Datasets:

contemmcm

/

amazon_reviews_2013

like 0

Generalist Practice with Organizations and Communities

0/2

34 stars

Good service

Book came faster than I thought it would. The seller should update their tracking system though. I like knowing when the book has reached a certain location after shipping.

5Book

Generalist Practice with Organizations and Communities

1/4

45 stars

Very pleased

I am always afraid to purchase books for class online, but I was very pleased with the arrival time and the condition of the book.Myra

5Book

Generalist Practice with Organizations and Communities

1/4

45 stars

good service

I always have got good service from Amazon, I would advise this to anybody. The book was in great shape and came in a quick timing

5Book

Generalist Practice with Organizations and Communities

0/3

45 stars

No Complaints!

Book arrived on time and was in the condition described by seller. Would use this seller again.

5Book

She

62.95

1/1

45 stars

Best formatting

This book is an example of how ebooks should be done: the formatting is beautiful, from the greek symbols on the potsherd to the chapter headings, this company did a really good job setting up the book and presenting it in a nice format.As for the book itself, it really is a classic in one sense. I read it following King Solomon's Mine and it seemed obvious that it was indeed the same author. The book was fairly straight-forward, telling the story of a mysterious and beautiful woman deep in Africa who has ruled the land for over 2000 years. The author was imaginative but not particularly brilliant in my opinion. I enjoyed it for the story.Formatting: 5 starsContent: 4 stars

5Book

She

62.95

1/1

34 stars

African Adventure #2

This has all the elements of the adventure genre which would be revived a century later in the Indiana Jones films: "Civilized" Westerners (in this case Englishmen) journey to an uncharted & little-known region of the earth (in this case central Africa) in search of something hinted at in an obscure ancient legend. Following impossibly flimsy evidence and a string of incredible luck, they find the object of their quest - an ancient city, fabled treasure, survivors of a lost race, etc. Then, against all odds they manage to survive and return to civilization to tell the tale. H. Rider Haggard pretty much invented the modern exploration/adventure genre with _King Solomon's Mines_. _SHE_ is his second novel, and clearly represents an attempt to be a bit more "literary" while still dealing with adventure themes.The book is, at times, tiresome and pretentious .. especially when "SHE" (the mysterious queen Ayesha) prates on about her own beauty, and when the narrator waxes philosophical. I get the feeling Haggard was trying to inject intellectual "depth" into his tale; I wonder if _King Solomon's Mines_ had been criticized for being mere mindless entertainment? Fortunately these dull moments are interspersed with scenes of manly action and genuine suspense which earn this novel its place in the "adventure" canon.Modern readers may be upset by many cultural artifacts from the Victorian age. Though H. Rider Haggard was considered open-minded in his time, there is still plenty of obvious racism, sexism, class-ism, animal cruelty and religious bigotry to be found in these pages. Just keep in mind that it was written about 130 years ago, and try to enjoy it for what it is: One of the foundation works of what in the 20th century would become pulp, adventure, fantasy and "weird" fiction. I encountered many eerily familiar phrases while reading it, and I am convinced this novel was a strong influence on H.P. Lovecraft who, in turn, influenced pretty much everybody who wrote sci-fi/fantasy/horror during the last 90 years. _SHE_ is not a difficult read by any means, and though it bogs down at times it is ultimately a very satisfying story - and historically important as an early example of a then-emerging genre.

5Book

She

62.95

1/1

34 stars

Fun and interesting

This book was first serialized in 1886-7, when the young H. Rider Haggard was just hitting his stride as an author. It is the story of Horace Holly and Leo Vincey, whose journey to Africa places them in the hands of "She-who-must-be-obeyed." She is actually Ayesha, a several thousand year old priestess who has been waiting for the reincarnation of her long-lost beloved. Horace and Leo have their rationalism, but that avails them very little before She, whose magical beauty can command the obedience of any man she desires!This is quite a fun and interesting example of Imperial Gothic literature. True, it stretches credibility to the breaking point, but it is an interesting look into the late-Victorian psyche. Plus, if you are willing to sufficiently suspend disbelief, you will find this to be an exciting visit to the fears and hopes of a bygone era.(Review of She by H. Rider Haggard)

5Book

She

62.95

1/1

45 stars

Victorian Da Vinci Code

I'm about half way through this page turner, but want to get something written, while I'm still loving it. I just now discovered Haggard, despite seeing derivatives for years. I was not surprised to learn this book has outsold the DaVinci Code. Of course do these numbers include all the downloads?Anyway, the mystery and suspense go by effortlessly. I don't find this to be difficult reading. Somewhere between Treasure Island and Dracula in style. But if you like those two, as well as Jules Verne, you will probably like She. I'm still reading, so back I go.She (Dodo Press)

5Book

She

62.95

1/1

45 stars

Mythical She-Goddess Holds Sway Over Masses of Men

H. Rider Haggard - In the early twentieth century, when men were cautioned to not use wormwood sticks to beat their wives (but by all means, use anything else), this writer published 'She', a novel featuring 'Ayesha', a mythical, powerful goddess figure who held sway over an entire people. Men trembled at her beauty and sheer presence. Haggard combined adventure and pulp fiction with a whopping female hero that had Sigmund Freud recommending the novel to his analyst buddies.

5Book

She

62.95

3/4

45 stars

"She" Who Must Be Read By Horror/Mystery Fans

H. Rider Haggard is a very obscure late 19th century writer. He wrote successful thrillers at the time that the more famous Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was writing Sherlock Holmes and The Lost World, whose books were still selling in the turn of the century. Haggard should be more appreciated for such a vivid and powerful tale of adventure and mystery as is "She". The titular "She" is Ayesha, a 2,000 year old Queen, the reincarnation of the goddess Isis. She rules with an iron fist, is clad in a long veil and is shrouded in mystery. An explorer uncovers a lost kingdom in africa and the rest is a terrific tale of adventure and even horror. This is a lost classic. It should be in every avid reader's list. The narrative is thrilling, the descriptions are life-like and very few writers treaded on this kind of material in his time. Haggard would influence such sci-fi/horror writers as H.G. Wells, Jules Verne and Bram Stroker. Thrillers became great literature especially because they made the stories seem (tremble) realistic!

5Book

She

62.95

3/4

45 stars

Excellent--would make a great EPIC movie!

"She" is the ultimate woman; intelligent, all-powerful, & knows what she wants. All men fall on their knees when they see her. Her tragic flaw comes from her blind passion of an unworthy man, the flaw of many great heroines. Holly, a fantastically tortured man, is the true hero over Leo, a good-looking but shallow young man.With Haggard's style, this book has it all: ancient lost cities, murder, passion, revenge, women cat fights, and a good native "hot pot" scene.The men are transformed forever from their close encounter with SHE, the queen whose "EMPIRE IS OF THE IMAGINATION." And so will the reader be!!

5Book

She

62.95

3/4

34 stars

She's beautiful, She's clever, but is She human?

A family legacy leaves Leo Vincey a mysterious casket, which on opening reveals a family document two thousand years old. The contents of the document take Vincey and his guardian, Holly, on a journey deep into the heart of Africa, into a kingdom ruled by Ayesha, She-who-must-be-obeyed (or) just She. She, who is two thousand years old, has the secret of everlasting youth, and infinite wisdom. Why is she attracted to young Leo Vincey of the handsome stature and blond hair? Why is she served by mute slaves? What is her secret? Her barbaric subjects are terrified of her. A great adventure story, a tale of reincarnation. Put on your safari kit, and be prepared to trek into the very soul of Africa to fing out the secret of She-who-must-e-obeyed!

5Book

She

62.95

5/7

34 stars

A classic adventure of the mind

*She* is the prequel to H. Rider Haggard's better known *King Solomon's Mines.* The book is a mystery and an adventure of the mind...Ludwig Holly and his young ward journey to central Africa and encounter Ayesha, known as She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed. Who "She" is and what "She" desires of one of the protagonists is the crux of the mystery. Most of the action takes place in Holly's head as he and Leo traverse the eerie landscape of Ayesha's past. A real page-turner with some strong questions about love, desire, and the will to live. A great ending puts the capstone on this masterpiece of fiction.

5Book

She

62.95

4/6

23 stars

Fantasy at it's best!

This fantastic novel by H. Rider Haggard, describes the adventure of two men traveling to Africa in search for the secret of eternal life.This story begins when Holly's dying friend comes into Holly's dormitory in the middle of the night and asks him to take on a significant task. Holly would be well paid if he took care of his friend's child, Leo, and gave the child a special chest at his 25th birthday. Broke, Holly accepts this demanding challenge. At Leo's 25th birthday, the chest is opened and inside is a letter from Holly's long gone friend. The letter states that Leo is a direct descendant of an Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh. And so their sojourn to Africa begins with the hope of finding an 2,000 year old African Queen with the secret of eternal life.This book is great and interesting book, however it dates back from 1905 and it shows. It can be interesting to read a book from so long ago to see their perspective of fantasy books, however, the writing style is very old-fashioned and the language is difficult to follow.Overall, this is a very nice book. Enjoy!

