Sophia Wellbeloved and I share a deep mutual interest in Gurdjieff's, Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson. We have both participated in several of the All and Everything conferences held at Bognor Regis, and which are characterized by the participants as meetings of the "Companions of the Book." In the forward to Dr. Wellbeloved's book, Professor Wallace Martin points out that readers of Beelzebub's Tales react in one of two ways. Sophia and I are certainly in that category of readers who see it as "a book of revelation and a mystery, a masterpiece that evokes stunned astonishment."

Over the years serious students of Gurdjieff's book have attempted to unravel it in many different ways. Some have seen it in terms of numerological correspondences, some as related to the Tarot or Kabbalah, others have taken it to be a hermetically coded document, still others simply try to peel away the onion of layer upon layer of meaning. By examing the book in terms of correspondences with the twelve signs of the zodiac, Dr. Wellbeloved may have hit upon an important key to unraveling Gurdjieff's book.

I am no astrologer, not even an amateur one. But I think that students of Astrology who are willing to study Gurdjieff, Astrology & Beezebub's Tales, will be well repaid for the effort. In the same way that the horizon of students of Beelzebub's Tales is broadened by Dr. Wellbveloved's book, so the horizon of students of Astrology will be broadened by being exposed to the astrological implications of Beelzebub's Tales that are exposed in this fine book.

To find a structure in the Tales is an achievement in itself! Gurdjieff's main literary work is difficult to read, to study and to understand. Ideas that help in the process are more than welcome. Dr. Wellbeloved not only finds a structure - she also points towards new ways for further studies of the book.
This book is not aimed at attempts to interpret Gurdjieff's message, but instead aims at keeping alive questions on the meanings and interpretations of what he actually meant. In her view the Tales are open to a wealth of meanings that are there to be discovered and experienced by the reader.
We are warned against a literal understanding of the Tales: "If Gurdjieff's text is taken as literally true, then there really was a space ship in the sky over New York in 1921, containing Beelzebub, Hassein and Ahoon".

Dr. Wellbeloved draws attention to another important aspect of the Tales: its kinship with the Turkic oral tradition. Originally the Tales were read aloud. Special music was composed for the readings; at each reading Gurdjieff observed the reactions of the listeners and made changes to his texts.
But why would this be important? Is it not OK if I just read it just the way I am used to reading books? Well, to follow Gurdjieff's own advice you should do just that, but not stop there. You should after your first 'mechanized' reading read it 'as if aloud to another person' and only after that you should try to 'fathom the gist of my writings'.
The advantages of the oral tradition over just reading a book are that the stories are made alive while you are in the middle of them. In other words you have a different experience, which most likely touches not only your intellect, but also your emotions. Gurdjieff used to ask 'what does it make you feel', not what does it mean.

Dr. Wellbeloved's recent book 'Gurdjieff; The Key Concepts' was inviting for further studies of his ideas. Her new book points out new ways of approaching the Tales and it is an important book for those people who want to study Gurdjieff's writings!

Since it is adapted from an academic thesis the tone is a little dry, but this woman has cracked a huge part of the Gurdjieff code for the first time. If you are at all interested in the Gurdjieff legacy, you must see this. Amazing. Good illustrations, too.

This is a fun series, but this title is a little too difficult. My character was killed or imprisoned a few times through no fault of mine. It was entertaining going on various missions for the Uttakin, but I didn't want to have to cheat or keep restarting to get through the difficult parts.

In my opinion The War-Torn Kingdom is the best book of this series, because it is easy enough to get through without restarting. Dave Morris' Heart of Ice is also good.

Of all of the solo RPG books that I have played over the years these have to be the best. Like the other reviewers I would buy the remaining books in the series in a shot if they were ever released.

Well, I have had all of the books, up to 6, and am desperately hoping beyond hope that the rest are released. One can only play through so many times before it gets old. However, that being said, I would certainly buy the remaining 6 books in the series at the drop of a hat. I never knew that the last 6 were never released, and that is a pity.This is probably one of the best RPG gaming book series I have ever played, so c'mon, publish the rest. I wait patiently for their release.

Nothing new here: muddler type flies catch fish as do traditional hair and feather wing streamers. Put a mallard wing on a Muddler and call it a 'Zoo Cougar'.The patterns section is dissapointing. Bow Buggers,Cone Head Marabous, and a few crawfish patterns are about all that is here. The technique section is OK, but misses out on the truly new streamer methods being used in the West. Probably applies to the authors home waters in the east better than the Rockies. If you fish streamers a bit you should already know 90% of what is in this book.

Very insightful work from Bob and Kelly. I really enjoy this type of instructional book that keeps my attention and doesn't take me a month to "wade" through. The first 4 chapters were very informative as to the history of streamers, large trout behavior and technique. If any part of this book failed me it would have been the chapter on Patterns. More attention could have been spent on technique and tying tips here. A comment that Bob made rubbed me the wrong way when he categorized many fly tyers as "loose handed, casual tyers" when he said that this type of person rarely creates lasting fly patterns. This type of attitude runs rampant enough in the local fly shops without being critical of the majority of tyers out there. After all, it's the "loose handed" tyer that purchase these types of books and make the tying industry what it is.

Linseman and Galloup have created that rarest of flyfishing books, one that actually provides insights and information that are hard to find anywhere else.

Streamer fishing is much neglected, and most authors, if they cover it at all, provide a dusultory chapter or so. L&G explain the techniques of streamer fishing comprehensively, yet succinctly. The up-and-across, dredge, and swing techniques of streamer fishing are each analyzed and explained. The descriptions are clear, actionable, and you'll come away with a pretty clear understanding of what you'll need to do on the water.

The discussion of techniques for LANDING a large fish is worth the price of the book, and can be applied to any form of fishing. The brief description of tackle (really a tackle SYSTEM: Rod, Reel, Line, Leader)is also extremely useful.

Streamers should be part of every fly fisher's repertoire, even if you don't buy into the authors' contention that it should be the primary method. All in all, the best intro to the subject I've seen.