This is a good book. The revised edition (which this is) contains a wide and well-chosen selection of Lowell's poetry. He notes in the foreword that he tried to choose possible sequences rather than just greatest hits out of context. This effort is visible and the book flows together like almost one book instead of a career's overview.

What was interesting for me as I read it was that I was reading a used copy which was liberally marked up with underlines and notes of various kinds. Normally, this drives me crazy and as it was in pencil I began by first erasing five pages worth of notes and then reading on myself. Gradually, however, about one third through the book I noticed that whoever it was that had owned the book before shared a lot of tastes with me. I started enjoying his/her remarks and notitions and it felt like I was having a little conversation about the book.

The former owner underlined without comment the line where Lowell comments he "lies to friends and tells the truth in print". He circled the "Long Summer" sequence titles and placed an awed exclamation point after Lowell's poem for Ford Madox Ford. We both, apparently love "Margaret Fuller Drowned" as it rated one of only three poems marked with a star in the whole book.

It was a wonderful book, and while this shouldn't be construed as license to mark up books (I still find it a barbaric habit), it was also a good conversation.

Treasured Islands: Crossing The South Seas with Robert Louis Stevenson by Lowell Holmes (Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, Wichita State University) is a personal look at a beloved and renowned author of classics in terms of his high adventures on the South Pacific between 1888 and 1890. Life on the islands, European religious influence, and the saga of indigenous populations are all covered in this dramatic, exciting, and well-researched account. Biographer Lowell Holmes draws upon his impressive expertise regarding the life and work of Robert Louis Stevenson (he produced a documentary film on Stevenson in the Pacific) to deftly craft a work of historical accuracy and insight. Treasured Islands is a very highly recommended for personal, academic, and community library collections, and a "must" for admirers of Robert Louis Stevenson's literary works.

This series, the Voice of the Poet, offers not just great tapes--there are lots of sources for poetry tapes out there--but the best tapes in the best context. This package offers a fantastic selection of Lowell's poems, read by Lowell in very high-quality recordings. The texts for all the poems he reads are provided in an elegant booklet that sits in a convenient pocket in the tape-case, and J.D. McClatchy provides an extremely useful, thoughtful introduction to Lowell's poetry. I'm very happy to have it for myself, but I think it would would be perfect for students as well.

With his recent translations of Aeschylus, Sophocles and especially Homer, Robert Fagles assumes the status of the finest Greek translator of the age. The grandeur, excitement and triumph of this beautiful translation cannot be overstated. The Oresteia is truly one the most monumental and enduring legacies from the Golden Age. Here is a translation which befits the greatness of the subject.

Some additional random musings:

1. This is one of the many books I was "forced" to read in graded courses at the University, but only really first discovered when I was long graduated and freed from all compulsory studies. In the meantime I have also had the time and passion to study -- very slowly and with great delight -- the originals.

2. As with other "great" works of literature, my advice is to ignore what the "experts" have to say about the work and go straight to the work itself. Thus, skip the intimidating intro and dive right into the text, doubling back later only if the muse strikes you.

3. After reading and then rereading Fagles' new translation of the Agamemnon, Libation Bearers and Eumenides I am struck by the similarities of the Oresteia in both tone, theme and mien to the greatest Shakespearean tragedies, especially Hamlet. My dogeared copy of this Aeschylus is now bristling with notes and crossreferences to the Bard.

The Oresteia (the only extant complete Greek trilogy) consists of three plays: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and the Eumenides. It begins with Agamemnon returning home triumphant from the Trojan war only to be struck down (together with the tragic Cassandra) by his wife Clytaemnestra. Her motives while just (he sacrificed their daughter Iphigeneia to calm the winds) are impure because of her adultery with Aegisthus.

The second play is the vehicle for Clytaemnestra's punishment, as her son Orestes returns to kill both her and Aegisthus with the help of his sister Electra.

Finally, the Eumenides has the trial of Orestes by Athena, as she stops the furies from taking him in return for the blood-guilt he incurred for killing his mother. The Eumenides provides the way to end the cycle of revenge by banishing the furies from active participation in the world of men.

The cycle can be read in any number of ways. The introduction to the Penguin/Fagles translation contains a summary of the various readings. I kept wondering what Proteus, the missing fourth satyr-play would have provided. We read it so clearly as a trilogy and the Eumenides has such a harmonious ending that I can't help but wonder if the circle closed in the third play reopens in the fourth or if it was something else entirely.

My only complaint about the book is that in the Fagles translation the notes are at the back of the book rather than assigned per page, and I find that a cumbersome style to read.

Professor Fagles' translation of the Oresteia trilogy is the most powerful, moving, intense, bloody, achingly sad and beautiful drama I have ever read. As a typical member of the late Baby Boomer/early Gen X generation, I was never assigned such texts in school, and had the misconception that anything written by an ancient Greek must be boring, stale, and irrelevant. Fagles' Oresteia translation shows how misguided we are, and (along with his Illiad, Odyssey, and Three Theban Plays) opens up an incredible world to so many of us who have been in the dark.

