This can become exceedingly irritating and distracting, either from eliciting laughter or ire, but is definitely bad enough in places as to render the text unintelligible. Certainly names and terminology from ancient cultures, which is a problem in a book dealing chiefly with these subjects, but even common words in modern English parlance. The major warning, which could stem from a pet peeve of mine, is that the narrator mispronounces words very frequently. The book itself is a wonderful, incisively- researched treatise on comparative mythology, religion and philosophy, containing illustrations of various symbols, archeological groundplans, etc., so if you are the type like myself to read and listen definitely get the physical or digital copy of the printed book for full context. I was going to wait until finishing this audiobook to review in order to place the experience in its total context but three hours have already given me a sense of what to expect and a strong desire to alert other potential listeners to this audiobook’s peculiarities. The Mispronounced Teachings of All the Ages
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To the point where a second chance with Astrid in peacetime might be the most terrifying and consequential battle he’s ever fought. Sustained by his friendships, Kennet both witnesses and commits the unthinkable atrocities of warfare, altering his view of the world and himself. It’s a bond fierce yet fragile, vital yet expendable, here today and gone tomorrow. As his unit crosses Europe, from the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium to Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria, Kennet falls into a different kind of love: the intense camaraderie between soldiers. The rigors of military life help dull his heartache, but when Kennet’s battalion reaches France, he is thrown into the crucible of front line combat. But the affair is cut short and the young lovers permanently parted, first by Astrid’s family obligations, then by America’s entry into the war. Kennet Fiskare, son of a hotel proprietor, is having the summer of a lifetime, having fallen deeply in love with a Swedish-Brazilian guest named Astrid Virtanen. Europe is at war, but New York’s Thousand Islands are at the height of the tourist season. A new novel from Suanne Laqueur, author of the Fish Tales Series And Ben would watch in quiet horror from the shadow of Grace Neus Cathedral, the stained-glass windows in its towers feeling far too much like the Pious God’s judgmental eyes.īut as Ben stood in the yard, soldiers blocking him from the raucous crowd, he knew this was different. Monxes, Church servants clad in heavy black robes, would scurry around the pyres, adding wood, supervising the soldiers who secured posts and readied chains. Anxious onlookers would pack the cathedral’s lawn, trampling the grass as they fought to see the spectacle at the end of the yard. He had told himself it would be no different from the other burnings. If you’re ready to jump in, then scroll on down! Start reading THESE REBEL WAVES now!īenat Gallego was thirteen when he watched his uncle and cousin burn to death. And if you want us to break it down for you even more, we’ve got an *Epic* Explains video that you can check out right here! It stars a revolutionary, a raider, and a prince who must all fight for their countries, their families, and themselves-or face a war that could destroy the world as they know it. Sara Raasch, author of the incredibly iconic SNOW LIKE ASHES series, is back with THESE REBEL WAVES, the start of a new duology set in a world of deadly botanical magic. And, oh, did we mention that one very sexy, snarky pirate in the mix? THESE REBEL WAVES is fantasy with a touch of HAMILTON adventure with a side of SIX OF CROWS. Get ready for a truly revolutionary new series! "Roth offers a richly imagined, often brutal world of political intrigue and adventure, with a slow-burning romance at its core. "Roth skillfully weaves the careful world-building and intricate web of characters that distinguished Divergent." -VOYA (starred review) #1 New York Times bestseller * Wall Street Journal bestseller * USA Today bestseller * #1 IndieBound bestseller In a stunning twist, the two will discover how fate defines their lives in ways most unexpected. For Cyra, that could mean taking the life of the man who may-or may not-be her father. And when Cyra's father, Lazmet Noavek-a soulless tyrant, thought to be dead-reclaims the Shotet throne, Akos believes his end is closer than ever.Īs Lazmet ignites a barbaric war, Cyra and Akos are desperate to stop him at any cost. The fates, once determined, are inescapable.Īkos is in love with Cyra, in spite of his fate: He will die in service to Cyra's family. The lives of Cyra Noavek and Akos Kereseth are ruled by their fates, spoken by the oracles at their births. The lives of Cyra Noavek and Akos Kereseth are ruled by their. The Fates Divide is a richly imagined tale of hope and resilience told in four stunning perspectives. The Fates Divide is a richly imagined tale of hope and resilience told in four stunning perspectives. In the second book of the Carve the Mark duology, globally bestselling Divergent author Veronica Roth reveals how Cyra and Akos fulfill their fates. In the second book of the Carve the Mark duology, globally bestselling Divergent author Veronica Roth reveals how Cyra and Akos fulfill their fates. They’re apt, as many of the behavioral patterns Downs discusses are less than desirable for living any kind of an authentic life.īut still, who am I to judge? Perhaps no one, but I’ve experienced what I experienced and I’ve witnessed what I’ve witnessed, and The Velvet Rage validated all of this far more than I ever expected it to.