I read it about a decade ago when it came out. An excerpt from it was published while John Keeble was still working on it, and I remember being struck by the style, the elaborate artistry in it, the strength of language, primarily the strength of the verbs he uses. Every now and then during these past few years I take out this book when I want to be reminded of the care a writer puts into his sentences. What is most striking here is the writer's calm voice that conjures for us the power of visionary dread. Broken Ground is also rich in its knowledge of the land, the people, the smell of the air, the brightness and darkness of the Pacific Northwest where a privately run prison is being built...all add up to a frightening vision of the realities around us in the postmodern age. Lynn Sharon Schwartz described this novel as one of the best political novles of the 1980s. I agree with her. By Thomas Palakeel

In this classic work, John Bunyan paints a detailed picture of the Christian life/walk, giving true-to-life insights and experiences. The despair, sorrows, trials and temptations that a believer may face are depicted in an allegorical manner, as well as the hope, joy, and salvation found in Jesus Christ. The main character Christian (once named Graceless) sets out on a lifelong journey from the City of Destruction, where his family disowned him, and encounters many persons and difficulties along the way to the Celestial City (heaven). The characters he meets are given names that reflect their mindset or what temptation they bring. At times he stumbles and at times he perseveres, but all by the grace of God. The second portion of the book tells of the conversion and subsequent sojourn of the wife (Christiana) and children of Christian. The discussions of Christian in the first part and Christiana and her companions in the second part are very interesting, as they defend their faith and explain their purpose to those they meet along the way. The book is quite different from your ordinary novel, and has many interesting words of wisdom for the Christian life. Readers should be aware that some of the language is antiquated and has unfamiliar usages, so its a little bit of an adjustment to read.

"The Pilgrim's Progress" is a classic Christian text written by John Bunyan. Written in an allegorical format, the two-part story focuses first on "Christian", then on his wife "Christiana" and sons. Convicted of their own sinfulness, the characters set out on the journey to salvation at the Heavenly Gate. Characters such as "Honesty", "Great-Heart", and "Faithful" aid the pilgrims on their journey, whereas they face trials from the Slough of Despond, Vanity Fair, and the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

Getting through the book takes some work, less because of the story and more because of the depth of the allegory. Also, the dialogues between characters regarding salvation and righteousness often require a careful read. However, the story is exceptionally creative and thought-provoking, and the lessons that can be gleaned from it are timeless and worth the effort that needs to be expended. I recommend reading this one at least twice.

A letter to Marvin Minsky about this book:

I urge you tolook at a remarkable book by the English Puritain John Bunyan(1628-1688), "The Pilgrim's Progress", which is one of the great evangelical Christian classics, though clearly that is not why it interests me and should interest you (although I AM interested in the puzzle that is the religious sense, which even the irreligious feel, and this book can give remarkable insight into that as well).

Rather its fascination lies in the pilgrimage it depicts, or in the fact that human traits, vices, virtues, &c are PERSONIFIED as particular individuals who are their living and speaking epitome, and who are encountered along the way in revealing situations.

Bunyan's hero is appropriately named Christian. Someone once wrote that "Christian's journey is timeless as he travels from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City, meeting such characters as Pliable, Talkative, Giant Despair, Evangelist, Worldly-Wiseman, Faithful, Ignorance and Hopeful."

At first this personification is merely amusing, even a bit annoying (as caricatures or truly stereotypical people can be); but after a while I found myself enthralled because I realized that the effect of this odd literary device was to give unmatched insight into the nature of such traits. The force of the whole thing comes from the fact that one journeys about in - literally INSIDE of - what is both a comprehensive and finite moral and psychological landscape (a "psycho-topography"), very much as though one were INSIDE the human mind and your "Society of the Mind" was embodied in the set of actors. This is more or less the opposite or an inversion of the 'real world' of real people, who merely SHARE those attributes or of whom the attributes are merely PIECES; in "Pilgrim's Progress", by contrast, the attributes are confined in their occurrence to the actors who are their entire, unique, pure, and active embodiment, and humanness, to be recognized at all, has to be rederived or mentally reconstructed from the essential types.

The effect, for me, was something like experiencing a multidimensional scaling map that depicts the space of the set of human personality types, by being injected directly - mentally and bodily - into it by means of virtual reality technology.

So Bunyan's book has something of the interest to a psychologist, neuroscientist, or philosopher that Edwin Abbot's "Flatland" has to a mathematician.

I don't mean to overpraise "Pilgrim's Progress", of course; it was written for theological rather than scientific purposes, and has conspicuous limitations for that reason. But its interest to a student of the mind who looks at it at from the right point of view can be profound.

