Vidyarthin

5 stars from Harvard lecturer on meditation, Buddhism, and contemplative traditions

Revisado: 09-09-23

This book _Caring_ is more valuable, applicable, & profound than the vast majority of books currently in circulation about compassion, the workings of mind, meditation and Buddhism. It gives effective, everyday approaches for improving our lives while also pointing to the freedom and depth of our Being that are beyond particular methods and conceptual frameworks. This is a good introduction to the many other books by this author that take the topics here even further—books such as Revelations of Mind, Gesture of Great Love, and Dimensions of Mind (all from Dharma Publishing).
For 35 years I have studied and practiced in Buddhist traditions including having undertaken long meditative retreats, and have taught university courses on Buddhism at Harvard University from 2017 to the present (2023). From those standpoints, I recommend most highly this book and others by the same author. The clear and transformative insights conveyed here are not easily found in other books published in English to date. Plus, the valuable insights in _Caring_ are communicated in a remarkably understandable way, in an unusually accessible manner that characterizes this book and the others named above. Listen to or read _Caring_ twice, and judge for yourself. Also, be sure to tune into the final one-third of the book since the profundity of the discussion increases greatly in that final portion. —Dr. Elon Goldstein, Lecturer in Buddhist Studies at Harvard Divinity School

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A cut above mediocre but far from elite in the ranks of epic fantasy

Revisado: 02-21-23

Having run out of good fantasies to read at the moment, I gave this book a shot. While this book is better written than pulp such as Terry Goodkind (nothing personal), it flounders at about the same mediocre level as Robert Jordan while featuring a less intricate plot and less robust world building. This book cannot be considered in the same breath with finely wrought fantasy such as that of George Martin, Patrick Rothfuss, Ursula LeGuin, China Mieville, Patricia McKillip, and Richard Morgan. It doesn’t even reach the level of Lev Grossman, Tad Williams, Robert Silverberg Moorcock, Lieber, Gene Wolfe, Paul Kearney, and Andrzej Sapkowski. It’s slow moving, nearly tolerable, with simplistic characterization. A high school boy of moderate intelligence might like this, but any more discerning readers will want to pass. Re-read Earthsea or Riddlemaster for a third time or Tolkien for a tenth time rather than spending your time on this. Heck, a stand-alone novel such as Martha Wells’s City of Bones is far superior, as is Scott Lynch’s Lies of Locke Lamora. I greatly enjoy fun, well written fantasy and sci-fi , but unfortunately this just doesn’t qualify as that. This review is written by a guy who had read lots of run-of-the-mill fantasy in high school but after age 16 has needed something more interesting than just meh and blah. I studied lit and then got three more advanced degrees (3 from Harvard) while teaching world literature. So if you want an opinion from someone who has read a few things, this review is for you. If you’re a smart seventh-grader, then ignore this and follow the reviews on YouTube which probably rave about these sorts of books.

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intelligent, well-crafted fantasy for literate adults

Revisado: 03-31-21

Wolfe on the one hand is a thorough and artistically gifted craftsman of narrative. Beset by complexities that he himself barely understands, his narrator Able births a story shimmering with intrigue and puzzles beneath its surface. Undergirded by Wolfe’s seamless prose, occasionally brilliant figurative language, and multilayered plotting, the story builds momentum as it casts us further into its strange, imaginative vision. The narrator’s tone is a perfect blend of straightforwardness, incredulity, naivety, and deliberately withheld knowledge— all of which may sound contradictory but is not so in the context of this narrator’s experience. Herein perhaps lies the finest literary aspect of this engaging story.
I will caution others that I did not fully appreciate this book until a second reading.
In addition to all of the above, _The Knight _ is a fun, entertaining story.
On Audible the narrator is excellent, one of the finest whom I have ever heard.
If you appreciate George Martin’s ASOIAF, Richard Morgan’s trilogy starting with_The Steel Remains_, and similar high-quality, literate adult fantasy, then pickings are lamentably slim. Wolfe’s The Knight and its sequel stand proudly among those other imaginative accomplishments of high literature. This is a book to be reread with pleasure after intervals of some years , which is one mark of its significance. A fantasy to be savored while it sends one’s speculations awhirl. Wonderment, wonderful.

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Review from a professor at Harvard

Revisado: 01-30-21

I presently teach wide ranging courses related to religion, culture, philosophy, history and literature at Harvard University. My training includes a PHD in the Study of Religion from Harvard along with two other advanced degrees. As a teacher and as an ongoing student of religion in its manifold and complex aspects, I find this book by Gavin Flood to be an excellent contemporary presentation of religion for any thinking person. To appreciate this book, the ideal reader should have at least the equivalent of a college degree and should possess interest in the humanities and social sciences. One of the book’s strengths is its success in integrating results and outlooks drawn from important current debates in the humanities and social sciences to create a coherent vision of how to understand religion in our time. Bravo, Dr Flood. Flood’s books on the tantric body, on asceticism and tradition, and his introduction to Hinduism are also all highly recommended.

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Tragedy for any era

Revisado: 12-04-20

Phenomenal, emotionally hard-hitting
About the characters and society —50’s LA as a reflection of present day—as much as it’s about a mystery plot.
Builds in intensity as we become invested in the complex, flawed, but often likeable characters, first and foremost Easy the protagonist. Mosley is our heir to the moral noir, now infused with poignant awareness of the injustices and personal pains of race, class, and gender. The successor to Chandler and MacDonald but packing a tragic punch that a mix of Modern and Postmodern sensibilities.
Excellent. Not for the faint of heart.

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Masterful

Revisado: 10-26-20

Absolute delight
One may view this collection as Martin’s creation vis a vis The Hobbit just as his ASOIAF is to LOTR.
Light-hearted compared to ASIIAF, gradually building in narrative suspense.

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