5Book

She

62.95

0/1

34 stars

Preposterous but fun

Isis, the White Goddess, the faerie queen, you know the sort of stuff.... but Haggard didn't have the heart to write anything that sincere. To be honest, I don't think he was up to the job. Instead he wrote a great yarn, with a few mythological references thrown in, some humour, and a ridiculous plot. The result is an easy and enjoyable read

5Book

She

62.95

1/3

45 stars

Great for the Critique of Racism and Sexism

H. Rider Haggard is most known for King Solomon's Mines, but She is a close second. Haggard's own lost love (one Mary Elizabeth Jackson, aka "Lilly") seems to play a huge part in his writing of the powerful, amazingly beautiful She-who-must-be-obeyed, also known as She, also known as Ayesha. Haggard, knowing very little outside of Britain except for Africa, sets his story in the darkness of Africa to produce a thrillingly terrifying and believable set of circumstances that our beloved narrator, Holly, his adopted son, Leo, and Leo's caretaker, Job, set out to adventure.The story begins with legend and mystery, delivered upon the wings of a potsherd and generational lineage to which Leo Vincey is inextricably interwoven. It demands that Leo travel into Africa to discover that which is other relatives could not, or failed to accomplish. And of course, the unexplainable "She" is at the forefront of the mystery: a strange, yet beautiful woman who can avoid death, is thousands of years old, and rules over a civilization of a very uncivilized character.Written in the late 1800s by Haggard, there was a rampant curiosity for adventure and the unknown. Most people had never traveled outside of Britain and so, to be transported on the wings of fiction to a very tangible place was an addictive drug. What's more is that Haggard has an ability to seamlessly mesh truth with fiction to make it more believable. For example, he says, as the author, that what he is about to recount was given to him through a direct correspondence with Holly, who deemed it worthy of publication if Haggard saw fit. Holly, as narrator but clearly a manifestation of Haggard's mind, compares widths and heights to commonplace icons in Britian, making it easier to find scope and believability throughout the entire novel.Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), in today's age, Haggard's writing is very controversial. Racism and Sexism play a very heavy hand in the She tale. For example, Ayesha is white, and so are the travelers, and they are both rather revered while the black natives are deemed barbaric, trivial, and even so far as stupid. All of the main characters are strong white people, with the exception of Job which we can forgive because of his traditional upbringing in England. Such suggestions that whites would "taste" better to the African mosquitoes suggest that whites are superior even down to heir blood. It's clear that Haggard, despite his insurance claims that it's just a different style of CULTURE down in Africa that makes them that way, and Haggard's audience are still very racist. The one exception is Billali, an old man that's part of the Amahaggar (the indigenous) tribe who is calm, relaxed, and friendly as opposed to openly aggressive or passively hostile like the rest of the group.It doesn't stop there. Feminism has not a smear of ink in this book. I would even argue that the sexism that Haggard portrays (perhaps because of his own lost love, and Holly's as well) is worse than the racism portions. Ayesha is at the forefront of the 'ism'. To not give anything away, Ayesha's last scene in the novel is horrendously sexist to the point that a reverse Darwin's evolutionary theory occurs. Throughout the story, however, she demonstrates her inability to rule and her dependability to decide fates and outcomes through her emotions and not logical reasoning. More often than not the female brain is akin to something "disordered" and difficult to understand. Haggard constantly refers to females as the "fairer sex" which suggest a heap of male dominance over females. Ayesha is carefree about death and uses her beauty to manipulate men. Clearly, in this context, a woman would be incapable of ever ruling over vast numbers of people, especially where men are concerned, that they must be kept beneath men so that fair judgment and proper ruling can ensue. The list could continue, but that's for your own time and effort with this book.In short, it's a great book to pull elements of racism and sexism from and to prove the hubris-like affliction that England was tainted with during the eras of their rule upon the world. However, there are some fantastic things that also came of this story. Most notably, influence on later stories and even so much as motion pictures. To quickly name a few, there was a heavy influence upon Tolkien, who shaped Galadriel (and even Shelob) from the powerful, beautiful, yet profoundly dangerous image of Ayesha. Another is the influence towards the Indiana Jones movies, who also borrowed from King Solomon's Mines. Haggard's underground tunnels, lost relics, ancient magics, and conclusive endings that seal off the curious item(s) from ever being touched again is nearly equal in the storytelling of our favorite hat-bearing archeologist.All in all, the amazing depth of this story is profound, and it's an easy read, too! It's very accessible, but you can go to great lengths to draw out the hidden meanings and obvious 'isms' from the text on more than one occasion. A great story, laden with meaning, and worth every second of your time.

5Book

She

62.95

1/3

34 stars

She Who Is Worth Reading.

Who knew that she is where the expression "She who must be obeyed" came from. What a story and still worth a read.

5Book

She

62.95

1/3

45 stars

THE TRUTH ABOUT SHE

WE ARE A STUDENTS OF SPIRITUAL SCIENCEAND WE HAVE FOUND THAT THIS BOOK IS A REAL HISTORY. WE THINK SIR HAGGARD WAS IN CONTACT WITH AN ESSOTERIC GROUP , LIKE ROSACRUCIANS OR THEOSOPHICS, WHERE HE FOUND THE HISTORY OF SHE. ONE OF HIS MISSIONS WAS WRITTE ABOUTIT.WE'D LIKE TO CONTACT WITH PEOPLE WHO HAS SIMILARS OPINIONS TO SHARE INFORMATIONS VERY CONFIDENTIAL.

5Book

She

62.95

2/5

23 stars

Who knew he was so Anti-Semetic?

Bought this book cause loved the movie. Who knew the book was all about being Anti-Semetic whenever possible? Don't buy it just cause you liked the movie. Not at all like it.

5Book

She

62.95

2/5

12 stars

Incredibly tedious tale

Onceinto this book one encounters the ancient "document" that triggers the adventure, first in supposed translation, then in seemingly unending pages describing the purported original Greek, letter by letter naming each in English capitals enclosed in curly braces. To pursue this to a resumption of the narrative one must sit endlessly pressing the "next page" bar without enlightenment. I am certain that to derive meaning from this one must both read and write Greek, provided that the purported writing does indeed say what the "translation" has already said. I saw no way to skip over this and abandoned the tale. It is worth the price at most.

5Book

She

62.95

2/5

23 stars

the mother of Indiana Jones

"She" might be an extraordinary book in 1905 but not in 2000. It's a classic book for I consider it as the mother of its genre. The style of writing strikes one back to the time of Sherlock Holmes, but suits to the story perfectly. The story varies from profound to superficial - sometimes there's too much information and sometimes too less.. Ayesha's "end" is a little too simple and I would have expected something more surprisingly. Bottom Line: Indiana Jones meets Tarzan and the Mummy with no real excitement for people who live almost 100 years after this book was first issued. But it is certainly a MUST to read if one is interessed of how all the adventure stories started.

5Book

She

62.95

5/13

01 star

Me Shakespeare! You Jane!

