negative reviews. I took it personally. That's how much I love this series.
The Sword of Truth books are a celebration of life. Beauty. Progress. Emotions. Pessimistic readers seeking a cookie-cutter pattern will surely find one, because Goodkind DOES have a trademark approach to building tension that he uses often. But I know better than to call that "cliche." In each book, Goodkind explores different facets of the concepts of life, beauty, progress, and emotions. He NEVER explores the same facet; he always throws in a twist.
Reading each of these books is like cheese tasting. A cheese-lover with a refined sense of taste will delight in the worlds of difference between blue cheese and brie and baby swiss. They will compare; they will savor every bite.
But someone who is not accustomed to cheese... will, upon trying blue cheese, think "this smells like feet." Then they will try swiss cheese, hoping it doesn't smell like feet. Then feta. Alas, cheese usually smells like feet. The pessimists will then proceed to the donut and snack food aisles, looking for just the right junk food to ease their craving; nothing more, nothing fulfulling in the long run.
Fantasy connoisseurs adore Goodkind. Yet average readers find numerous things to complain about. Contemplate this for a bit.
I'm sorry for not going into detail about this book, but in one sentence I will help you decide if this series is right for you:
If you *adore* any of the concepts of life, beauty, progress, and emotions... you will love the Sword of Truth books. I promise you.
good sequel.......2007-04-04
The series continues to be enjoyable to read, with great characters and well-paced, although I am finding the prophecy plot convention a little tired by book 4.
Book Description
Among the dark streets of the city move thieves and cutthroats. And they don't like independent operators like Lhasha Moonsliver. But when she hires the town drunk as a bodyguard, she gets more than she bargained for. Together they'll have to battle the thieves' guild, the Cult of the Dragon, and other, darker foes. And a fallen man will have to remember the proud warrior he once was.
Customer Reviews:
"The Package...".......2006-09-10
Temple Hill starts off incredibly well (i.e. with the ambush!), immediately catching the reader's interest and attention.
The book is set in Elversult, in the Eastern Heartlands of Faerun, where it deals with the main character Corin and his efforts to come to grips with the loss of his arm during an ambush two years earlier. During a routine mission, Corin's White Shield Company was betrayed and ambushed leaving him crippled and shattering his dreams of a glorious future as a warrior. Now along with a half-elf thief and a gnome wizard/priest/thief (!!!) he must save Elversult's ruler, as well as himself...
The plot as a whole is excellent! The book is so incredibly well written and presented that the reader feels that they have been transported to another plane of existence and are actually present among the characters, seeing what they see, feeling what they feel, sensing what they sense.
The description of the first encounter, on the outskirts of the city of Elversult, was simply breathtaking: "The horses lay beside their masters, kicking and thrashing in blind agony, as lethal to their owners now as they had been to their enemies in glorious battles of the past." (Page 5)
"He scrambled back to his feet and saw Igland writhing on the ground, his hands clutching at a stump that used to be his left leg." (Page 11)
"The force of the blow threw Corin onto his back, his severed hand dropped twitching to the ground beside him." (Page 13)
This is all done similarly to Steven Pressfield's extraordinary best-selling novel Gates of Fire (1998), as Drew Karpyshyn too provides detailed, realistic and mature descriptions of battle.
On pages 50-51 and 262 respectively, the author provides two more exceptional descriptions that help teleport the reader to the world of Dungeons and Dragons: the first describes the rationale behind a good-aligned thief and the second provides a detailed imagery of a stone to flesh spell at work.
In addition, evil characters are very well portrayed throughout the book: "And if Yanseldara gets even a hint of what is going on I will rip your fingers off and devour them one by one, rings and all." (Page 85)
"Graal snapped the finger at the knuckle and a helmet of white bone popped up through the already graying skin. He twisted the mangled digit and tore half of it off, allowing him to slide the ring free." (Page196)
Finally, the author does an AMAZING job of presenting a great dramatic effect with the following quotes stealing the show: "When they ask who took your hand, human, tell them it was Graal!" (Page 14)
"His left hand unconsciously rubbing the stump that was once the best sword arm in the now defunct White Shield Company of Elversult." (Page15)
"Azlar had unleashed the medusa on Graal's troops, they scattered before her like dust. In her wake he saw only statues and corpses bloated by the poison of her venomous tresses." (Page193)
"Regret was a crutch for the weak. The strong learned from their mistakes, they didn't wallow in them." (Page 216)
Orcs, Orogs, Nagas, Medusas, Beholders, and factions like the Purple Masks, the Harpers, and the Cult of the Dragon have been very well presented.
