Ecological Education in Action: On Weaving Education, Culture, and the Environment

Book Description

Ecological Education in Action celebrates the work of innovative educators in North America who explore ecological issues in school and non-school settings. These educators demonstrate how to reshape the thinking of children and adults to affirm the value of sufficiency, mutual support, and community.

Courses in environmental education often focus on scientific analysis and social policy--not cultural change. Children are exposed to information regarding environmental problems and explore such topics as endangered species, the logging of tropical rainforests, or the monitoring of water quality in local streams and rivers. Some adopt manatees or whales, or create school-wide recycling programs. These topics and efforts are without question commendable, however, missing is a recognition of the deeper cultural transformations that must accompany the shift to a more ecologically sustainable way of life.

Contributors to this volume describe courses, programs, or projects that are transformative in nature, aimed at engendering the experience of connectedness that lies at the heart of moral action. The first six chapters describe educational efforts in K-12 schools throughout North America. The next six chapters consider the work of people in higher education and non-formal educational settings and their attempts to instill an ecological perspective into the learning of college students and adult community members. The book thus creates an image of what an ecologically grounded form of education for our own era could look like.

Customer Reviews:

Nature boy, this book's for you.......2007-07-19

Naturalist's Big Bend is a comprehensive overview of the flora and fauna of the Big Bend National Park region in Texas. Big Bend is unique for a couple of reasons. First, because the US/Mexico border dips south there, many species are found in the US only in this region. Secondly, as the climate changed following the last ice age, other species found themselves islanded in the cooler mountain ecosystems as the plains around them became deserts. These "sky islands" hold unique flora and fauna that has remained isolated for thousands of years.

Authors Wauer and Fleming have comprehensive first-hand knowledge of the park that comes through in every chapter. The book provides the advantage not only of their expertise but of their access to many unpublished Park Service and other reports and surveys of the park. The bibliography is the definitive go-to guide for anyone wishing to research any aspect of Big Bend's ecosystem. However, for a more personal tour of the park, you might prefer For All Seasons: A Big Bend Journal by author Wauer.

The book makes an excellent reference for the knowledgeable biologist or biology buff planning, enjoying, or remembering a visit to Big Bend National Park. Casual tourists will find the detail overwhelming and the illustrations miserly. With a bigger budget, this could have been a stunning illustrated field guide. As it is, most species rely on description alone for identification. There are a few black-and-white plates of plants, a limited number of fascinating black-and-white photos of animals, and a select group of stunning color photos that illustrate the diverse habitats found within the park.

Good general naturalist's info.......2006-03-07

My husband and I both found this useful and interesting for our recent weeklong trip to Big Bend. I would recommend it more as preparatory reading before the trip, or evening reading at your room or campsite while in the park, than as a guide to specific areas or species. Also it is best used with oher books accompanying it rather than relying on it alone, such as hiking, lizard, flower, or birding book too, depending on your interests. The bibiography uses up about the last quarter of this rather slim book. So you may want to get it way ahead of your trip then order more books from the bibliography or elsewhere.

Great book, bad citations........2005-12-14

This is a neat little book summarizing the flora and fauna of Big Bend National Park. It covers plants, birds, mammals, invertebrates, fish, and reptiles and amphibians, and provides a brief history. It is not an identification guide, but a listing of species of interest with some facts about them. There are better resources of information about birds and plants, but the other topics are rarely covered elsewhere aside from checklists available at the park.

My only problem with this guide is that they have provided in-text citations that are not in the bibliography! If you are going to cite sources in the text, please provide complete information *somewhere*. The bibliography lists lots of great sources, just not ALL of the sources used in the book. This lack of attention to detail is the reason I gave this book anything less than 5 stars.

Plants and Animals at Big Bend .......2004-12-27

Big Bend National Park has a variety of habitats for plants and animals. I was surprised to read that Big Bend counts more bird species than any other National Park in the US. Most of the park is desert, but the Rio Grande attracts water-loving species and the higher elevations of the Chisos mountains support trees normally associated with the Rocky Mountains hundreds of miles further north.

This is a fine little book. It has many color illustrations of the rugged terrain of the Big Bend, historical photos, black and white photos of animals and plants, and line drawings of wildflowers for identification purposes.

The book offers a capsule history of the Big Bend and a description of the five ecological zones in the park: floodplain, desert shrub, desert grassland, woodland formation and woodland. A chapter each is devoted to describing trees and shrubs, wildflowers, cacti, mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, fish, and insects and other invertebrates. An extensive bibliography will guide a reader who wants more information. The text is competently and clearly written with brief descriptions of each species and comments on its importance, uses, range, and habitat.