While SHE may not be the worst book ever written, it is certainly in the running for that honor, and it is a mystery to this reviewer as to why it should have attained any measure of popularity when it was first published in 1887, much less why it should continue to be read. The brave reader, armed with pith helmet and machete, may suppose he is prepared to penetrate the darkest secrets of 19th century Africa, however the only thicket he will encounter in this book is a dense Elizabethan verbiage of thy's and thou's and wherefore's and canst not's, which render the endless pages of monotonous dialogue more impenetrable than any African jungle.The narration is equally flat and serves merely to accelerate the plot, which is itself surprisingly limited. A beautiful Arab woman has hidden herself away in the remains of a long-dead civilization in central Africa and stumbled on the secret of eternal life inside a dormant volcano. Leave aside the questions of why she should be ivory-white though of Arab ancestry, and why she should be content to remain hidden in a dull cave for two thousand years, surrounded exclusively by a savage tribe of African natives, though She Herself is inexplicably highly educated and, as she repeatedly avers, with her supernatural powers has only to emerge to dominate the world. And ignore the issues of Haggard's failure to account for the precession of the equinoxes, and how an extensive network of caverns could have formed inside an igneous volcano, when, as every geologist knows, such networks form only in calcitic limestone of sedimentary stratigraphy. And ignore the fact that no significant monumental civilization has ever emerged in tropical Africa or could have due to the disease gradients and the total absence of navigable rivers.But these are quibbles. Allowing for poetic license, the plot remains inextricably flawed in that Haggard cannot decide who is the chief protagonist: Leo the beautiful, the reincarnated eternal love-interest of She; or Baboon, Leo's "uncle," who raised him from infancy and informed him of the family curse which induced every ancestor of Leo for two thousand years to attempt to find the ancestral secret of his family by penetrating Africa, where, as it turns out, all one need do is stumble into a swamp because once in Africa all roads lead to She. Unfortunately for Leo, malaria renders him unconscious for half the book. Unfortunately for the reader, this leaves the misogynistic misanthrope Baboon to carry the weight of the reader's imagination in his stilted conversations with a strangely Shakespearean and ivory-skinned Arab She.The only truly inspired passages in this book are those that deal with She Herself, and it is plain that all else was merely prologue to bring the reader as rapidly as possible to Her. But here we have the paradox described above of a thoroughly improbable character indulging in a prolix King James version of a philosophical duel hurling justifications for moral relativism against the hapless and helpless Baboon, who, tho in love with Her, as are all men, insists on the absolute nature of good and evil, which, being English to the core, he distills into a stolid English Protestantism as the perfect philosophical counter-weight to every evil. An argument that is something less than satisfying.These objections made, SHE does have some positive qualities, surprising tho likely inadvertent. The mythic elements essential to all grand cosmic conceptions are to be found here, and are perhaps the explanation for the book's perennial popularity. The ancient race that built the dead city and whose mummies and boneyards litter the landscape represent Death, and She Herself, dressed in the white filaments of a corpse-shroud rushing thru her caverns, is the Goddess of Death. But as the ruined city is the source of Death, the Mountain that surrounds it is the source of Life. The volcano, in whose caldera lives the savage tribe and She Herself, represents the Pyramid of Life, Mount Olympus, the eternal sacred Mountain where humans touch the divine. Like Dante's several levels of existence, the Mountain encompasses both Death and Life, and unites them, housing at its core the bottomless Abyss of Chaos from which springs eternal Life, and She, as the master of the source of life, is therefore also the Goddess of Life. Life from Death; Death from Life. The Angel of Heaven living eternally atop the Pyramid of Life surrounded by devils. The eternal paradox of good and evil intertwined.Another mythic element is the Arab origin of She, which should be unnecessary--but for the metaphor of the Veil. Haggard grasps the poetic significance of the Veil, the mask eternally worn by Truth, demonstrating the superior attraction of suspense over fact, as every good moviegoer and suspense-story reader knows, and the reason why myth and emotion will always prevail over science and rationality. The Veil taunts and entrances, permitting the imagination infinitely more play than any reality that it may cover.At times, therefore, SHE manages to hold one's attention. But only momentarily. The plot is thin; the style mediocre to abysmal; the denouement predictable, though the language does manage finally to rise sufficiently to carry the plot in the climactic scenes. In the end, perhaps the most redeeming characteristic of SHE is that the book inspired Edgar Rice Burroughs to write Tarzan. Not the most striking of endorsements.

5Book

She

62.95

1/6

23 stars

A very scary book

I found this book VERY freaky. I listened to the unabridged recording of it, and I am glad, beacuse the lengthy descriptions would have been VERY hard for me to cope with. The setting in this book is one of things that unnerved me the most. To begin with, having a man who was near to death enter the scene to give some incredibly...different...instructions certainly adds to the suspense. The setting in northern Africa and the customs of teh Amahager(sp) are very scary and,um, not very pleasant to listen too. Despite these things I have enjoyed She and I think that an abridged version would be a better choice to read.

5Book

She

62.95

8/20

01 star

She Ages Poorly

Now, I enjoy Victorian adventure fiction as much as the next person -- in fact, probably more than the next person, since the average "next person" hasn't ever read any. Tales of derring-do, adventures to unexplored distant lands, lost civilizations, great artifacts, etc. -- that's all good stuff. What's not good is this book, which is tedious in the extreme. On the surface of it, Haggard's followup to his hugely successful (and infinitely better) "King Solomon's Mines" has all the elements: a dynamic duo of scholar-adventurers (one of whom is descended from pharaohs!), a mysterious message from the past delivered by a dying man, an expedition to Africa, and a supernatural being who knows the secret of eternal life.However, despite this promising laundry list, Haggard's execution leaves a great deal to be desired. A friend described it rather aptly as "a book with a lot of story, but not a lot of plot." Which is to say that in my edition, some 320 pages are filled without much happening. There is the initial mysterious set-up, the journey to dark Africa with the usual physical trials and tribulations, the heroes' conveyance to the "lost city", and then... and then things kind of grind to a halt. Lengthy descriptive details, lengthy internal ruminations, lengthy rambling speeches, lengthy everything -- but very little of consequence occurs until the very end, when the heroes make a dangerous journey to find the eternal fire which grants nigh-everlasting life.I suspect much of the problem stems from the book's origin as a long-running serial in the Gazette. As I understand it, serial writers of the time were paid by the word or by the installment, and thus, it was to their advantage to spin their plots out as much possible -- hence the unhealthy ratio of action to words. Judicious editing could reduce the book to 1/3 of its size without any loss of note. Of course, as another friend pointed out, it's probably best to read the book is small chunks -- just as one would have done with installments. Spreading out one's reading of it over a period of time, he suggests, may serve to conceal the book's rambling nature. In any event, there are some nice scenes here and there, such as the moonlight battle between crocodile and lion and another involving human cadavers used as torches, but those are about all I'm likely to recall from this book in a year.Of course, as is noted in the introduction to my edition, Haggard lifted the main elements of the plot, and even the the true name of "She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named", from several earlier adventure novels by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, so one can't even give him much credit for imagination. I suppose the book is worth reading by those interested in literary representations of the prevailing xenophobic sentiments of Victorian Englishmen: racism, anti-Semeticism, misogyny, fear of miscegenation, etc., but as entertainment for the modern reader, it falls woefully short of the mark.

5Book

She

62.95

3/3

45 stars

Love it

I love this book, I love the author. He's an amazing story teller. I almost forgot how much I enjoyed reading his books in school. I did read it all in a Russian translation, so when I saw that She is available in the original English on Kindle version for free, I had no reason not to get it.Now, if you read Egyptian, Latin and Greek, all the question marks will be a bugger. But if you're like me and just looking for a good story - you will easily skip those lines and go on to the English explanation. You're not missing anything, and like somebody else said - the ??? come from the software inability to handle Egyptian, Latin and Greek.

5Book

She

62.95

3/3

45 stars

SHE

TIME.LOVE.BEAUTY.Intertwined PASSON and JEALOUSY, CELESTIAL and EVIL. "SHE" will forever shines with her own philosophical beauty. I first read this story when I was 12. Could't quite comprehend but was somehow enjoyed by the adventurous plots. The second time when picked it up I was already on my late 30's. This time I was awed by the author's vivid immagination and the tremendous insight about human nature. Written in a decent manner,the story unfolds first in a steady pace, then generating faster and faster till the stimulating storyline seize you with your undivided attention! Though the final climax turns out to be a sad endding, along the adventurous and magical path with Leo and Holly all the way to the mysterious cave of Kor, you'll learn more about TIME, BEAUTY and LOVE. Definitely a worthy literary tour de force, even more rewarding than a trip to King Solomon's Mines! By the way I am an actor and have always dreamed to make SHE into a gorgeous epic, but I happen to be a CHINESE and it will make the film inauthentic if I starred in with any major charater. A PITY.

5Book

She

62.95

5/6

23 stars

Blockbuster from the Victorian Period.

"She" is a good example of popular Victorian literature as influenced by the British empire. Because of this, it has some literary merit. Otherwise, the novel is fantastical garbage about two men, Holly and Leo (who is the descendant of a pharoah) from England who sail to Africa to confront Ayesha, a 2000 year old woman. That's not to say it's not a fun read. In fact, I believe a movie has been made from it, and if it was written today, it would be transformed into a cinematic extravaganza along the lines of "The Mummy," etc. It's a good adventure story. And perhaps, although I doubt Haggard was conscious of this, the novel reflects a contemporary English fear of female authority and/or foreign power. I wouldn't worry too much about that though. Enjoy "She," but just because it's a "World Classic," don't spend too much time looking for any deep meaning.

5Book

She

62.95

2/2

23 stars

Quite a story!

This is quite an adventure story, well worth reading. I first read this one when I was in the sixth grade, and after re-reading it at age 53 I still liked it. That is not always true when one visits the books one liked as a lad.This is the story of three Englishmen who, following the dictates of the family legend of one of them, set out to Central Africa to find the lost land of Imperial Kor. What they find is an isolated tribe ruled by an immortal, supernaturally beautiful woman. More would be telling, but this is a good yarn that most readers will enjoy.Haggard's writing style is a product of his time, and is somewhat dense and archaic by modern standards, but is not bad for all that. He has some of the dialog in the novel use Old English phraseology which was archaic even in his day, and it made some of the novel somewhat hard to read, at least for me. But these are minor quibbles; this is a fine novel that will hold the interest of most readers.

