Henry Fairlie is on the right track, but his effort is marred by his political ambiguity and, especially, by his inability (albeit not unwillingness) to believe in God. Moral law is based on religion, and religion is based on belief in God. Mr. Fairlie's refusal to fully accept this premise blunts the point he wishes to make: Our culture is crumbling under the onslaught of the Seven Deadly Sins in ascendancy (and the situation has deteriorated considerably and visibly since this book first appeared).

Leaving aside his mystifying choice of Vint Lawrence as an illustrator, the only time Mr. Fairlie fails miserably (indeed, it almost cost him a star) is in his pompous and almost incoherent chapter, "The Paths of Love," where he makes such risible statements as: [page 209] "In nothing has our science made us more free than in the fearlessness of its search for truth and its willingness to confront it." Oh, please.

The bottom line? Mr. Fairlie's effort is a worthy one, just not as successful as one would have wished.

Whatever happened to sin? as another book's title has it. Despite our best efforts to discard or "outgrow" the idea, sin remains a woven-in part of the human tapestry. We have not made ourselves into exceptions to human nature, and we are very like other people. Such is the thesis of the late British expatriate journalist Henry Fairlie, who also used to write for The New Republic. His style is very grave, like a less colorful G. K. Chesterton, or an even more disaffected Allan Bloom. He describes himself very aptly as "a reluctant unbeliever". Yet, while he cannot accept that we can in some way grieve the Supreme Being, he is sensitive enough to see the wreckage that sin visibly causes in our earthly lives. "Sin is the destruction of one's self as well as the destruction of one's relationships with others," he says. What makes this be sin rather than just some ordinary failing of character is that sin perverts something indefinably fundamental in us, from which all the rest of our humanity proceeds.

And so off he goes, incisively describing and deploring each of the traditional Seven Deadly Sins. His heartfelt, well-supported exposition should win understanding and respect from believers, and should give unbelievers pause. His politics sometimes trip up his argument. "Even our socialism is sinful..."--as if a political system based on breaking the Eighth and Tenth Commandments could ever be anything but sinful. But such missteps do not impede this pilgrim's progress

What does bring everything to a screeching halt is the final chapter, "The paths of love". Here his agnosticism brings him up short, and he is quite at sea trying to formulate a counter-balance to the awful fact of sin. One hopes that he eventually realized before he died that he didn't have to re-invent the wheel. An incredibly brave near-classic from a modern "pagan worthy".

It is difficult to praise this book sufficiently. Henry Fairlie's 1978 book has thankfully been reprinted by the University of Notre Dame Press for a new generation. Fairlie presents the Seven Deadly Sins--Pride, Envy, Anger, Sloth, Avarice, Gluttony and Lust--as they manifest themselves in contemporary Western (especially American) society and in individual lives. Whether or not one is religious in orientation (Fairlie characterized himself as a "reluctant unbeliever")this book offers a disciplined optimism in suggesting that "The understanding that we sin is a summons to life."

Partly set among workers in foundry in Birmingham (Brum) England, and partly among top management in London. Parallel love affairs occur in each setting. Intrigues pit younger workers against older ones. Elderly owner of company is dying and son wants to take over. Work at foundry is horribly dangerous and highly skilled.
Interesting, and perhaps distracting, feature is use of Midland English. Happen author read DH Lawrence who wrote around same time. People in this part of England often leave out articles, such as "a" and "the". Green adopts mannerism, not only when transcribing speech of Birmingham characters but also in exposition parts. It gives narrative strange texture, especially in London scenes.
Book is my second Green (had read Blindness) and so far I'm not finding him great superlative talent but folks as know say both are early works and not typical. I'm not great fan of dialect writing with phonetic spelling. Updike wrote rave introduction to volume contains this along with "Loving" and "Party Going." Likes of VS Pitchett and Anthony Burgess said Green was greatest author of time.

Cats, as a sure-sell topic, are exhausted; dogs must be next

Creative, heart-warming yet never wandering from reality, "Living with Dogs" takes us on the magical and wonderous experience it is to own, and eventually fall in love with, a dog. Written by a dog-lover and owner of a 14 year old Chow named Chang, "Living..." is an excellent book of anecdotes and stories you'll love to share.

Our lives are filled with a wide array of relationships---some of which are very complicated and some of which are really very simple. The simple connections we make with nature and animals sustain us. If you have found that your dog is a simple and sustaining part of your life you will enjoy these simple,anecdotal stories of other dog-people's experiences. The book has the same uplifting characteristics as our relationships with our dogs.

I was appalled to read on page 49 that "a girl with a Catholic background was saved in our church." I was always taught to respect others in their religious beliefs, and that you do not have to belong to a particular religion to be SAVED.I really cannot understand how a man of God can write in this manner.

This book provides some of the very best insights into Godly faith - what it really is and how God blesses those who truly live by faith.

This is an excellent study guide of Abrams (Abrahams) life in God shaping his spiritual life to be known as God's Friend. Very direct and easy to understand communication of God's principles of faith and obiedence.