Smallchief

Wildflowers of the Big Bend country, Texas

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Wildflowers of the Big Bend country, Texas
Barton H Warnock
Manufacturer: Sul Ross State University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Widflowers of the Big Bend Country, Texas LIMITED EDITION

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Widflowers of the Big Bend Country, Texas LIMITED EDITION
Barton H. Warnock
Manufacturer: Sul Ross State University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Product Description

Limited 1970 Edition of only 1500 copies!! Numerous color photographs and map on inside back cover.

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WILDFLOWERS OF THE BIG BEND COUNTRY TEXAS
Barton Warnock
Manufacturer: Sul Ross State University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound
ASIN: B000NTMMG8

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Wildflowers of the Big Bend Country Texas
Barton H. Warnock
Manufacturer: Sul Ross
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound
ASIN: B000O1UDES

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Great Book

Not bad

Written by a "Real" St. Louisan

This is how I got to love St. Louis...

Everything you need to know about St. Louis

City Smart: St. Louis
Jody S. Feldman
Manufacturer: Avalon Travel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Insiders' Guide to St. Louis, 2nd (Insiders' Guide Series)

Walking St. Louis

Zagatsurvey 2003 04 st Louis Restaurants (Zagat Survey: St. Louis Restaurants)

Rand Mcnally Easyfinder St. Louis & Vicinity: Regional (Rand McNally Easyfinder)

Rand Mcnally 2007 St. Louis Street Guide (Rand McNally St. Louis Street Guide: Including St. Louis & St. Charl)

ASIN: 1562615157

Book Description

This second edition of City-Smart: St. Louis is updated throughout and includes easy-to-follow maps. The author describes the best of St. Louis - from sights and restaurants to sports and shopping - even featuring "The Ten Best Places for Dessert in St. Louis," written by Miss America 1990.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book.......2005-06-23

CITY SMART: ST. LOUIS is a great book describing both the Missouri and Illinois Sides of the St. Louis Area. It tells you where the best restaurants, shopping malls, museums, neighborhoods, and transportation are. However, being that it was written in 2000, some information needs to be taken like the humor in AMERICAN WEDDING, SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE, THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELLING PANTS, HARVARD MAN, DRIVE ME CRAZY, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, 13 GOING ON 30, GARFIELD: A TALE OF TWO KITTIES, or DATE MOVIE, because many statistics have changed since then. Even so, this is still a wonderful book to own.

Not bad.......2002-09-11

In general I like travel guides written by natives of the area, but often they don't tell the whole story to the visitor. Such is the case with this book. There are lots of off-beat sidebars and native perspective. While it contained lots of good information and "inside scoop" it also falls short in some respects. For example, many restaurants and other attractions are described as being on "the hill" and there is even a sidebar that explains the culture of "the hill" yet no where in the book was the geographical location of "the hill" given. Hotels, restaurants, etc. are also categorized by neighborhood which is an idea I LOVE, and there are descriptions of what type of environment comprises each area, yet there are no maps or other descriptions to tell you the boundaries of these neighborhoods.

Another area in which this book fails miserably is in the maps. They would be OK if they were ACCURATE. They are not -- in fact the location of several restaurants on the restaurant map are flat-out wrong, and the map of Forest Park was misleading at best. It also seems that a book of this publication date would have noted the extensive renovation, redesign, and road construction in Forest Park that was years in the planning and which is in the first year of a multi-year project. The Jewel Box is closed for all of 2002. Given the lack of signage in the park itself as well as the many construction-blocked routes, an accurate, detailed map would have been invaluable. As it was I got LOST and spent an hour wandering around on foot before reaching my destination.

Finally, this is a 100% positive book. I'm sure that made the tourism board in St. Louis happy, but I appreciate a guidebook that has the guts to say, "XYZ is not worth a visit because ...." I also got the feeling the author ran out of steam with a lot of descriptions and couldn't think of anything to say beyond a generic thumbnail.

So, since I never buy only one guide book to an area I was happy with what I got out of this book, but was also glad I had another guidebook and an excellent map with me as well.

Written by a "Real" St. Louisan.......2002-04-12

Ms. Feldman does a fine job in capturing some of St. Louis' more sublime features. She writes this book as only someone who loves the area and has lived there for a long time can.

My family and I use this to find out about some of the lesser-known (at least to those not from St. Louis) attractions in the St. Louis metro area. For example, we were able to track down a real pumpkin patch so that my son could pick out his own pumpkins for Halloween. Also, we learned about the Butterfly House, an amazing climate-controlled "greenhouse" that houses several colorful species of butterflies.