5Book

She

62.95

2/2

34 stars

Ah! if man would but see that he himself must work out his own salvation

`She' is a magical epic saga: the quest for the mysterious and tormented white African queen waiting during millennia for a reincarnation of her dead lover, because `there was but one thing worth living for, and that was love. Better is an hour with love than a century of loneliness.'But it is also an allegory: the victory of Christian faith over evil.For the author: `the immortality to which I look shall be free from the bonds that here must tie my spirit down. For, while the flesh endures, sorrow and evil and the scorpion whips of sin must endure also; but when flesh hath fallen from us, then shall the spirit shine forth clad in the brightness of eternal good.'For the white queen, `religion is terror for the end, and but a nobler form of selfishness.'For the author, `the world is a great market where all things are for sale to him who bids the highest in the currency or our desires.'And, `Is not ambition but an endless ladder by which no height is ever climbed till the lest unreachable rung is mounted?'There is only Hope, for `without Hope we should suffer moral death.'This novel is also fundamentally misogynic. Love and passion are considered as curses. Man is a victim of the eternal female (`She') : `in uniting himself to this dread woman, he would place his life under the influence of a mysterious creature of evil tendencies, but then that would be likely enough to happen to him in any ordinary marriage.' `... love. This is really the sum of her evil doings.'`Passion is to man, what gold and power are to women - a weight upon their weakness.' And, `Curses on the fatal curiosity that is ever prompting man to draw the veil from woman. It is the cause of more than half of our misfortunes.'This book is excellent entertainment.Its picture of the `eternal female' is brilliant, but incarnated in `She', biased.

5Book

She

62.95

4/5

23 stars

Haggard's View of the World

"She" has to be read in context. It was written during a time when British imperial machinations were facing severe criticism, both at home and abroad. Perhaps more importantly, the novel was written at a time when British women were beginning to demand rights--particularly the right to birth control.Haggard sets up Ayesha (the title character) as a sort of anti-Victoria. Britain's Queen was fond of remarking that she considered her role as mother more important than her role as Queen. She also made many public statements decrying the women's movement. Perhaps most importantly to Haggard, Queen Victoria's political power was directly subordinate to the all-male Parliament.Ayesha, on the other hand, wields absolute power. Haggard intentionally perverts her role as a mother by having her admit to breading races of mutants, some of which she has allowed to go extinct. While Queen Victoria stood as a symbol of motherhood to many English, Ayesha is instead depicted using the language of death. She is described as "mummy-like," or "ghost-like," and her throne is located in the tombs of an abandoned civilization.Ayesha and her people are often shown as direct opposites of the English. English progress and science (which Haggard makes reference to throughout the book, either openly or obliquely) is juxtaposed with Ayesha's people. Ayesha has supposedly lived over 2,000 years, yet her people have no technological advancements.With this in mind, "She" can be seen as a reactionary novel responding to the crises of Haggard's Victorian society. The threat of the women's movement and the threatened future of imperialism were sources of great anxiety for the Victorians, and this deeply routed fear is evident in Haggard's use of Kr as a form of anti-utopia. The dichotomies and comparisons that he presents show a Victorian society at a crossroads, and Haggard's views on which path should be taken are evident.

5Book

She

62.95

4/5

45 stars

Well-Acted and Produced Abridged Audio Cassette Version

Let me make it clear that I am reviewing the abridged audio cassette version of She that was recorded by the Caedmon Players and in which Kathleen Turner plays the role of She. I usually try to avoid abridged audio cassette versions of novels. Having read the original and found it to be slow going, it occurred to me that this might be an improvement with She. And that was a correct assumption.Victorian adventure novels often got bogged down in descriptive detail that made them serve a secondary purpose as travelogues. She fits into that model rather nicely with great amounts of detail about the imaginary African tribe of the Amahaggers. Pared down, the Amahaggers enhance the main story in this version.The book opens as Horace Holly's dying friend begs Horace to take on the task of raising the friend's five-year-old son and preparing him for a challenge when he becomes twenty-five. Since Horace is an honest, hard-working sort and the position pays well, it is an easy decision. Horace and the boy, Leo, quickly become close, and Leo treats him like a favorite uncle.On Leo's twenty-fifth birthday, they open a mysterious chest that Leo's father has left in Horace's care. Eventually, this reveals an ancient story from Leo's family written on a potshard. On the potshard, there seems to be information about the potential for discovering the secret of eternal life. This requires a trek to Africa. Along the way, Leo falls gravely ill but they are rescued by the Amahaggers who have ordered by She-who-is-to-be-obeyed not to hurt them.The rest of the story unweaves the fantasy tale of how the 2,000 year old Ayesha, She-who-is-to-be-obeyed, became connected to Leo's family. Ayesha is a little out of date in her preferences, still being an Egyptian-style autocrat with a taste for the macabre. I wouldn't have gone out with her on a second date myself, no matter how beautiful she was. The Gloria Swanson role in Sunset Boulevard is evoked in She.The recording made me feel young again. I remember listening to radio stories like this one as a child (yes, I'm a pre-television-aged person). The sound effects and music are terrific, and add greatly to the performance. Ms. Turner is very electric as She. She has the same alluring vocal quality that made her irresistible in Body Heat. The only jarring note was that I had not expected the Egyptian temptress, Ayesha, to have a distinctly Southern accent. But I soon got over that.The story is an interesting one, because it builds around the potential of having a world in which women rule by right. That theme was most appropriate for Queen Victoria's time, and the novel considers the Amahaggers, She, and Queen Victoria as alternative models of female leadership. Because of our current enthusiasm for equal opportunity for the sexes, the book is more contemporary in its social commentary than you might think. I saw a parallel in She's overwhelming impact on men to the tragedies that often befall female movie stars who have similar appeals, such as Marilyn Monroe.Clearly, the message that emerges is that a balance between women and men is better than either the male or the female dominated society. A good thing to think about after you listen to or read this book is what the benefits of balance are. They extend beyond sexual politics. In what other areas is balance better than dominance by a single perspective or influence?I recommend listening to this in your car while you are on an Interstate in mountainous country with your cruise control on.Have a great trip!

5Book

She

62.95

4/5

45 stars

The penultimate woman - waits for the love of her eternity.

How long would you wait for your lover to return?Especially, after you murdered him!A fantastic tale that transcends time and space.Remarkably told by a man that began writing asa wager.A classic that needs to read and re-read.

5Book

She

62.95

6/8

45 stars

Movie Material

What a book! How many movies, and scenes, and other books have been spawned from this one. Some scenes have been duplicated exactly, like the marching army of skeletons and the chasm with the leap over two projecting stones. Steven Spielberg is intimately acquainted with this novel. I'm surprised that he hasn't made it into his own film. It's a terrific read, written when Haggard was not quite 30, and it's underlying theme is death. What is it? What does man's life mean? What of religion? All kinds of unanswerable questions are pondered in the course of this thriller. And Love. No wonder it has endured. What an imagination Haggard must have possessed! There are two subsequent books where Ayesha somehow returns. It is in her character that we see the young Haggard, dreaming of the perfect woman.

5Book

She

62.95

1/1

45 stars

Fantastic Book!

I learned about this book on TCM of all places, and was excited that Amazon had it for free! I wasn't sure if I would be able to follow it well, seeing that it was written so long ago, but I found the story to be quite a page turner. It was a pretty exciting read!

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

34 stars

good book that seems 'familiar' at every turn

She is the story of an ancient woman who spends over 2 milenia waiting for her love, whom she killed because he turned her down, return to her in the heart of an African Jungle. the story is well written and the reader will find many aspects 'familiar' because so many modern movies and stories draw from this one. Ayesha is an ancient and powerful creature who rules a secluded group of 'savages' through power and fear. Ancient civilization, religion, 'savage' tribes and academia are all weaved together in this tale that spans thousands of years into the past, and possible the future. The seemingly controvesial topics are all discussed in a way that makes the reader think, but does not offend.Any fan of adventures will like this book.

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

45 stars

The nature of woman revealed

When it comes to women H. Rider Haggard has the inside track as revealed in this "Show and tell" novel. We see the workings and wonders of the nineteenth century mind. You may also find some interesting attitudes towards the other people in Holly's crew.I have read some different versions of the book and found the Barns & Noble books New York (ISBN 0760752400) to have the best introduction (by Clifton Ganyard) that falls just short of Cliff's Notes in explaining Haggard's background and writings. The illustrations are the same as in the Modern Library version but are clearer and larger. You get to see the writing on a potshard that I have not taken the time to see if it is a real language. Of all the versions I prefer most the recording with narrator Fred Williams; at first he seems to be monotone and out of breath. Then as he approaches the adventure he picks up a bit. By the time he comes to the cliff hanger he is huffing and puffing. He actually has the sound and feel of some old person recalling a long past adventure.His dying friend in the middle of the night visits Holly. He is sworn to secrecy and given a mysterious chest to hold onto and asked to take charge of the friend's son (Leo). When the time came to open the chest and find the contents, the adventure began. I will not relate the story as it is the unfolding that is a good part of the mystery. However if you are expecting an adventure story It is there but there is much more with philosophical discussions of science and society.The story is over way too soon so be sure to get the next book "Ayesha: The return of She."

