Poor Julia,
Wined in Asmara and then left to her and friends devices
in Ethiopia!

Everything in Eritrea was wondeful but not so in Ethiopia.
Julia struggled during her stay in Ethiopia and denigrated
almost all of her travel sites - too many people, watery
tankwa, mud hut church, too much money, etc.

Strangely, of all the Amharic proverbs she puts to print,
she denigrates one tribe. One wonders how she managed to learn
enough Amharic to transliterate!

Lastly, one should tell Julia that Eritrea was never a colony
of Ethiopia.

A waste of her time to visit Ethiopia and a waste of her time
writing about her travels in Ethiopia while at the same time
waxing poetic about the "African experience".

Don't waste your money on this book. The author of this book was unable to grasp anything beyond the trivial and superfluous thus completely missed the essence of the two countries. The author obviously doesn't bother to check facts as she repeats artificial histories created by liberation fronts as historic facts. Her rush to generalize is very troubling. Both countries are extremely diverse (Eritrea has more than 8 languages while Ethiopia has over than 30 languages.) The number of ethnic groups is much higher close to a total of 100, some living in both countries. Simple generalizations like "Eritreans" or "Ethiopians" for the most part are not valid. The author simply was unable to recognize the diversity of the cultures with in the two countries and the complex historical relationship that exists between the two countries.

For the most part the book is packed with ignorant babble and definitely a waste of time and money. I give it one star only because that is the lowest rating that I can give. This book deserves a rating of zero!

It is not a surprise to me that there are such mixed reviews of this book. It is obvious by reading the reviews that you either loved it or hated it. That said, I read it and thought it was fantastic! If you have an opened mind, and a sense of wonder - as does the author of this book - than it will be apparent that most of these negative reviews have an alterior motive. Why is that? Africa is a continent that is as diverse as these reviews! Coincidence? Please read this book with the intent that it was written: as a travel narrative. How often are we lucky enough to read the accounts of a woman travelling through these two contrasting countries? It is a perspective; and like any work of art it brings something different in everyone who views it. I'm happy to say that this book gave me an excellent insight into these countries in an easy to read and understand manner. Ms. Stewart's experiences seem wonderful, scary, mysterious...all description given to the countries as well as the continent. Bravo! It's a rare treasure and wonderful addition to my library!

HAVING AVOIDING STORYS ON THE HOLOCAUST AFTER SEEING THE NUREMBURG TRIALS AS A YOUNG CHILD, AND BEING TREMDOUSLY DISTURBED BY IT, I READ IT FIRST, AS MY 12 YEAR OLD SON WAS ASSIGNED TO READ THIS BOOK. IT WAS A GREAT TRUE STORY, SAD BUT HAPPY, ONLY AFTER FOLLOWING HER, PIRI DAVIDSON, FOR 3 YEARS, I NEVER FOUND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO HER ONCE SHE ARRIVED IN AMERICA.

I just finished reading this book and enjoyed, though I did skim some parts that moved a little slowly. Overall, it is an excellent, intimate portrait of a young womans thoughts and concerns after leaving a concentration camp in WWII. It has issues universal to all-- growing up, loyalty yet resentment of an older siblings care, letting go, beginning again, love vs attraction. It also has some thoughts about being a surviver and a Jew and what it would mean to leave her Jewish life behind now that she survived the Nazis...

Other reviews by young adults suggest there is no action and that it is boring, but they are missing the true meaning. This book stirs up emotion that makes you want to reach into the pages to help Piri. It makes you want to help like the Rantzows, and you hope there are more people like the Rantzows in our own society. Very moving.

Judith Tarr writes well. Her language flows, and that's what keeps this book readable.

On the other hand, to me what keeps it from being a really good book is the fact that very little of interest (to me, anyway) happens. Romances and the upbringing of children take up a vast portion of the lengthy text. Battle scenes get only tantalizing hints. The portrayal of magic is intriguing but too often veers into the silly (as in the childbirth scene, which I found laughable).

I'm not an expert on the period; what I see here seems accurate enough to me. I think it's important to remember that even though characters portrayed in historical fiction are "real people", in the context of literature, they're still fictional characters--and Cleopatra's ugliness or beauty is a matter of great indifference to me. The characters as written here are sufficiently vivid; the problem is that they don't get more active roles to play.