Other books read by Henry Blackaby; Experiencing God and Experiencing God Workbook

I am in the process of settling a rather simple trust. However, I found this book of no use. Note the author first wrote a book titled "A Living Trust" which discussed setting up a living trust. "Settle a Living Trust" is a rehash of the "A Living Trust" with a little information about settling a trust. I wouldn't recommend buying this book if your seeking help in settling a trust.

As an attorney specializing in estate planning for 17 years, I found some good ideas in this book. However, there are a number of statements that are misleading at best and flat-out wrong (from a technical legal and tax standpoint), at worst. Still, your lawyer should be able to spot those and it's still a very worthwhile book, on the whole.

Some repeated sad stories from his first book "The Living Trust". Once past these, there is some very useful info. Read it very carefully, and then take questions to his outfit, or your lawyer, or both. Then advise your next trustees so they know what is coming.

The very title of the book tells you something about the intelligence-level of its writers and readers: the authors are too dim to see the self-incriminating pun in "steeling." But they aren't actually stealing the mind of America, for the simple reason that they and their audience have nothing which could be called a "mind" in the first place.

I was given a copy of this book by an American friend, who promised me it would help me understand why his country elects people like George W. and Jesse Helms. It worked. In fact, it worked far too well.

At first the book seemed merely laughable in its credulity, bigotry and xenophobia. But as I read on, laughter turned to horror. I see now--I see all too clearly--why the US could sabotage the Kyoto Treaty and go on pollluting this planet's atmosphere, and even believe it's doing God's work in the process. The mad American Christian right wants the Earth to be trashed, and the sooner the better--because the destruction of the Earth is the goal, the happy Disney ending, of its psychotic apocalyptic scenario.

If you can force yourself to read this book right through (no easy task for anyone who cares about prose style), you will be rewarded with an insight into the real motivation of the Christian American right: a hatred of all life, and a drooling eagerness for the world to be destroyed.

After seeking various sources for Biblical truth and the truth about what is happening both within and without the United States, this expose of five authors has put it all together so everyone can finally know the truth about our future. If you are a Christian, this book will put the Bible prophesies into perspective...if you are not, it should scare the hell out of you! Being a parent in today's American society is hard now and is even going to get more difficult as the minutes tick away and we head toward the Second Coming! The betrayal of the American people by the so-called "Democracy" is a mockery when we discover the extent of the "duping" which Americans have incurred over the past 200+ years. Waiting for the "rapture" (with the word not even appearing in the Bible one time!), has been the "Christian" thing to do. Guess what? The time for standing up for Yahwah and His Word is not later...it's NOW! "MY PEOPLE ARE DESTROYED FOR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE." HOSEA 4:6. If the Founding Fathers could walk among us today, the state of this once great country would certainly bring tears to their eyes as they would see their works (The Constitution of the United States of America; The Declaration of Independence; The Bill of Rights, etc.) as ALL being for not. When you begin reading this book, you will not want to put it down until you have turned the last page! Then, you will continue thinking and wondering...then you will pick it up and want to read it again...this time more slowly and wanting to remember every detail so you can recall the information. If you have a Bible study group, whether they are high school age or adult, each one of them should own their own personal copy of this transcript!

This is a good book. You have to admire the author's initiative in hunting down jarheads from Maine to San Diego 30 years after the war is over. Berry has the men talk alot about their pre-service and pre-Korean War militayr experience, which adds alot of color to the book. Many of the stories get a bit repetitive as the fellas tell their tales of Pusan, Inchon, Chosin, and the subsequent stalemate, but there was enough of a twist to each rendition to keep this readers' interest. Berry does provide a useful survey of the post WWII political and military situation in the US...attempts to eliminate the Marine Corps, the severe force cuts and poor readiness of key personnel and equipment.

Every reader is likely to find a part of this book which sticks in his memory. Mine were as follows. ....Paul Martin, 1st Marine Division Recon, is sick and tired of this 'Chosin Reservoir trap stuff.' How could it be a 'trap' he asks, when everyone in the theater knew the hills were crawling with Chinese soldiers? Martin heaps praise on Major General Smith for going ahead with the runway at Hugaru-ri despite Almond's hesitation.

....Hal Roise on Vietnam as he neared the end of his career in the mid sixties. "It looked like a quagmire to me...I just don't think our intervening was worth the effort. This type of thinking made me a leper as far as the big wheels at the Pentagon were concerned. I figured i'd just get out."

....Maj. General Lem Sheppard's criticism of the denouement from Chosin, the Hungnam evacuation. The port was well defended from the ground, air and sea; the Chinese were 'finished.' Giving up the port was a "mistake which cost thousands of American lives over the next few years."

....The North Koreans would close the schools and release the kids to find escaped POW's. It was their version of 'kick the can...' when they found you they would start cheering. This from Colonel William Thrash, a Marine flyer who spent some time in Chinese captivity.

....Boston Red Sox fans will enjoy Ted William's stories about bombing missions, as well as his battles with pneumonia and inner ear infections.