The story, the dialogues, and the details are all wonderful, and create a strong sense of mystery and anticipation.
In short, Temple Hill is a book well worth your while!
A standard Forgotten Realms adventure.......2006-02-06
Yet another entry into the Forgotten Realms world, Temple Hill is one that is interesting enough to keep you turning pages, but won't leave you dying for more when the story concludes. The author, Drew Karpyshyn, is not fluent in setting a scene. His descriptions are nearly non-existent, and the reader will not easily grasp/picture the actual surroundings of each location. Still, he does a fine job of keeping the pace moving and preventing tedious, unimportant segments. Every scene that takes place is important to the outcome.
The premise to Temple Hill has a couple unique elements, but is also filled with some stale, overused aspects. I like the basis of a crippled soldier who only has one arm. Not many pure "fighters" in RPG fantasy are missing limbs. That was pretty innovative. However, it was completely ruined by a ridiculous "artificial, metallic limb" given to him by a priest. This new limb nearly had a mind of its own, and as the beneficiary states, "It's a better warrior than I am!" That is simply ridiculous. This is supposed to be fantasy, not science-fiction. It would have been much cooler for the protagonist to deal his vengeance, despite his limitation. The potential, and meaningful theme of overcoming your inadequacies was completely devoured by this absurd prosthetic arm. What a shame.
Characterization was sufficient, but not excellent. The main protagonist was somewhat dull and unappreciative. He was far from the most likeable character in the story. His "sidekick," despite the flaws of a heavy stereotype, was much more interesting. She was a half-elf (way too many half-elfs in RPG fantasy) thief that was supposedly gorgeous and quite bubbly. Yes, she was certainly a pigeon-hole character, but even then I enjoyed her.
The battle at the end was very good. Karpyshyn took on the conclusion from three different perspectives, each with their own goals. It was cool to see the different thoughts of each vital character during the same major events. The aftermath was also well done, setting up the possibility of a future sequel, which will probably never happen.
I would have given Temple Hill 3½ stars, but I rounded down because of a few mistakes that were the faults of both the author and the editor, mistakes that should never happen in a professional novel. The main inn used in the story was constantly changing names back and forth from the "Glowing Staff" to the "Golden Staff." Also, near the beginning, the main character loses in sword during a riot on the city streets, only to own it again in the very next scene with no explanation given. Very irritating. There were also a couple most mistakes, but I don't need to list them all.
Overall, it's a simplistic fantasy novel that really isn't a bad read. I whipped through it in four days, so it definitely isn't a major commitment.
A really great tale!.......2003-03-03
I picked this book up based on the Amazon.com reviews here, and I was not disappointed. The book starts off with a bang and never lets up. The characters are wonderful and easy to relate to (I was very impressed by the idea of a handicapped hero - something I'd never seen in a fantasy novel). A great adventure and a wonderful read!
A Good Read.......2003-01-31
This story was an excellent, single volume story based in a city of the Forgotten Realms. The characters were relatively believable, and the author did not get too sappy with the storyline. Corin One-Hand was an especially good character, and his suffering and recovery from a deep personal crisis were great to see.
Now, that said, it behooves me to mention a point in this author's writing that I didn't find altogether agreeable. Mr. Karpyshyn has an odd tendency to tell about an event happening from one character's perspective, and then retell the same even from another character's perspective. He does this even with fight scenes and not particularly dramatic moments. Further, the text of each retelling is so similar - at times word-for-word - that it leads one to suspect that he was trying to fill pages.
As a lover of fantasy novels who is fond of stories that conclude in the same volume, I heartily recommend this book to others despite the above-mentioned flaw. If you appreciate fantasy, I doubt you'll regret buying "Temple Hill".
Enjoyable pure adventure.......2002-01-09
Hokay, this is one book where the readers would not feel
like grabbing the major characters by the throat, shake
them blue and yell "GET OVER IT...!".