Do not read this simply for your intellectual, moral, and spiritual improvement -- experience this because it is so enjoyable. "Pulp Fiction," "The Terminator," "The Titanic," Stephen King, or the latest Martin Scorcese film cannot compare for plot, intrigue, sex, violence, gore, intensity, entertainment, or cutting edge creativity.

From the plays' depiction of horrendous and unspeakable crimes to its climactic courtroom drama, you'll see why so many ancient playgoers fainted in the audience -- some women even having spontaneous miscarriages -- and why modern readers are so shocked and on the edge of their armchairs. Even if you've never read a "classic" or a "great book," read this.

This is not a book for anyone interested in Robert Lowell or his poetry. This is a maudlin account of one woman's inability to recognize or empathize with the inner life of her famous relative, and her valiant attempts to profit by her own shortcomings. In short, mere gossip. Eileen Simpson's "poets in Their Youth" is much more interesting, and Richard Tillinghast's "Robert Lowell's Life and Work" is far more insightful, for those who care about Lowell's poetry. But as for those who don't care about Lowell's poetry, well, all I can say is, why bother to read a book by someone whose only claim on your attention is that she's Lowell's distant cousin?

With fresh black humor and a no nonsense style, Sarah Payne Stuart has written a book of family suffering that gives a vivid understanding of the terrors and fall out of mental illness. She also describes with deft strokes what monsters people are, who lack imagination, and arrange to be insulated from pain by self-regard and a great deal of money.

Perhaps the most entertaining book that I have ever read. Sarah Payne Stuart makes me howl and a second later makes me thank God that I've got both oars in the water. God Bless You SPS.

I used this book, along with a host of other books, transcripts, articles and recordings of capoeira to complete my undergraduate thesis in anthropology. Regarding an earlier post here, i don't think that Lewis was trying to necessarily undermine the black African origins of capoeira, but rather his experiences with capoeiristas around Brazil led him to focus on the wholly Brazilian cultural aspects (samba, too, is a cultural phenomenon with roots in Africa). While i do belive that his treatment of the African origins of capoeira were sketchy, this is to be expected as the data on capoeira's African origins is not very clear, and to the best of my knowledge is to date a matter of conjecture. The only truth regarding that matter is that capoeira did come from Africa with the (primarily West African) slaves and developed into modern capoeira while in Brazil. This last part, "in Brazil", is something that I stress in the sense that although many Caribbean and South American nations received slaves from the same parts of Africa, only Brazil's slaves and mulattos produced capoeira.

More to the point of this type of entry: the book is a definite must-read for anyone (capoeirista or not) interested in the modern expressions of african diasporan culture.

Yes, I think this book deserves five stars, because it gave me insight; both professional and personal. Training Capoeira for seven years (including two trips to Brazil for the same reason) has taken me to the strange border between two cultures: my own Danish average European socio-historic background, and the Afro-brazilian transcultural vegetation in which Capoeira flourishes. Alouring - and as Lewis notes: deceptive, Capoeira as a performance reveals conflictuality on the Afro-brazilian social and historical level, which differs from the writers own background; in this case quite similar to my case. The task of relating to this difference is met by Ring of Liberation through respect of the ontic 'way' of the capoeirista, and at the same time maintaining an epistemic approach. What this means, is that Ring of Liberation can be read by the intellectual layman as well as the non-brazilian capoeira enthusiast, as a guide to experiences already had or about to happen...great stuff!

I found that this is a VERY true to actual accounts of Capoeira. I've been practising Capoeira myself for a while now, and this book reflex the views that I, and most of my Groups shares. It would seem very one-sided, but you NEED to be a Capoeirista to fully understand the concpts and ideas and history of this book. To me, A VERY GOOD BOOK ON WHAT I BELIEVE

PEACE

Even for a book of poetry, this one is very dense and requires a lot of mental activity. Lowell was a very cerebral, academic poet, and it's hard to find two lines in a row in this book that don't contain some allusion to classical mythology, religion, or European culture. Nevertheless, Lowell's work somehow manages to avoid conventionality. Just be prepared to do some thinking when reading this book.

This year I am using Jean Racine's "Phaedra" as the one non-classical text in my Classical Greek and Roman Mythology Class (yes, I know, "Classical" makes "Greek and Roman" redundant, but it was not my title). In Greek mythology, Phaedra was the half-sister of the Minotaur who was married to Theseus after the hero abandoned her sister Ariadne (albeit, according to some versions of what happened in Crete). Phaedra fell in love with her step-son Hippolytus, who refused her advances. Humiliated, she falsely accused him of having raped her.