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

45 stars

an inspiring read

This book is of the type where you don't want to put it down. It is an enthralling read, and you really get a clear picture of what is happening in your head, better than you would in a film. You grow to care for the characters, and begin to understand how they are feeling, and, by the end of the book you are disappointed that it had to stop.

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

45 stars

If you love lost world stories, this is for YOU!

A great story and one that gets better each time you read it. Can be a bit slow at the start, but it will turn into a "can't put down" book.

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

45 stars

thrilling! a must read adventure book!

This is the thrilling account of L.H.Holly's adventures in Africa. There he and his ward meet the ruler of the land, She. She is short for She-who-must-be-obeyed, so if you do not obey her you will suffer a terrible death.Her evil beauty is like none of any other being, and unlike mortals, has increased in the 2000 odd years she has lived. This is a must read for anyone who likes adventure and can understand the language it is written in.

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

45 stars

Grand adventure in deepest Africa

Sent on a voyage of discovery by an ancient chest handed down over generations, Leo Vincey, his guardian and valet journey to East Africa to seek adventure. A wonderful story, wonderfully told.

5Book

She

62.95

1/2

34 stars

Great book, but a little long

I would've given it 5 stars if it weren't so long. The story really drags in some places. I found myself skipping whole sections to get back to the story.That said, I loved the plot, the adventure, and the twists. I can't decide if I like the woman or hate her. I guess that's what Haggard was looking for, and he did a splendid job of it.Character development was very good, and the visual affects of the scenery and what was happening were just wonderful. Definitely a good novel, and excellent characters, especially after being so succesful with hunter Quartermain.

5Book

She

62.95

4/7

34 stars

Typo

Good read, but this version of the book, had so many typographical errors, that I wondered if Amazon "got a deal" from the publisher. On some pages every paragraph contained these errors, often requiring rereading the sentence several times to decipher the intended meaning. These were not merely "spell checker" omissions. It appeared that the manuscript was sent "off-shore" to be typeset, because no one with English as a first language would let some of the goofs get by. This copy of the book casts a poor reflection on Amazon.

5Book

She

62.95

0/1

34 stars

A classic of the genre

The author pats me on the back and says, "Hey, come along on a spectacular adventure." I went along, and I'm glad I did. I experienced Africa in all its rich detail. Expect danger and suspense. Unforgettable.Roger Weston, author ofThe Golden Catch

5Book

She

62.95

0/1

34 stars

Archetype of the collective unconcious

There was a reason that this was a novel that intrigued Freud, who called it "A strange book, but full of hidden meaning". She, like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, Frankenstein, Peter Pan and a similar select company of works of popular fiction, works on a concious level of fantasy adventure narrative and multiple other levels of meaning, in this instance involving race, colonialism, sexuality, 19th Century anxieties, etc. While totally un-PC (so be warned if the books you read need support 21st Century views of the third world and women)it has a wonderful dreamlike feel that taps into a collective unconcious of symbols and archetypes. Besides which, it's a good read.

5Book

She

62.95

2/3

45 stars

An Adventure

H. Rider Haggard's She is one of the best adventure novels I have ever read. His prose is very solid, and at times poetic, and of course his plot is very captivating.But it is perhaps the charecters which are most intriguing. "She" is a woman of great weaknesses and power, and this revelation brings insight into all of our choices and limitations.

5Book

She

62.95

2/3

45 stars

Another Haggard masterpiece.

SHE is an excellent escape into the hidden depths of the dark continent. Once again, Haggard spins a tale as entertaining and educational as KING SOLOMON'S MINES and ALLAN QUATERMAIN. The myth which he creates about She-who-must-be-obeyed is at times both original, and typical Haggard material. This book, as with KING SOLOMON and ALLAN, provides yet another interesting insight into the racist imperialist attitude held by many Europeans toward Africa during the late 1800s. A must read for anyone interested in the myths created by whites to justify their conquest of Africa. To further explain this idea I would recommend viewing AFRICA: A HISTORY DENIED by Time-Life Videos. The video is part of the "Lost Civilizations" series and is available from Amazon.com.

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

23 stars

This was a re-read

I read this book many years ago. It has not aged well. I had forgotten how much of the book was about the authors views and how little actually on the action taking place.

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

45 stars

Written in the late 1800's STILL " a ripping yarn" !

I read this book years ago when I was a teenager. It fascinated me then and it is well worth the second and third read! Real adventure with discovery of a "lost world" ruled over by an undying fantastically beautiful and beguiling Queen - "She" who must be obeyed. Is she evil or no? A read which I STILL found hard to put down to go to sleep. It is definitely one of the Great Classics and on a par with J K Rowling and Lord of the Rings etc...Hard to believe it was written in the late 1800's. Ryder- Haggard must have had an amazing mind!Now for King Solomen's Mine another of H Ryder-Haggard's books I want to read again. The films made of both these books fell far short of the mark!Recommended to all who love a Ripping Yarn!

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

45 stars

First seen on tv.

First seen on tv. Loved the movie and had to read the book. I did not know it had been a book first, but back then. I didn't read much. I LOVE MY KINDLE

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

45 stars

The nature of woman revealed

When it comes to women H. Rider Haggard has the inside track as revealed in this "Show and tell" novel. We see the workings and wonders of the nineteenth century mind. You may also find some interesting attitudes towards the other people in Holly's crew.I have read some different versions of the book and found the Barns & Noble books New York (ISBN 0760752400) to have the best introduction (by Clifton Ganyard) that falls just short of Cliff's Notes in explaining Haggard's background and writings. The illustrations are the same as in the Modern Library version but are clearer and larger. You get to see the writing on a potshard that I have not taken the time to see if it is a real language. Of all the versions I prefer most the recording with narrator Fred Williams; at first he seems to be monotone and out of breath. Then as he approaches the adventure he picks up a bit. By the time he comes to the cliff hanger he is huffing and puffing. He actually has the sound and feel of some old person recalling a long past adventure.His dying friend in the middle of the night visits Holly. He is sworn to secrecy and given a mysterious chest to hold onto and asked to take charge of the friend's son (Leo). When the time came to open the chest and find the contents, the adventure began. I will not relate the story as it is the unfolding that is a good part of the mystery. However if you are expecting an adventure story It is there but there is much more with philosophical discussions of science and society.The story is over way too soon so be sure to get the next book "Ayesha: The return of She."

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

45 stars

The nature of woman revealed

When it comes to women H. Rider Haggard has the inside track as revealed in this "Show and tell" novel. We see the workings and wonders of the nineteenth century mind. You may also find some interesting attitudes towards the other people in Holly's crew.I have read some different versions of the book and found the Barns & Noble books New York (ISBN 0760752400) to have the best introduction (by Clifton Ganyard) that falls just short of Cliff's Notes in explaining Haggard's background and writings. The illustrations are the same as in the Modern Library version but are clearer and larger. You get to see the writing on a potshard that I have not taken the time to see if it is a real language. Of all the versions I prefer most the recording with narrator Fred Williams; at first he seems to be monotone and out of breath. Then as he approaches the adventure he picks up a bit. By the time he comes to the cliff hanger he is huffing and puffing. He actually has the sound and feel of some old person recalling a long past adventure.His dying friend in the middle of the night visits Holly. He is sworn to secrecy and given a mysterious chest to hold onto and asked to take charge of the friend's son (Leo). When the time came to open the chest and find the contents, the adventure began. I will not relate the story as it is the unfolding that is a good part of the mystery. However if you are expecting an adventure story It is there but there is much more with philosophical discussions of science and society.The story is over way too soon so be sure to get the next book "Ayesha: The return of She."

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

45 stars

The nature of woman revealed

When it comes to women H. Rider Haggard has the inside track as revealed in this "Show and tell" novel. We see the workings and wonders of the nineteenth century mind. You may also find some interesting attitudes towards the other people in Holly's crew.I have read some different versions of the book and found the Barns & Noble books New York (ISBN 0760752400) to have the best introduction (by Clifton Ganyard) that falls just short of Cliff's Notes in explaining Haggard's background and writings. The illustrations are the same as in the Modern Library version but are clearer and larger. You get to see the writing on a potshard that I have not taken the time to see if it is a real language. Of all the versions I prefer most the recording with narrator Fred Williams; at first he seems to be monotone and out of breath. Then as he approaches the adventure he picks up a bit. By the time he comes to the cliff hanger he is huffing and puffing. He actually has the sound and feel of some old person recalling a long past adventure.His dying friend in the middle of the night visits Holly. He is sworn to secrecy and given a mysterious chest to hold onto and asked to take charge of the friend's son (Leo). When the time came to open the chest and find the contents, the adventure began. I will not relate the story as it is the unfolding that is a good part of the mystery. However if you are expecting an adventure story It is there but there is much more with philosophical discussions of science and society.The story is over way too soon so be sure to get the next book "Ayesha: The return of She."