Set in Eversult, a city built by smugglers, the tale revolved
around 2 fairly experienced characters; one was Lhasa, a thief/burglar of human-elven descent, marked by the Purple Masks for her refusal to join THE thieves' guild of the city, the other was Corin, a washed-out fighter who lost his sword arm in the last assignment which caused his White Shield company to disband. Watching over the pair was Fendel, a gnomish tinker priest of Gond.
While on the run from the Purple Masks, Lhasa crossed paths (and more) with Corin. The latter had bankrupted himself after two years of unsuccessfully trying to restore his sword arm at the Temple of the Morninglord. Somehow, though drunk most of the time, he managed to keep himself in good shape enough to tackle a patrol of the Maces, the ruthless enforcers of order in the city. Lhasa persuaded him to be her bodyguard, holding out the hope that her mentor Fendel would be able to provide him with prosthetic arm.
To finance the replacement arm, and to flee from the Masks, Lhasa took on a dangerous assignment, not knowing it was from a traitor who betrayed the White Shields two years before. Corin and Lhasa soon found themselves embroiled in an underworld war between the Cult of the Dragon and an shadowy independent syndicate led by someone known only as Xiliath. Xiliath's top lieutenant Graal was the one who had taken Corin's arm.
No stilted dialogue, excessive self-pity or tedious passages, this book went right into the action. Both Lhasa and Corin acted well for their situations, and no wasteful time nor words that would make the readers feel impatient with the characters.
The book also gave a good introduction to Eversult, which had not been covered in any other FR novels - a city built by smugglers, highlighting its unique flavour, distinguishing it from being just another city with underground mazes.
Book Description
The devotional poems of Annamaya (15th century) are perhaps the most accessible and universal achievement of classical Telugu literature, one of the major literatures of pre-modern India. Annamaya effectively created and popularized a new genre, the short padam song, which spread throughout the Telugu and Tamil regions and would become an important vehicle for the composition of Carnatic music - the classical music of South India. In this book, Rao and Shulman offer translations of 150 of Annamaya's poems. All of them are addressed to the god associated with the famous temple city of Tirupati-Annamaya's home-a deity who is sometimes referred to as "god on the hill" or "lord of the seven hills." The poems are couched in a simple and accessible language invented by Annamaya for this purpose. Rao and Shulman's elegant and lyrical modern translations of these beautiful and moving verses are wonderfully readable as poetry in their own right, and will be of great interest to scholars of South Indian history and culture.
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emotional .......2006-03-08
The Tirupati temple, located in southern Andhra, is one of the most visited pilgrimage sites on the planet. The translators estimate that nearly twenty million people arrive every year to pray to the god Venkatesvara, an incarnation of Vishnu, who resides in the temple atop a mountain.
The temple's vaults contain the works of the poet Annamayya, who lived at the shrine in the 15th century. The poet was said to have written a song daily for Venkatesvara. Not surprisingly then, Rao and Shulman have only selected a very small portion for the book. The surviving approximately thirteen-thousand poems were recorded upon 2,289 copper plates, in what the translators call "possibly the most expensive publish venture in the history of premodern South Asia" (104-105). The translators assign two broad themes to the poems: poems written about love, and poems which consider the metaphysical nature of life.
The poetry reveals a fascinating look at the Annamayya's relationship with Venkatesvara. Particularly interesting is how Annamayya never portrays the avatar as infallible, a point the translators make in their brief introduction. For example, Annamayya writes: "...even people in high places have to suffer their karma", going on to cite some of the trials and tribulations of Vishnu's other avatars, Krishna and Rama. He concludes: "now you're stuck up on the hill" (62), as if the god is paying penance for dabbling in earthly affairs. Annamayya articulates here how the avatar principle allows god to be closer to man. This principle allows for a relationship like that which occurs between two humans, rather than a human and an abstract god.
A belief in a fallible god has significant metaphysical implications, which Annamayya realizes when he writes: "Why tell me I'm doing something wrong? / You've snared me, god on the hill, / but you're always inside me. / Who is to blame?" (46). So, Annamayya is able to hold god partly responsible for his human shortcomings. If god were infallible, this would not be possible. Certainly, the god is privileged - Annamayya constantly, if sometimes subtlety, praises Venkatesvara's sublimity, stating, for example: "Suppose I say I've conquered birth. / Only you can make me free. / I'd bring you some gift, / god on the hill, / but you already own the world" (13). In the afterward, a portion of the biography written by Annamayya's grandson states that Annamayya was so horrified when a king asked him to write songs for the court, that he used a particularly colorful analogy to excuse himself: "Singing to anyone other than Vishnu would be as terrible as sleeping with a sister" (111).