Throne of Isis is an interesting book about Egypt during Cleopatra's reign. There are a lot of things the book can be faulted for, but it is neither a bad story nor is it poorly written. The key is to remember that it is not trying to tell Cleopatra's story, but about the time and circumstances surrounding when she lived.

The main character, Dione, is a remarkable woman, a priestess known for her ability to be the voice of the goddess Isis and her commitment to Egypt and its illustrious queen. Cleopatra's relationships with Caesar and Antony provide the background for the story: the ancient empires and their inner conflicts. These conflicts include the problems of expansionism, the values of the different societies, war, and the role of women (valued in Egypt and considered property in Rome).

With this in mind, Dione's story comes is that of a woman, mother, wife, and priestess who must reconcile all of these aspects as the historical events unfold around her. She is a daring feminist who breaks social rules when she marries a Roman, Lucius Sevillius.

Many aspects of this story are touching, and reveal Judith Tarr's understanding of human nature. Many of the situations and emotions the characters experience are just as vivid in the novel as they are today. Dione is as amazing as she is unusual for her time--with the exception of the strong, calculating Cleopatra. And to Tarr's credit, her descriptions of Antony's battles on land and by sea are well-researched and thoughtfully written.

This book deserves a chance. No, it is not THE defining book on Cleopatra. Rather, it is a story of hope, love, miscalculation, and beats with the heart and spirit of ancient Egypt. It is not a book that will appeal to all and probably not to Egyptologists, but it will appeal to anyone looking for a decent piece of feminist historical fiction. The book will not disappoint, but the reader cannot place too many expectations on the author to resurrect Cleopatra on paper.

I read this book about a year ago. Ever since then it has entraped me to Cleopatra. I have read many books since then about her. Many people know her for her love affairs with Marc Antony and Julius Cesar. But they do not know all of the good she did for Egypt. The libraries and colleges she built. She was an amazing woman in a world ruled by men. The only reason she was an enemy of Rome was because she was a WOMAN! Men condemed women that ruled because they ruled men! With that in mind they continued to hate her, due to the powerful men she was able to seduce. I don't know much about the author but I think it was an amazing book. And I believe Cleopatra was an amazing woman, a BEAUTIFUL woman, a buisness woman. In my eyes there will never be another, greater than, Cleopatra!

A Testament to Grace is, at best, a misguided experiment in alternative fiction. This novel was probably intended as a disturbing character study, or possibly a jaundiced view of modern relationships. Unfortunately for the reader, Kaufman fails to suspend disbelief, and "Grace" emerges as a tedious, often ridiculous testament to self-indulgence. The novel is the diary of Nicholas, an "attractive, sadistic, arrogant male." Nicholas has a poor command of his native language despite being a university lecturer; he writes in an awkwardly formal manner that is wearying to read. Nicholas' diary entries center around his unhappy marriage and his many affairs. He and his wife are abusive and amoral, though hardly intelligent or creative enough to qualify as true sociopaths. The text is riddled with errors and cliches abound "like a plague." A good editor might have rendered this too-long novel almost readable, though what "Grace" really needed was a skilled writer. Excerpt: "I am quite sure that man's life never re-reached such a pinnacle. From then on, the rest must have been all memory and bitterness. I know what you are thinking. That there are myriad joys equal to or greater in this world, more joys than stars or rain, but I feel sure, inexplicably sure, that he has never found even one. Joy can burn and cripple. Especially when it is not yours to control. It can destroy its own capacity, like overfilling a sack until it bursts. But do not worry, dear one. I will not be punished by my own medicine. I have tasted so much that I am both hungry and full. I have choice. I fear you will learn this. I admit it, I fear a lot of things today, but I have strength to mix that fear. It is an old recipe for courage and has always served me well, quite well."

A Testament To Grace is an edgy, unrelentingly dark novel about a couple engaged in manipulating, controlling, deceiving and abusing each other and everyone around them. Structurally reminiscent of Nabokov's Lolita, the author presents the book as a "found" first-person manuscript written in a narrative voice akin to a misogynistic, sadomasochistic, egocentric Henry Miller. The sex and bondage scenes are more about power and control than titillation, each plot twist travels further down a road filled with unexpected and surprising deviousness, and the book is merciless in its quest to be emotionally violent, unsettling and disturbing. Not for the faint of heart, but if your tastes run toward underground, fetish, or alternative fiction then this might be the book for you.