Ms. Feldman also gives tips on getting around St. Louis, discusses the variety of restaurants available, and spends significant time discussing evening activities such as plays, opera, and nightclubs.

This book was instrumental in helping us dive in and enjoy what St. Louis has to offer. I appreciated the author's insight into St. Louis. She added opinions and insight that readers will not find in other city guides.

This is how I got to love St. Louis..........2001-12-14

I moved to St. Louis about 1 year ago, and I bought this book to get myself familiarized with lovely St. Louis. Becauise of this book, I've known restaurants and places that many locals have never heard of. I still use the book as a reference when looking for something else to do, read on a restaurant, or when out of town guests come.

If you will visit St. Louis for some time, get this great little book. If you live here, then get this book and pay tribute to where you live!

Everything you need to know about St. Louis.......2000-05-03

Jody Feldman's guide to St. Louis is well-written, comprehensive and interesting. Feldman, a St. Louis native, includes everything from hotels & restaurants to sporting events & night life. Interesting factoids are interspersed throughout and a brief history of the city is also included.

A very helpful feature is added to this second edition: website addresses for almost every listing. This book was published in the spring of 2000 and at the time, it was very clearly up-to-date - it even mentions the Rams' Super Bowl victory in the winter of 2000.

If you're a tourist looking to visit St. Louis, this is definitely the book you want to take with you.

Book Description

The second edition of the successful Neurobiology text by Matthews. The text ranges from molecules to systems and uses various systems to illustrate each major concept.

Neurobiology: Molecules, Cells and Systems

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Neurobiology: Molecules, Cells and Systems
Gary G. Matthews
Manufacturer: Blackwell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000L81744

Product Description

Fundamentals of Algorithms 2 Computational scientists often encounter problems requiring the solution of sparse systems of linear equations. Attacking these problems efficiently requires an in-depth knowledge of the underlying theory, algorithms, and data structures found in sparse matrix software libraries. Here, Davis presents the fundamentals of sparse matrix algorithms to provide the requisite background. The book includes CSparse, a concise downloadable sparse matrix package that illustrates the algorithms and theorems presented in the book and equips readers with the tools necessary to understand larger and more complex software packages. With a strong emphasis on MATLAB® and the C programming language, Direct Methods for Sparse Linear Systems equips readers with the working knowledge required to use sparse solver packages and write code to interface applications to those packages. The book also explains how MATLAB performs its sparse matrix computations. This invaluable book is essential to computational scientists and software developers who want to understand the theory and algorithms behind modern techniques used to solve large sparse linear systems. The book also serves as an excellent practical resource for students with an interest in combinatorial scientific computing. Preface; Chapter 1: Introduction; Chapter 2: Basic algorithms; Chapter 3: Solving triangular systems; Chapter 4: Cholesky factorization; Chapter 5: Orthogonal methods; Chapter 6: LU factorization; Chapter 7: Fill-reducing orderings; Chapter 8: Solving sparse linear systems; Chapter 9: CSparse; Chapter 10: Sparse matrices in MATLAB; Appendix: Basics of the C programming language; Bibliography; Index. "Overall, the book is magnificent. It fills a long-felt need for an accessible textbook on modern sparse direct methods. Its choice of scope is excellent.." John Gilbert, Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Direct Methods for Sparse Matrices (Monographs on Numerical Analysis)

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excellent book

Direct Methods for Sparse Matrices (Monographs on Numerical Analysis)
I. S. Duff , A. M. Erisman , and J. K. Reid
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0198534213

Book Description

The subject of sparse matrices has its roots in such diverse fields as management science, power systems analysis, surveying, circuit theory, and structural analysis. Mathematical models in all these areas give rise to very large systems of linear equations which could not be solved were it not for the fact that the matrices contain relatively few non-zero entries. Only comparatively recently, in the last fifteen years or so, has it become apparent that the equations can be solved even when the pattern is irregular, and it is primarily the solution of such problems that is considered in this book. The subject is intensely practical and this book is written with practicalities ever in mind. Whenever two methods are applicable, their rival merits are considered, and conclusions are based on practical experience where theoretical comparison is not possible. Non-numeric computing techniques have been included, as well as frequent illustrations, in an attempt to bridge the usually wide gap between the printed page and the working computer code. Despite this practical bias, it is recognized that many aspects of the subject are of interest in their own right, and the book aims to be suitable also for a student course, probably at M.Sc. level. Exercises have been included to illustrate and strengthen understanding of the material, as well as to extend it. Efficient use of sparsity is a key to solving large problems in many fields. This book will supply both insight and answers for those attempting to solve these problems.