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

45 stars

I suppose were I a scholar of those languages the formatting might be a problem.

She By Henry Rider Haggard.I suppose were I a scholar of those languages the formatting might be a problem.This is a great book and a great classic and I suppose if I understood even a shred of Egyptian, Greek or Latin then I might be just as incensed as some others about the butchery of those parts of the book.As it is I thoroughly enjoyed the story and hope that there are not any plot points that are of great import in all that hashed up gobble-de-gook.I read She because I had read Atlantida by Pierre Benoit which someone had said was a major rip from She.So to begin I would like to say that Atlantida doesn't come anywhere close to being the intense classic that She is and to make such a claim actually denigrates the work of Henry Ride Haggard. Whatever Atlantida is it is considerably different and so much less in content that any notion that its a copy deserves only a shrug.She,Ayesha, is liken to an old Trope in history and mythology and literature. Amongst Aphrodite, Helen of Troy, Cleopatra, and Nefertiti-She takes her place. Women known for great beauty and seductive nature whom men will throw down kingdoms and fortunes to their very deaths, to stand beside.It would seem to some that She of H.R.Haggard is considered the template for further lost world sub-genre. It may be so, although I would argue that it was a new template using an ancient trope.What's interesting about She is that there are mountains of exposition from one central character, Ayesha, that not only tell the story of her long life but give insight into her philosophy and her ideals about religion. Not only do her arguments twist and sway the narrator but he is also enthralled by her beauty and presence and has perhaps lost a portion of his ability to argue rationally.The narrator Holly is not a handsome man. He in fact is liken to a Baboon. But the orphan whom he has raised from childhood, Leo, perhaps has a handsomeness that could almost rival the beauty of She.Of course this wouldn't be a story without the back-story of the family line of Leo. A back-story that may fatefully link Leo to Ayesha.The story is written in that high and almost florid manner of it's time and might weigh heavy on the readers of this age but I think it still stands well through time with a multilevel examination of several moral and ethical dilemma. Though it often seems that the narrator goes purple the writing is strong and indicative of the writing of the time and the story does not suffer.J.L. Dobias

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

45 stars

Good Read

I found this book very entertaining, and it's FREE on your kindle! Don't bother watching any of the movie renditions.

5Book

She

62.95

12/28

23 stars

Imperialist Fiction

The "lost tribe" myth was not a new concept to Victorian audiences. Ideas of primitive civilizations hidden throughout the world were rampant in English society at the time of H. Rider Haggard. As such, Haggard did not invent the "lost tribe" concept--he merely used it as a vessel for popular fiction about Africa.It is important to keep in mind that H. Rider Haggard was an Imperialist, as were the majority of his contemporaries. Still, the themes of misogyny, racism, and imperialism are at times a little too heavy-handed in She. Haggard's anti-feminine stance, in particular, comes into full swing when the reader is introduced to the despotic matriarchal queen of the Amahagger tribe. The Amahagger society itself is a direct inverse of male-dominated Victorian society, so there is no surprise that the Amahagger are portrayed as uncivilized cannibals.If for no other reason, you should read this book to get an understanding of the xenophobia inherent in Victorian society. This book is an invaluable aid to any student of 19th century English literature--it effectively portrays English attitudes towards women, foreigners, and colonization. It's also a very exciting book, so most students will find it easy to read in a single weekend.So, why only 3 stars? The writing is not amazing. Haggard was, after all, a genre novel author. At times, the allusions are extremely heavy-handed, and the characters are archetypical. This is a plot-driven book, but it could have been much better if Haggard had paid more attention to his characters. They had the potential to be very fascinating. Also, there are better examples of 19th century English literature about Africa. Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is a vastly superior novel, but it also has an antipodal take on the positives and negatives of imperialism. If you have the time, I would suggest reading both novels to get a feel for both sides of the discussion on British Imperialism.

5Book

She

62.95

1/8

45 stars

Great Condition, On Time

Condition was superb, the book had no damage whatsoever. The book arrived a few days before it was expected, so I was able to start it earlier than expected. Overall I am 100% satisfied with the product and would purchase from this seller again.

5Book

She

62.95

33/35

23 stars

Good story, terrible Kindle formating

The story is about a young man, Leo, who supposedly can trace his ancestry to the Egyptian gods, and the older man who adopted him when Leo's own father died. Leo wants to find out his origins, so they leave England and travel to Africa, where they meet Ayesha, She, who supposedly is thousands of years old, and is of unequalled beauty. She thinks Leo is the incarnation of her ancient lover and so Ayesha holds both men under her spell, and tries to take them under the earth to a so called fountain of life, where she tries to persuade Leo to step into the fountain of life, and so become immortal. This story is good enough, but the Kindle formatting is terrible. In the early part of the book, there are several pages of nothing but questions marks, and then several pages where some of the words are again full of question marks. It is evident that no one edited this book, and that is really a shame. I would guess that Amazon is not going to take any extra pains to correct a book that is free, but that is really the shame. I feel that Amazon should not offer books, even if they are free, it they don't take the time to properly format them.

5Book

She

62.95

19/20

23 stars

Was there an OCR problem?

It's a shame this excellent story was butchered by whomever was supposed to edit it and the proof-reader if there was one should be tarred and feathered. No one can read the Kindle version of "She" and think it could be one of the best and most popular novels ever written. Allan Quatermain would shoot the person with his eight bore rifle who offered this great book to Kindle readers in it's current, slaughtered form.

5Book

She

62.95

17/18

12 stars

Good story, frustrating read.

GREAT story, WORST formatting EVER. I could hardly get through the book with all the question marks. The story was great, one of Haggard's greats, but I just got so frustrated. Instead, download your free kindle book from here: […] The Gutenberg project formats everything precisely and cleanly and your read will be hassle free!

5Book

She

62.95

19/22

34 stars

Dramatic scenes of adventure, but a bit hard to read

H. Rider Haggard's style is the ornate, 19th century melodrama style. There is none of the stylish repartee of Conan Doyle or the sharp characterization of Dickens. Despite its literary flaws, H. Rider Haggard's vivid imagination make "She" an enduring classic."She", or "She-who-must-be-obeyed" , a.k.a Ayesha, is a mysterious and powerful queen in a subterranean land laced with horrible terrors in darkest Africa. To disregard her word is instant death for her savage subjects. Holly and his adopted nephew Leo explore through her realm and after nearly getting murdered in the most horrible way, meet up with She. Leo is dying from a fever, and Holly, an explorer and a man educated in languages and the classics, contends with Ayesha. The very ill Leo is meanwhile attended by Ustane, a local gal who marries herself to him in the local custom of girl-takes-boy and stands by him loyally. Who is this local girl? Is she really just a native lass as she seems? And what has She to do with Ustane? Rider's description of Ayesha is brilliant, Holly is a sympathetic character and the ending of the tale is spectacular. The only reason I give three stars is that the writing is murky, convuluted and overly ornate. Still, when Rider describes scenes of high drama, horror or beauty, he cannot be beat.

5Book

She

62.95

15/17

45 stars

"the eternal feminine" unfrocked

When the young psychologist Sigmund Freud picked up this book, it presented him with the idea of the Anima or eternal feminine, which as a concept was picked and enlarged by his peers, metaphysicians and astrologers (e.g. Liz Greene's work on relationship astrology). That such a catchy idea came from what was effectively an off the shelf best seller with no literary pretentions indicates just what a fun and fascinating read it presents, especially for a young man who wishes a read encapsulating the perfect specimen of womankind.This particular edition is good for it contains an excellent introduction by Professor D. Karlin with extensive and helpful notes. Karlin makes it clear that the book is a sort of fantasy within a fantasy and the joke is usually on us. It's contents are so "out there" that the author is at pains to state "every word is true" through his chosen first person mouthpiece, and he adds several details that makes the book's events plausible while you are in it.The book is a masterpiece of archetypes including the Anima, acient civilization and archaeology, exploration, hunting and Africa as she used to be. It further represents the last mysterious possibilities that could be squeezed out of a world whose potential to amaze was fast disappearing due to the advent of transport and exploration. It is an old fashioned Indiana Jones type epic with explorers making a big discovery that could shake the British Empire to its very core.The elements come from Haggard's own association and love of Africa (he includes the extinct Quagga one of the descriptions)and his contact with an angelic woman with whom his fascination was was not satiated as he was married already. There is a great deal of swashbuckling adventure hived off from Livingstone, Egyptology, linguistics, classics and history as well of prevailing views and outlooks - but all this is eventually fused in a saga that is anything but boring in the same dynamic and suspensive style of bestsellers of the time (serialised in popular magazines) as S. Holmes and Jules Verne.Needless to say, the book is over the top even for that time and is a literary equivalent of Jurassic Park, taken up by everyone but academia and the gatekeepers of high culture.The subtext has disturbing and provocative elements which could by identified as mysoginy, soft porn and the frustrated psyche of the average young male at the time. She is destroyed in the end and provides the perfect excuse for both the principal male protagonists to give up women.Haggard himself has recently been discovered to have had a secret relationship which bore him an illegitimate child and we also realise he was not really an imperialist and supported free tendencies for Africans in the shadow of imperialism. He predicted the inevitable independence of African states and the imperial overtones in the book should not be misread as jingoistic.For people too rushed to pour over Trollope or Dickens, this is Victoriana at its greatest with many interesting contemporary themes including the theory of evolution which reads extremely fast. It is a window into history and an ultimate fantasy exploring the sources of life and immortality itself and represents something made in a hurry in the "white heat" of the author's anvil. A performance he probably never repeated.Absorbing, mysterious and shocking - some people will find it unravels a great deal of their innermost tendencies and sexuality into the limelight of coherence and myth.