Sometimes Annamayya's narrator is upset with Venkatesvara: "When I'm done being angry, / then I'll make love. / Right now you should be glad / I'm listening." (8). So, like Venkatesvara himself, Annamayya's veneration for the incarnation is never flawless. By nuancing his relationship with the god to include the real emotions of human existence - like lust, frustration, and jealousy, for example - the experience becomes more powerful. Again, the structure of Annamayya's belief system allows for this. The strength of the poems is in Annamayya's ability to express raw human emotion, particularly love.
Love poetry accounts for the majority of the corpus, and provides a canvas for Annamayya's discussion of other emotions. He frequently writes from the perspective of a woman who is in love with the god. Again, the love between the narrator and the god is never perfect. Rather, it is filled with the subtleties and nuances that might define any two lovers. He writes: "He loves people who fast for him. / So she was told. / Since yesterday she's stopped eating. / She learned that people who pray in the woods / are his closest friends. / Now she won't leave the garden" (29). The reader truly feels the woman's anxiety in trying to attract the attention of Venkatesvara. In another poem, Annamayya writes: "This is the magic love works on men and women. / Whatever they do ends in joy. / Even when their anger goes far, / it's still beautiful" (28). By projecting a lover's feud onto the woman and Venkatesvara, he shows that the love between man and god need not be perfect to be beautiful. Truly, who could honestly admit that their beloved is perfect? By putting god in this same framework, Annamayya sketches him in terms his readers may be able to understand and appreciate, whereas an abstract love, albeit clamed to be perfect, would be impossible to comprehend.
The book contains a very brief introduction, and a more lengthy afterward. The afterward is valuable since it explains some of the themes and various voices Annamayya uses. The afterward is lacking in historical context, however. The reader is left with little knowledge of the political or social context in which the poet lived and wrote, apart from a brief discussion about the economic importance of Venkatesvara's shrine, which apparently has been one of India's richest temples for centuries. Although the poems, for the most part, seem to ignore political and social issues, general context would aid the reader in mentally imaging the period and the writer. Instead, the reader is left only with some of the associated legends and tales which surround the writer and the god. Perfect for creating a romanticism around the poet and poems, but lacking for the student of history.
To their credit, Rao and Shulman do admit in a footnote that they are planning a monograph on the history of the temple (121), which will hopefully expand on their argument that Annamayya "created Venkatesvara, the god on the hill, as we know him today" (122). This thesis is offered in the one paragraph that is devoted to the history of the shrine - not at all satisfying to the reader, it certainly serves as a good hook for the monograph.
Annamayya's poems are beautiful because the emotions that pervade them are real and familiar. Because of this familiarity, the collection should prove accessible and meaningful to a wide audience.
Book Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library\'s preservation reformatting program.
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- All the facts, all the ideas, in one short manual
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The Design of the Factory With a Future (Mcgraw Hill Series in Industrial Engineering and Management Science)
J. Temple Black
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Robots and Manufacturing Automation, 2nd Edition
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Customer Reviews:
All the facts, all the ideas, in one short manual.......2000-07-06
I hear the same comments by people who have attended manufacturing conferences and symposiums in the hope of attaining information useful to making decisions: each groups glorifys their 'new' idea of JIT, zero inventory or cellular manufacturing and adds to the neverending flow of ideas. For someone trying to apply this information the different ideas can seem as numerous as the waves on a beach, neverending and tough to tell one from another. JT Black's wonderful book brings many of those ideas together, defines them and compares them, concepts such as Just-in-time, Zero-Inventory and Minimal-inventory. The history of their development and successful applications are also described. The stages of development for a factory with a future are laid out in ten simple steps. This information can be used to build a plant or to examine where your plant is in the evolutionary process. I picked this book up while browsing a library and have found it to be the 'hidden treasure' as an everday tool. Many ideas and concepts are put into words, things that any person running a factory or making factory-level decisions knows but have never seen in print. Seeing a concept, such a simple definition of quality, makes that concept a more useful tool. I see this book as part of my tool package and can advise it for all, except my competition.
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