Īnd so, let’s press on with the final three points I’ve taken away from Alan Downs’ The Velvet Rage… Point 03: Gay Men Are No Strangers To BetrayalĪ hallmark experience in any narcissistic relationship, gay or straight, is betrayal. I’ve used words like “dysfunctional” and “toxic” quite a bit in the writing of these points. And as I share these personal aspects of my life, I make sense of them through my own self-education on the topic of narcissism in the hope that it will help people who are currently in the position I was in a few years ago. For some time now this website has been a public journal where I’m presenting my own personal experience of a narcissistic relationship with another man. I was fixating on the darker aspects of the book and not so much the hopeful parts. As I wrote about Alan Downs’ The Velvet Rage this week and last, I noticed an obvious pattern. The moment you think everything is perfect in your life, it can all come tumbling down on top of you. The only problem is… there are other people they are involved with who not only prevent Mason and Piper from being together, but interrupt any chance they have at making a relationship work. The two are like oil and water, a science experiment ready to explode any second but they can’t help but be drawn to each other. Even though she grates on his every nerve, he can’t help but want a piece of her. After a horrific break up with his now ex, Brooke, he finds himself being engulfed by the temperamental red head that just so happens to be the maid of honor to one of his best friends, Lexi. Psychotic Una-bomber with the constant mensies is the way Mason describes his flying companion, Piper Shores. But to her misfortune, she finds herself not only having to spend time with him at their best friends’ wedding but she also can’t seem to shake the infuriating man in her everyday life. From the minute the alpha male interrupts her morning after hangover on the airplane, she can’t stand to be near the egotistical maniac with a booming voice and annoying sex appeal. Unfortunate inconvenience, that is the way Piper describes her encounter with Mason Dashel. Perched high in the Bavarian Alps, the Berghof seems worlds away from the realities of battle. Only after weeks of training does she learn her assignment: she will be one of several young women tasting the Führer’s food, offering herself in sacrifice to keep him from being poisoned. After an interview with the civil service, Magda is assigned to the Berghof, Hitler’s mountain retreat. Young German women are expected to do their duty-working for the Reich or marrying to produce strong, healthy children. In early 1943, Magda Ritter’s parents send her to relatives in Bavaria, hoping to keep her safe from the Allied bombs strafing Berlin. Amid the turbulence of World War II, a young German woman finds a precarious haven closer to the source of danger than she ever imagined-one that will propel her through the extremes of privilege and terror under Hitler’s dictatorship. For example, Michael Emmerich’s compelling translation of her 1989 story collection Asleep wasn’t released until 2002. Unlike many Japanese writers active in the last decade, Yoshimoto’s translations into English tend to lag five to ten years behind their original publication date. The history of her work in English translation may well create an illusion of eternal youth in the Anglosphere. Her most enduring stories date to the late 80s and early 90s. Banana Yoshimoto was in her early 20s when she published Kitchen, her most famous novel in Japan and internationally. This was, perhaps, an overpowered attack by a senior statesman of letters against an author whose work had only been in print for four years. Kenzaburō Ōe, today Japan’s only living Nobel laureate for literature, continued that, “Murakami and Yoshimoto convey the experience of a youth politically uninvolved or disaffected, content to exist within a late adolescent or post adolescent subculture.” In a famous 1990 essay, one of the most respected living writers in Japan lamented that, “Serious literature and a literary readership have gone into a chronic decline, while a new tendency has emerged over the last several years … a largely economic one … reflected in the fact that the novels of certain young writers like Haruki Murakami and Banana Yoshimoto each sells several hundred thousand copies.” There are many legends and myths that explain the reason for his punishment. The gods punished him like that believing that a whole eternity of hard labor is a right punishment.Įveryone knows the end result, but not many people know the reason for the gods’ anger. Most probably you have heard of him, as the man who is punished to roll a rock up to the top of a mountain, but once he reaches the top, the rock rolls back down. He had devoted his whole work to opposing nihilism and searching for individual freedom. He won the Nobel Prize Winner in Literature, as the second youngest winner in the world’s history, and is a huge contributor to the rise of absurdism as a philosophy. Albert Camus BiographyĪlbert Camus was a French author, philosopher, and journalist. We recommend this text to all lovers of philosophical texts, readers who like absurdism, and those who have read and liked the other books of Albert Camus.Ĭamus may not make you adopt his reasoning, but he will surely make you think about life and look at your existence from a different angle. He also tries to answer if the moment people realize the meaninglessness of life, leads to suicide. “The Myth of Sisyphus” is a philosophical essay, that tries to elaborate on the question of happiness and how it is achieved. What happens when you realize that life is meaningless?ĭo you wish to end it, or do you finally find genuine happiness? Who Should Read “The Myth of Sisyphus”? And Why? Grace is a science teacher, rather than an astronaut. It’s clear that Weir is maturing as a writer. As the plot unfolds, Grace begins to slowly recover his memories not only does he discover the nature of the crisis facing humanity, but also learns that he isn’t exactly the type of man he thinks he is. Ryland Grace wakes up in a medical bay with two dead bodies, tubes sticking out of his body, and no idea of who he is, or how he got aboard what he soon finds out is a starship. One key difference is that the stakes are higher in Project Hail Mary: rather than one life being at risk, Weir’s antagonist in this book threatens the survival of the entire human race, and other galactic civilizations beside our own. Project Hail Maryuses a broader canvas as the backdrop for an interstellar race against time, but it still cleaves to Weir’s favorite themes: competence in the face of adversity, and a willingness to fight for survival. His sophomore effort, Artemis, was a change of pace, a science fiction thriller set inside a city on the Moon. After the runaway success of The Martian, culminating in a big budget Hollywood blockbuster helmed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon, expectations have run high for each new Andy Weir book. |