Customer Reviews:

excellent book.......2004-01-31

This book covers direct sparse matrix techniques developed
up to 1986. It's slightly outdated, since this field
experienced great changes -- especially in the early and
mid 90s a lot of new methods were developed.

However, it's a still a pretty book for beginners who want
to know this field. It's pitty that Amazon does not have it.
The good new is that you can buy the book directly from the publisher at www.us.oup.com/us/ for $55.

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Direct methods for sparse matrices

Manufacturer: Springer-Verlag
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0387126767

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Direct Methods for Sparse Matrices, Monographs on Numerical Analysis (1990)
I. S. Duff , A. M. Erisman , and J. K. Reid
Manufacturer: Oxford Science Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000Q6O3LK

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Direct methods for sparse matrices
O Ãsterby
Manufacturer: Computer Science Dept., Aarhus University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007B0FD4

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Direct Methods for Sparse Matrices (Numerical Mathematics and Scientific Computation)
I. S. Duff
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press(UK)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OLA3O8

Book Description

A book that deeply influenced the young Freud and was the inspiration for many artists, The Temptation of Saint Anthony was Flaubert’s lifelong work, thirty years in the making. Based on the story of the third-century saint who lived on an isolated mountaintop in the Egyptian desert, it is a fantastical rendering of one night during which Anthony is besieged by carnal temptations and philosophical doubt.

This Modern Library Paperback Classic reproduces the distinguished Lafcadio Hearn translation, which translator Richard Sieburth calls “a splendid period piece from one of America’s premier translators of nineteenth-century French prose. In Lafcadio Hearn’s Latinate rendering, Flaubert’s experimental drama of the modern consciousness reads as weirdly as its oneiric original.”

Customer Reviews:

Good for understanding Flaubert as well as religeous history.......2000-11-09

As others have noted, this book is particularly helpful when trying to understand Flaubert and his other works. The popularly read Madame Bovary in particular features a character, Homais, who continually tries to impose his own ideas about religeon on people who aren't even interested in listening... it is interesting to see, though, where views similar to Homais' come out in the Temptation of St. Anthony.

The work itself is written like a play, though to do this on stage would be an interesting feat. It would perhaps better take the form of film, such as Bunuel's Simon in the Desert.

For those interested in getting in to studying early Christian movements following the death of Christ, although this will hardly serve as a textbook, Flaubert seems to have had a broad repetoir of little known (today, at least) historical facts and facets that will help point an aspiring student in the right direction.

Though hardly light reading, and probably of little appeal to those who do not have an interest in either Flaubert, French literature, or religeon, the trials and tribulations Antony is subjected to through one night of temptation will be at the least entertaining, if not enlightening, to a few.

A Metatext.......2000-08-15

This is a work that should not be neglected by those interested in Flaubert or by lovers of French Literature. It's format resembles an old-fashioned cyclorama, which was basically a revolving canvas, portraying various interpretive images to an audience that would be seated in the middle of a room. Or it may recall the same period's "magic lantern" which would produce a similar effect, projecting a series of images on a flat wall, the precursor of modern cinema.

Flaubert ushered in an entirely new sensibility to the world of letters. He reinvented the concept of the literary artist as word-and world shaper. The word is the world and vice-versa. No writer ever engaged in such a Herculean struggle to shape every word, every sentence, every image, every assonance or consonance to perfectly conform to his intention.

Flaubert engaged in a kind of ascetisism his entire adult life, which is hardly news, but is central to an understanding of this work and to his attraction towards St. Anthony for a protagonist. Flaubert was for many years a kind of hermit in his study at Croisset, where he retired to his study to read books and write novels. He had contact with his mother and adopted niece and wrote letters to a mistress (Louise Collet, and later to George Sand) along with a few male friends. He would make brief sojourns into Paris, but for the most part, stayed to himself in his provincial hideaway. What he dreamt of there, besides his most famous works (Madame Bovary and L'Education Sentimentale) were reveries such as this novel and Salammbo, another book set in the Near-East and equally evocative in terms of his treatment of that region's sensual and Byzantine richness.

"The Temptation" sparkles with some of Flaubert's most carefully and lovingly constructed imagery. It is the author's own homage to the fertility of his imagination. He never fathered a child literally that we know of, but this work and Salammbo were his ways of saying that he was fertile in all other respects. Each passing personage or creature is a seed sewn by this father of imagery.