- Patrick Gunkel

Newspaper stories about the oil spill created the impression that the cause of the accident was simply that the captain was drunk. This book shows that the real situation was far more complex. The captain was definitely not drunk. He did have a few drinks, which is against regulations. Even after all the analysis it is not clear what exactly went wrong. The fact that the captain had a few drinks was not the only breach of regulations. None of the officers had a six-hour off duty time in the twelve-hour period before departure. The ship was single hulled instead of double hulled as was foreseen when the oil terminal was built. When Congress granted permission to build the pipeline and the terminal one of the conditions was that there would be a state-of-the-art contingency plan for oil spills. There was nothing of the sort. A Vessel Traffic Services station was supposed to monitor the movement of the ships through the strait. Due to cost cutting measures the station was unable to monitor the movement of the ship. A major cause of inefficiency in the clean up was the lack of clarity about who was in charge, the Coast Guard or Exxon. It is not just the captain that acted irresponsibly, so did all parties concerned. This is described in one part of the book. The second part of the book describes the impact of the oil spill and especially of the clean up on the communities affected. Each of the communities split in the middle. Half of the members took the position of trying to squeeze as much money out of Exxon as possible whilst the other half did not want to have anything to do with Exxon. Exxon did not succeed in engaging the communities in a positive way. The third part describes the nature in Alaska. These descriptions are wonderful and make you want to go there. These three parts are interwoven. The advantage is that the reader gets a three dimensional understanding of what happened: the responsibility for the disaster and the clean up, the impact on different members of the community and the impact on nature. The author places the ultimate responsibility on the consumer. He writes, " the American population prefers to live in a fog and is willing to accept almost anything in return for the opportunity to keep its gas tanks topped up" (with cheap gas). The combination of corporations maximising short-term profits and consumers closing their eyes to the consequences of their behaviour makes one worried. There must be a better way.

Out of the Channel should be required reading for anyone who thinks environmentally ... not just environmentalists, but students, political and economic theorists, and most of all, writers. I had the good fortune to learn a great deal about writing from John Keeble, and reading his book is an education all by itself. As a rigorous study of the physical and human impact of the Exxon Valdez disaster, Out of the Channel is a comprehensive anatomy, a text that does not shirk any of the heavy load its vast subject demands. Without taking the easy route of righteous anger, Keeble explores every nuance of the oil spill, and he follows that tenacious blot of Prudhoe Bay crude as it seeps out of the tangible world and into the minds and spirits of the permanent and temporary inhabitants of Prince William Sound. This tenth anniversary edition, with the expanded coverage allowed by the perspective of time, is a gift that should not be overlooked.

John Keeble, whose writing focuses on the issues facing the American Northwest, paints a memorable picture of the Exxon Valdez oilspill and its aftermath. Asked by the Greenwich Village Voice to write an article on the spill, he travels to Alaska and observes first-hand the efforts made to restore the land and the wildlife. However, the more he observes the more he is haunted by two observations: 1) that the size of the oil companies, and the entangled relationship between the companies and the government, is enormously greater than we have suspected, and 2) that the vast amounts of money poured into the clean-up effort causes many to view that money as their goal. His investigations into the clean-up follow a theme he develops in his other works: that the intrusion of a company or government upon the land inevitably causes exploitation; and those who live in that land must invariably suffer the consequences. Torn between the desires to make money, to clear the oil, and to downplay the scope of the incident, the people involved with clean-up waste a good deal of their effort. The more damage Keeble assesses, the more in tune he becomes with the suffering of the people and animals truly hurt, and ultimately, the reader, too, feels the chill that shakes the author at each new discovery.

I found this collection of interviews with the composer John Tavener and the editor, Brian Keeble, to be quite interesting and often amusing. Mr. Taverner is not shy in expressing his great distaste for other "modern" composers who came before him(particularly Olivier Messaien.) The book is helpful for the perspective it gives the reader in understanding the process of composing music. Moreover, it shows us that for Tavener, music is not just for listening, it is a way of serving God. His devotion to the Orthodox Church has served to bring its centuries-old musical/vocal tradition to a broader audience, including those of us who are not familiar with the tenets of that Church. His music is not just for Christians or Orthodox believers; it is a music for people of all beliefs. The solemnity and emotion of the human spirit come through in every one of his works.

John Tavener has certainly been one of the greatest inspirations in my life, and in this book it is finally possible to glimpse into the inner workings of his mind. His narrative reveals much of his personality, which is something completely apart from the public "image" that has often been thrust upon him. What is so striking is his honesty; although, like his beloved Stravinsky, he sometimes contradicts himself without knowing it, Tavener takes the plunge that is always difficult for autobiographers: he admits to a discomfort with his past and is willing to account for some embarrassing mistakes in his musical career. It does chafe just a little that he keeps referring to "Fall and Resurrection" (which he had just completed at the time of writing), but that notwithstanding, he engages the reader with his tales, opinions and feelings as much as he engages the faithful listener with his compositions. (And on a personal note, having met him and sung his music to him, I find it very hard not to hear his voice as I read the words...)

The book also contains several interview sections conducted by the editor Brian Keeble. These, it is explained in the preface, are recordings of spontaneous discussion as opposed to carefully planned dialogue, and to encounter Tavener in conversation is nearly as fascinating as reading his own prose. At long last, we can see what makes him tick, how he feels about his life and work, and what his hopes for the future are.

Even if you already have the Geoffrey Haydon book "Glimpses of Paradise," you should consider getting this- it sheds new light on the story of a truly unique composer and does indeed offer a message of hope for the next millennium. Outstanding!