This book was such a ride...at first I didn't really jive with the evil nature of the characters but, I found myself engrossed nonetheless. The end was shocking and I liked it very much. I was sorry to see it end with so many questions unanswered - this is the kind of book I'd like to have a sequel to. I've heard the author is working on a new book and I look forward to reading it when it comes out. Kaufman is obviously a writer with much talent and it only remains to be seen what he will apply himself to next, I'm sure it will be another interesting ride.

"God's Grace from Ground Zero," by Jim Cymbala with Stephen Sorenson, is an attempt to make sense of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 from an evangelical/fundamentalist Christian perspective. While Cymbala's intentions are clearly good, I found the book stale and narrow of vision.

First of all, the book is clearly written to an exclusive fundamentalist Christian audience and much of it will likely be either irrelevant or a turn-off to readers of other faith traditions. In fact, Cymbala (who is identified as the pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle on the book cover) makes a point of criticizing multi-faith inclusivity. He makes it clear that his only interest in, for example, Muslims is as potential converts to his faith system.

Other than that, I found his thoughts on the theological ramifications of 9-11 to be shallow and obvious: God's ways are inscrutable, people have free will, anything can be seen as a blessing if it leads us to pray more, etc. If you're looking for something that addresses 9-11 in a really thoughtful and moving way, I suggest you look elsewhere.

I have a great respect for Pastor Cymbala. I believe that he is a great preacher, annointed and full of God's grace. I heard him several times and have been blessed by his sermons. However, I have read several of his books and frankly I am starting to be a little disappointed. "Fresh Wind Fresh Fire" was a great book on the power of prayer but since then, Cymbala's books seem to be a little redundant in their styles. The Brooklyn Tab's illustrations are similar and Cymbala's message is too. The "Freshness" of his first book and rightly so best-seller is fading. This book addresses a vague theodicy of 9-11 and the testimonies, while touching, have less impact today than soon after. While I did not enjoy this book too much, I still think that this book would be good for someone who never read Cymbala before.

Jim Cymbala draws from personal stories from the Brooklyn Tabernacle, along with a number of his own life experiences, in seeking to demonstrate God's grace in the midst of 9/11. While this book is far from a comprehensive Christian response to the events of 9/11, it mostly succeeds in painting an inspirational portrait of God and how He has been working throughout New York City and the nation, and also within the halls of Brooklyn Tabernacle in the wake of the tragedy.

Various portions of this book read like a powerful sermon, which makes sense given that Cymbala is a pastor. In particular, his discourse on persevering in Christ today by drawing upon various Biblical examples such as the life of Paul or the Hebrew enslavement in Egypt are especially moving and inspiring. Cymbala also takes a bold stance against what he calls 'make believe prophets' who tried to affix earthly and mostly ideologically based reasons and/or judgments to the attacks.

The book is not quite as good as it could have been for at least one reason. Cymbala could (and should) have gone farther in providing tangible reasons for folks to trust God even in the midst of tragedies that are not entirely understandable. He does touch on this, and attempts to demonstrate God's faithfulness in working through great tragedy by pointing to a couple of specific things in history, but this section could have been elaborated on in much greater length to show the reader that God has turned tragedy into victory over and over again, and that this gives us very reasonable and tangible reasons to trust God to do the same thing now. Instead, Cymbala deemphasizes this and stresses more of a 'trust God because we know God is good' approach without really supporting this assertion adequately for those who may not consider this view to be a given.

But with this exception, I think this book is good for conveying a sense of God's grace, how we need to be responding to it, how others have already responded to it, and how we can continue to have joy and hope even in the midst of great sorrow and tragedy by focusing on an eternal perspective. This book is short and not very deep, but there are many good truths that are conveyed in it, along with powerful personal stories that are very authentic, and that makes it worth reading.

This work is confused. McInerny tries to separate the logic of analogy from its real foundation in being. His criticisms of Cajetan just don't seem to hit the mark. The confusion can be summed up in his statement that "analogy" is itself used analogously. Well, if there is not some sense in which "analogy" is used univocally, then "analogy" loses any definite meaning. It becomes simply the night in which all cows are black. If you want to read something better by McInerny, read his translation and commentary on Aquinas' Disputed Question on Virtue. Ethics appears to be his forte.