5Book

She

62.95

17/20

23 stars

Old time fantasy story

This fantasy adventure story takes place in England and later transports the reader to the bowels of Central Africa. The story starts when Horace Holly makes a deal with his dying friend. His friend, knowing the end is near, has a young son, Leo, who he leaves an iron trunk to. Horace is instructed not to open the chest until the boy's 25th birthday. In addition, Horace must take care of Leo and raise him.On Leo's 25th birthday, Horace and Leo open the chest and in it they discover that Leo is part of a historic lineage which goes back to the ancient Egyptians. They also discover that everlasting life can be found off the coast of Africa by bathing in a magical fire. They soon venture to the hidden area to discover an ancient race of cannibalistic people who are lead by Ayesha, otherwise known as She. She is a very beautiful temptress and has the secret to everlasting life. Also, she was in love with Leo's family centuries ago. When Leo arrives, She is much smitten with him.This book was well written and the adventure well thought out. The level of detail that Haggard uses to describe the Amahagger's (the tribe Leo and Holly discover) were extraordinary. She is easily understood to be a sophisticated woman who has strong powers of life and death over her subjects. However, I found the book a little hard to read. The lengthy paragraphs that detailed the Amahagger society were not needed and slowed the pace of the book. Still not a bad adventure book but the pace kept being diverted by lengthy descriptions.

5Book

She

62.95

8/9

34 stars

Classic Fantasy

This is one of the few books that J. R. R. Tolkien admitted had influenced him. C. S. Lewis wrote appreciatively about Haggard (see the book ON STORIES by Lewis). There's a fond essay on Haggard by Graham Greene, too.I love the way Haggard fits out his story with all sorts of "authentic" details -- lengthy inscriptions in Greek, Latin, and Renaissance English, found on an old piece of pottery passed down for many generations in the Vincey family. Really gets you in the mood. Then our heroes head for mysterious Africa -- a continent about which Haggard knew more than many of his contemporaries, having lived there.The story gets more and more fantastic, delightfully indulging in what Edmund Burke called the SUBLIME. (Hint: if you're writing a paper on SHE, that is a good topic idea.) I've been reading this book since I was a kid & am reading it again, with much enjoyment, right now.Haggard's metaphysical ideas, though, haven't worn well. Haggard wrote a sequel about his enchantress, Ayesha, called Wisdom's Daughter. As C. S. Lewis quipped, If Ayesha really was Wisdom's Daughter, she certainly didn't take after her parent.

5Book

She

62.95

5/5

45 stars

REMEMBER URSULA ANDRESS AS SHE?!!!!!

A classic of early fantasy, She was written in 1887, proving to be so popular that in 1908 it was made into a silent film, not once but nine times.Set in Africa the plot revolves around the immortal She or in Arabic, Ayesha meaning "She Who Must Be Obeyed which is an honorific title and another variant, "She Who Lives". Ayesha is powerful to the point that she's down right nasty. Ayesha encounters Professor Leo Vincey who just happens to be the reincarnation of her lover she's waited 2000 years for. Leo thinks she's pretty hot but in order to become her lover he must bath in the pillar of fire. I can't say anymore or I'll give the ending away.I had never seen the movie with Ursula Andress but remember the posters. Actually the book surprised me by delving into death, reincarnation, sexuality, fate and power in an era I thought to be rather uptight and straight laced. All in all the book is well written, easy to lose yourself into the plot and characters. The theme of the book has stood the test of time and could go head to head with any other modern fantasy book.

5Book

She

62.95

4/4

34 stars

Yup, the formatting stinks - still great story

As others note, the formatting stinks. It can't handle the greek letters or Egyptian. Also, sometimes, e is replaced by 2 ??'s - who knows why.All that being said, you can see why H.R. Haggard was reported to have said that this would be what he would be known for. This story must have hit Victorian England like a thunderbolt. It is one of the best stories ever, and I highly recommend it.Note - there is an anti-Semitic passage, so be warned.

5Book

She

62.95

6/7

45 stars

SHE

TIME.LOVE.BEAUTY.Intertwined PASSON and JEALOUSY, CELESTIAL and EVIL. "SHE" will forever shines with her own philosophical beauty. I first read this story when I was 12. Could't quite comprehend but was somehow enjoyed by the adventurous plots. The second time when picked it up I was already on my late 30's. This time I was awed by the author's vivid immagination and the tremendous insight about human nature. Written in a decent manner,the story unfolds first in a steady pace, then generating faster and faster till the stimulating storyline seize you with your undivided attention! Though the final climax turns out to be a sad endding, along the adventurous and magical path with Leo and Holly all the way to the mysterious cave of Kor, you'll learn more about TIME, BEAUTY and LOVE. Definitely a worthy literary tour de force, even more rewarding than a trip to King Solomon's Mines! By the way I am an actor and have always dreamed to make SHE into a gorgeous epic, but I happen to be a CHINESE and it will make the film inauthentic if I starred in with any major charater. too bad.

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

45 stars

Looks like fantasy to me

I read the reviews other people said about this book and was afraid it was going to happen to me also.The issue was that some pages contains the 'the original manuscrips' about the character SHE is in love with in greek language, so you get pages of greek writtings.The only thing left for you is to move on until you ger to the english part.The story itself is great, so diferent from the other Henry Rider novels i've read, and you have a continuation in two more books.

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

45 stars

Purchased for class

We purchased this book for my husband's class. It was a requirement but he actually enjoyed reading it. Said it was an easy read.

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

34 stars

Nineteenth Century fantasy at its best

While studying at Cambridge, Ludwig Horace Holly receives a very strange visit from a long-time friend. In failing health, this friend gives Holly charge of his 5 year-old son Leo, and a mysterious chest, which he is charged not to open until the boy's twenty-fifth birthday. Twenty years later, the boy has grown to handsome manhood, and the chest is opened to reveal a family history stretching back some 23 centuries to ancient Egypt. Interestingly, included is the family's attempts to get revenge on an immortal white women who rules a tribe in Africa.The young man, Leo, becomes fascinated with the tale, and draws Holly onto an adventure to Africa. Passing through danger upon danger, the companions finally find themselves in the hands of "She-who-must-be-obeyed".While the story is dated and somewhat laughable by modern standards, it is very well written and more riveting than the above introduction may suggest. If nothing else, this book is an excellent example of Nineteenth Century fantasy literature.

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

34 stars

Beautifully written

A beautifully written Victorian era supernatural adventure! A little bit dry at times, making some parts difficult to get through, but it shines beautifully when it needs to. The world created in this book is incredibly dark and beautiful, the character of She a haunting one, unique for her time. Definitely a book I would recommend to anyone looking for some less well known Classical literature.

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

34 stars

Brant

This is a great book all the suspense you could want.SHE must be obeyed,a classic with all the mystery, There have been several movies made about this book you will want to read.

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

34 stars

Typical (but Entertaining!) Late Victorian Literature

"With all the self-consciousness and "Nature" worshipping and jollity that befits a late Victorian English novel, She tackles a familiar trope: men walk into jungle; men see amazing sights; men fall in love with exotic woman; men barely escape to tell the tale. But no matter how many times this trope is told and retold, I will come with my popcorn and my high expectations to enjoy the show...."Read more:[ ... ]

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

34 stars

A must read for the lover of classic literature

She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed is a must read for any lover of the science/adventure fiction genre written around the turn of the 19th century. If you enjoy Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, H.G. Wells, Alexander Dumas, Rudyard Kipling, Jules Verne, Robert Louis Stevenson or any of the great adventure writers from this era than you will thoroughly enjoy this book. Rider Haggard has an immense imagination and the ability to seamlessly transport the reader into the world of She with all of its grim and unimaginable detail. However, at a very real level Haggard is able to use his storyline to dive into levels of philosophy and ethics that modern readers rarely get to enjoy.If I were to find any fault in this book writing it would be that at times the author spends too much time in detailing an environment or conversation while neglecting the advancement of his storyline. Nevertheless, H. Rider Haggard still easily stands out from his contemporaries and any seasoned reader would undoubtedly find great enjoyment in this work.

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

34 stars

Beautiful and Terrifying - an Ending to Remember!