One of the most senseless and ill-informed utterances in the annals of criticism is Proust's comment that Flaubert never created one memorable metaphor. Flaubert's entire cannon is one vast metaphor. They are evident in every sentence and every passage of every novel he ever wrote. This is particularly true in this work, as any informed reader will no doubt conclude after reading it.

One other area of recommendation extends to students of Gnosticism. Flaubert encapsulates much of the central theories of the early Gnostic Fathers and Apostles in a few well-delineated characterisations and brush strokes. I would also recommend the Penguin edition, edited and translated by Kitty Mrosovsky, for her introduction and notes. The only drawback I have with her is that she portrays Henry James as denigrating Flaubert's work, where in fact he generally effusively praises it. To those who can read it in its original text, I can only say I envy you and wish I were there.

Read this book!.......2000-07-27

This is a startling and brilliant piece of prose poetry that deserves to be more widely read; just don't expect anything like his more conventional novels. Indeed, don't read it expecting a novel at all; it reads more like a cross between modernist poetry and Medieval vision literature.

A work of interest to the Flaubert aficionado.......1998-05-14

This work is likely to challenge those readers used to Flaubert's more representative works, i.e. Madame Bovary, Sentimental Education, "A Simple Heart." The difficulty lies not in novelty. The Temptation of Saint Anthony harkens back to the morality drama "Everyman" and Erasmus' In Praise of Folly. History notables, mythical personages, and personified qualities appear. Saint Anthony converses with the Queen of Sheba, Apollonius, Buddha, Isis, Venus, the Devil, and the Sphinx. Other characters are simply titled "A Child", "The Old Man", "The Stranger", and so on. These and others occur in a narrative structure that in print resembles the layout of a play. This mode lends itself to Flaubert's ambition to expunge the author's present from the work in the way Yeat's Byzantine dancer is indistinguishable from the dance. As Ms. Mrosovsky says in her lucid and comprehensive introduction Flaubert was so armored of this work he revised it several times during his career. She makes a case for The Temptation to be considered a significant part of the Flaubertian cannon. Most academicians, however, do not agree with this assessment as evidenced by the fact Madame Bovary is easy to come by more than a century after the author's death and The Temptation is not. The exquisite descriptive passages plus the profundities Flaubert attributes to the characters are not enough to endow this book with the dramatic tension and irony a reader finds in his better known works. This is not to relegate the book to obscurity. An encounter with Saint Anthony brings a reader to a fuller appreciation of the master's stringent art illustrated by his more famous novels.

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THE FIRST TEMPTATION OF SAINT ANTHONY
GUSTAVE FLAUBERT
Manufacturer: THE BODLEY HEAD
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SI8OBG

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The first temptation of Saint Anthony
Gustave Flaubert
Manufacturer: Privately printed for Rarity Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Hieronimus Bosch: The Temptation of Saint Anthony (An Exposition-university book)

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Hieronimus Bosch: The Temptation of Saint Anthony (An Exposition-university book)
Anne F Francis
Manufacturer: Exposition Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: 0682489107

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Les Tentations
Frederick Tristan
Manufacturer: Massin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: 2715803354

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Pictorial Language of Hieronymus Bosch
C.A.Wertheim Aymes
Manufacturer: New Knowledge Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Temptation of Saint Anthony
Gustave Flaubert
Manufacturer: Harper & brothers publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IFDN0Q

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The Temptation of Saint Anthony
Gustave Flaubert and Lafcadio Hearn
Manufacturer: ALLEN PRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000TS4Q4E

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The Temptation of Saint Anthony
Gustave Flaubert
Manufacturer: The Limited Editions Club
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K8CF8C

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A challenge to faith

Temptation of Saint Anthony CB
Gustave Flaubert
Manufacturer: Cornell University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Customer Reviews:

A challenge to faith.......2001-10-25

This is a peculiar novel. The Christian hermit, St Antony, endures a disturbed (and disturbing!) night in the desert. Beset by self-doubts regarding his vocation, he also has to contend with challenges to his Christian faith and to the very concept of God.

This is not a novel to be read for pure entertainment. It is replete with characters from history and mythology: some are familiar (for example, The Queen of Sheba, Buddha, the Greek Gods), but others are far more obscure. I found most difficult parts to follow were the references to and appearances of many obscure Christian heretical sects.

The style of the writing is more akin to a play than a novel - long sequences of dialogue between the protagonists interspersed with comparatively short descriptive passages, which almost read like stage directions.

Of the final message? I suppose each reader will need to make his or her own mind up whether St Antony's faith survives in suffient strength, or whether any of the other characters has made a more convincing case.

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