My students read "Phaedra" after Euripides's "Hippolytus" as part of an analogy criticism assignment, in which they compare/contrast the two versions, which are decidedly different, to say the least. In the "original" Greek version Hippolytus is a follower of Artemis, and the jealous Aphrodite causes his stepmother to fall in love with him. Phaedra accuses Hippolytus of rape and then hangs herself; Theseus banished his son who is killed before Artemis arrives to tell the truth. In Racine's version Hippolytus is a famous hater of women who falls in love with Aricia, a princess of the blood line of Athens. When false word comes that Theseus is dead, Phaedra moves to put her own son on the throne. In the end the same characters end up dead, but the motivations and other key elements are different.

While I personally would not go so far as to try and argue how Racine's neo-classical version represents the France of 1677, I have found that comparing and contrasting the two versions compels students to think about the choices each dramatist has made. Both the similarities and the differences between "Hippolytus" and "Phaedra" are significant enough to facilitate this effort. Note: Other dramatic versions of this myth include Seneca's play "Phaedra," "Fedra" by Gabriele D'Annunzio, "Thesee" by Andrea Gide, and "The Cretan Woman" by Robinson Jeffers.

Brad Stone has provided an adequate introduction to the ideas of Robert Nisbet, a sociologist known for his conservative defense of the social group against the encroachment of statism.

I was surprised to see Stone align Nisbet with Richard Weaver in the notion that ideas were the motive force behind human behavior. Much of Nisbet's work revolved around the social group, the formation of which often had little to do with ideas about politics or anything else. Of particular importance was Nisbet's experience in the Second World War and the camaraderie and community felt among soldiers. The terrible irony was that from out of misery there arose bonds which were stronger than those that awaited them in the peacetime, workaday world. To my knowledge, Nisbet never elaborated in print on his war experience, but I believe the memory of it and lessons from it informed much of his work on the quest for community.

Nisbet agreed with Russell Kirk-as one of the very touchstones of conservatism-that man is guided more by emotion and feeling than reason and intellect. Although Nisbet wrote that "man is what he thinks" in Twilight of Authority, he emphasized the "pre rational emotional attachments to certain habits, beliefs and practices" fifteen years later in his book, Conservatism.

I don't know whether to attribute this contradiction to Weaver, Nisbet, or Stone. That is, to what degree do intellect and ideas influence our behavior? All of them thought that ideas have consequences, but I believe Nisbet understood better than Weaver that it is not only ideas that have consequences. When it comes to determining "what man is," man is also guided by what he feels. If we agree with Alexander Pope that the proper study of mankind is man, then we must include man's feelings and any field of study that purports to deal with them.

Another reservation I have is when Stone tries to apply Nisbet's ideas to the issues of the day. While I understand the need to separate Nisbet from such statist communitarians as Robert Bellah, Stone's analysis in the last chapter digresses from the business at hand. I have little confidence in a sentence that begins, "His first observations today would no doubt be..." I would have preferred less intrusion by the author in order to let the reader draw his own conclusions.

Still, Stone demonstrates a familiarity with a large body of work that should whet the appetites of readers discovering Nisbet for the first time.

This book is fairly close to the movie with the exception of the ending. in the movie, Laura herself is the Light of Zartha, not the bracelet. The daughter of Princess Lauranna, she is sent off to the planet of Zartha to fulfill her destiny and rule her people.
In this book, which, don't get me wrong, is good and hilariously funny, the bracelet is sent off to the planet of Zartha, and Laura is deneuralized and sent to her NYC home.
that's about the only discrepency that i can see. Actually, the additional info in the other parts of the books helps fill you in on other areas, (such as, when Kay and Jay depressurized MIB HQs and fly in, it explains that the security guard was fastened into his seat with a chain so he didn't budge)
Overall, I liked it, and i'd buy it again, even though it doesn't have quite the same ending.

This book is fairly close to the movie with the exception of the ending. in the movie, Laura herself is the Light of Zartha, not the bracelet. The daughter of Princess Lauranna, she is sent off to the planet of Zartha to fulfill her destiny and rule her people.
In this book, which, don't get me wrong, is good and hilariously funny, the bracelet is sent off to the planet of Zartha, and Laura is deneuralized and sent to her NYC home.
that's about the only discrepency that i can see. Actually, the additional info in the other parts of the books helps fill you in on other areas, (such as, when Kay and Jay depressurized MIB HQs and fly in, it explains that the security guard was fastened into his seat with a chain so he didn't budge)
Overall, I liked it, and i'd buy it again, even though it doesn't have quite the same ending.

What an awesome read. I am an avid reader, usually drawn to biographies and non fiction. I picked this up to pass the time. Weather you have seen Men in Black one or not, even if you saw the second installment, grab this book. Even with 249 pages, it is a quick read because you cant put it down. I really enjoyed Men in Black one, the movie, and reading this book, you totally have the images for Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, as agents Jay and Kay, respectfully. This book was written with them totally in mind. It reads just like it is coming out of Will Smiths own mouth. The action, the description, the humor, what a cool read!!