This work is confused. He tries to separate the logic of analogy from its real foundation in being. If you want to read something better by McInerny, read his translation and commentary on Aquinas' Disputed Question on Virtue. Ethics appears to be his forte.

I found the book clear enough. To those with an honest desire to understand reality on a sounder basis than many contemporary philosophies allow,I highly recommend this book.To those who want live in a well paid soft focus world I commend the previous reviewers

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Gramma

I've read lots of academic books in the course of studying for several degrees, but this has to be one of the most impenetrable. It's almost impossible to read because of the typeface which seems to be 9.5 font size - even with my glasses this is very tiring, and brings up the question why so small?

There is only one answer, and that's to keep the book of manageable length, which then leads to the question why is the book so long? Why indeed. The author is far too prolix - the text should have been edited down by at least a third - perhaps then it may have been possible to persevere with the turgid prose.

But, probably not as the author doesn't seem to have much original to say, rather just surveying what has already been said and criticising that. Oh, for something cogent and readable on the subject of religion and feminism.

Jantzen's book must count as one of the most exciting and groundbreaking new books in the generally dreary and highly conservative field of Philosophy of Religion. With an extrememly wide range of reference, she expertly charts the ground for a possible new approach to the discipline from a feminist perspective, arguing that the alleged neutrality and apolitical nature of much work in the field masks conservative and hazardous assumptions of its own. She sketches compelling new proposals for revisioning the sorts of questions asked in philosophy of religion, in terms of gender, experience, desire, community and justice, and proposes a new concept of the divine beyond traditional dualisms (which links back to her earliest work, God's World, God's Body). All in all this must count as a great and often moving achievement in speculative and creative thinking, coupled with powerful critical analysis of existing methodologies. It is a substantial book, not written for the beginner, and as such is challenging, but well worth the effort. I recommend it unreservedly.

I have this book,but I don't have listening casettes .How can I get them.please help me. thanks

Hi, I have the Toefl book, but I need the listenning comprehension cassette tapes. If anybody has an idea how to order them in Europe( e.g. Germany), as soon as possible, please email me: flight33@hotmail.com, thank you very much

Good book specially (the testing points) which help the person be familiar with the type of questions he will answer, but the probelm is that there are no cassettes for the listening section, the person has to read rather than listen, to be able to get that book's benifit you need to buy the cassette from the ARCO CO who publish it.(I try to look for these cassettes on the AMAZON but it is not). Regarding the cd which is comes with I can say it is excellent, because you can take test as much as you want while you will not face the same questions again in short time.also that cd has a builder skill program, a program helps the user to recognize his progress.actually the book alone worth 3 stars rating but I give it 4 because of that cd. finally if that book came with the cassettes it will get 5 stars with no dout.by the way I'm 28 years old but there is no space for that age in the selection so I take one.

I read this book a few years ago and the foul taste it left in my mouth has yet to dissapate. Why is that time and again, Northern European mythology (Celtic as well as Germanic) has taken such a brutal thrashing by modern interpritors and new age fanatics alike? Every religious counter-culture since the 60's has leaned on this kind of nonsense. This work is EXACTLY the kind of book that a beginner should avoid. A good understanding of Germanic mythology is a goal almost completely inaccessable to the interested layman BECAUSE of works like this. Why Books like this are still in print while the very intelegent and well researched (though dated) works of Viktor Rydberg and Jacob Grimm are no longer available I'll never know. I would have given it no stars if the option were available.

Starting with Balder as the Sun God, this book manages to go even further downhill in regard to the lore of Asatru. The authors are entitled to their interpretation, but should make that clear, not pass off their writings as lore.

This book is written by a fairly well acclaimed Theosophy member. Though they try their hardest to stay objective, I have ^personally found this, and other writings of this vein to either encourage my drive to seek out more details and directions, or completely discourage and frustrate me by stretching the comparisons of belief systems, mythology, and translations a little too far (often leaving a "universalist" taste in the mouth). I RECOMMEND THIS FOR ENTERTAINMENT AND/OR AN INTRODUCTION TO THESE STORIES. Her writing layout was nice. This is NOT an intro to Asatru, Odinism, or Germanic Tribalism.