H. Rider Haggard is probably best-known for his "King Solomon's Mines" and his great hero, Allan Quatermain. "She" follows a similar tack to that of "Mines" - a Victorian tale of "darkest Africa" involving an ancient civilization. But "She" is not merely a great adventure story - it is also a darkly intriguing romance and a firghtening horror tale as well.In "She," a brutish-looking individual - a scholar by trade - is mysteriously given charge of the only son of his good friend, who soon dies, leaving detailed instructions for the boy's schooling and strange artifacts to eb revealed to the boy when he comes of age. When the boy reaches maturity, the two pour over his inheritance, and discover that they must travel deep into Africa to discover his destiny. Upon arriving, and taking a harrowing journey down a jungle river, they arrive in the last vestiges of a great and ancient civilization that existed long before the Egyptians - a civilization morbidly fascinated with death and immortality. Ruling this crumbling world is Ayesha (pronounced As-sha), "She Who Must Be Obeyed," a betwitching, otherworldly, imperious beauty thousands of years old. She at once appreciates the scholar's great intellect, but finds herself drawn to his ward, who she believes is her long-lost lover, dead these long millennia. However, Ayesha's plans to make the young heir her king set in motion a chain of events leading to one of the most terrifying climaxes in the history of English literature."She" is a fascinating read and, truly, the final chapters literally kept my hair on end and sent a shiver down my spine. Haggard is adept at scintilating description and creates an atmosphere of anxious, doomed darkness over the entire thing - from the first, we know that thi story cannot end well, and Haggard never fails to ratchet up the stark gloom of the work. Ayesha is a perfectly drawn character - a woman who rules cruelly, a goddess without care for the mortals who serve her. Her power is absolute, and yet there is a theatrical vulnerability about her that makes her one of the most captivatign characters you'll read of. Certainly, this book is not without its faults - the first chapter or two are actually quite difficult to get through, dealing, as they do with some very abstruse exposition. However, once you're over that hurdle, you'll have a great adventure story you simply won't be able to put down. Enjoy!

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

45 stars

One of the best book ever written!!

Once you start reading this book, you will realize that you are all lost and craving for woman like SHE. Story is amazing. I think Rider Haggard will always be remembered for this book than his Alan Quatermain novels. When I completed reading this book, my heart was heavy. Then I made a mistake of reading the next part which was such a let down!!

5Book

She

62.95

0/0

34 stars

Super Reader

She is an immortal super powered ruler with a touch of the Doctor Doom complex about her. Old enough to predate the calendar, she presides over an underground civilisation and lost city.A conflict develops between her and the on of a man she has encountered in the past. When She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed is not, she gets a tad on the grumpy side.

5Book

Not Safe After Dark

7/7

23 stars

Not Safe After Dark

If one were to have a serious complaint to put forth about this good anthology by Petewr Robinson it would be that the marvelous Inspector Alan Banks is present in only three of the stories herein. Nothing futher need be said to the growing number of Banks devotees in the U.S. but the uninitiated may wish to know more. The stories which feature Robinson's compassionate'music-loving and ultimately very tough British policeman are just interesting enough to whet the appetites of those who love P.D> James's Dalgleish and Ruth Rendell's Wexford. They are well worth the reading of them but Robinson reveals himself to be far more than a one-trick pony as he ranges beyond his stellar creation to construct short gems that are often as lyrical as they are true to the protocols of his genre.

5Book

Not Safe After Dark

2/2

45 stars

Highly Recommended

I've been waiting for every new Peter Robinson's book for over ten years now after I read his award winning short story "Innocence" back in 1991. "Innocence" is a fascinating harrowing story about a man whose life was ruined only because he happened to be in the wrong place in the wrong time. The subject is not new or original but if you read the story, you will never forget it. "Innocence" was published in the collection of the best mystery short stories of 1989, I believe. The book consisted of about fifty first class works but "Innocence" was the only one that has stayed with me for all these years." "Innocence" is a shining star of the excellent collection "Not Safe After Dark And Other Stories" that is a great introduction to Mr. Robinson's writings and consists of thirteen short stories. In addition to "Innocence", my favorites are "The Two Ladies of Rose Cottage" which was inspired by Robinson's interest in Thomas Hardy's writings, "Fan Mail"- darkly hilarious with a wonderful twist, and short but outstanding with the completely unexpected and fascinating end, "Carrion".Robinson is the author of 16 novels with the main character, Yorkshire Chief Inspector Alan Banks who is a successful and shrewd investigator but also a very intelligent man, the great fan of good music and English literature. All novels are not only the first -rate crime stories but also very well written works of literature with the interesting characters. Alan Banks appears in three of this collection's 13 stories.That's what Stephen King has said of Peter Robinson's books: "The Alan Banks mystery-suspense novels are, simply put, the best series now on the market. In fact, this may be the best series of British novels since the novels of Patrick O'Brian. Try one and tell me I'm wrong." I can only say to that: "Tell me something I don't know already".

5Book

Not Safe After Dark

2/2

34 stars

A Collection of Short Stories

Peter Robinson grew up in Yorkshire, and is the author of a number of previous novels featuring Inspector Banks. He is the winner of numerous awards in the United States, Britain and Canada, and in 2002 he won the CWA Dagger in the Library. As I also come from Leeds the background to his stories is something that I have experienced first hand and because of this I have a special affection for his books. However they would be first class crime fiction wherever they were based.This is Peter Robinson's first collection of short stories. As rule I am not a lover of short stories, preferring something I can get my "teeth into." But on this occasion I was pleasantly surprised. I found the book to be full of good and interesting stories.

5Book

Not Safe After Dark

0/0

34 stars

I LOVE Inspector Banks novels...

BUT I'm not as crazy about Peter Robinson's short stories. I have read all of the Inspector Banks novels and was looking for a bit more. These shorts are okay but not as great as the full length novels. All of Robinson's novels get 5 stars.

5Book

Not Safe After Dark

0/0

34 stars

Not Safe After Dark Review.

The range of topics covered in this series of short stories shows the ability of the author. All stories were enjoyable to read and it was nice to see Banks appear now and again. Robinson is still one of my favorite authors.

5Book

Answer to Job

62/64

45 stars

Penetrating analysis of our changing relationship to God

Doctor Jung expresses concern in his Introduction that readers will misinterpret the ideas contained in this book. Jung presents examples of the unconscious, capricious behavior of Yahweh (GOD) who self-righteously proclaims his moral superiority over humankind and enforces a strict adherence to his sense of justice. This self-delusion reaches culmination in the collusion of Yahweh and his 'shadow son' Satan in the undeserved sadistic persecution of a righteous man, Job, in a cosmic wager. Job's principled response to this persecution demonstrates humankind exhibiting a higher morality than shown by Yahweh. Yahweh, reaching a higher level of consciousness, realizes that he must atone to humankind for the wrong he has done. His attempt to make this atonement through incarnation as Jesus Christ is only partially successful. The later appearance of the Holy Ghost is Yahweh's attempt to perfect himself further through a personal incarnation into humankind in general. Jung moves on to a psychological analysis of the Book of Revelation, where the shadow side of the author, the Apostle John, is evident in the torments predicted to befall humankind.Jung's theological ideas are radical and open to misinterpretation. His thinking on the 'problem of evil' and the evolving relationship of God to humankind is the attempt of a wise, old man to make sense of the conflicting images present in the mythology of the Bible.

5Book

Answer to Job

39/39

45 stars

Compact and Comprehensive

Jung's "Answer to Job" was recommended to me by friends, and after some procrastination, I finally decided to give it a read. My only regret is that I waited so long to get around to it. I was surprised by both the candor and the comprehensive sweep of the book.It should be understood that this book is not a book on pure theology, though theological issues inevitably arise. Jung himself emphasises that he is a "layman" in this area. He also makes plain that the book is a subjective response to Job. Jung also works from an orthodox premise, taking as given that the Father of Jesus Christ and Yahweh are the same being. With these born in mind, Jung's book is informative, interesting and very thought-provoking.Jung's book has three main sections to it, as far as I could tell. First, he discusses the Book of Job, and the situation surround Job's life, trials and the drama played out with Satan. This section is darkly humorous, often eliciting a chuckle at Jung's descriptions of Yahweh. This aspect truly surprised me immensely, though pleasantly so. Jung treats Yahweh honestly, and is not shy of pointing out Yahweh's faults, which are many and abundant. Yahweh's apparent willingness and readiness to take Satan's bait, Yahweh's readiness to violate his own laws and so on are all mentioned and raised.As the book progresses, Jung starts to address the pyschological processes within Yahweh, as he sees them. The book also gets more serious, losing that dark humour. Some aspects were a bit difficult understand the workings of, like the failure of Yahweh "to consult his omniscience" in dealing with Job. It seemed to me that there was a separation between Yahweh and some part of his being, which I could not grasp very well. That said, this is the first book of psychology that I have read, so those more familiar may have a better understanding of it than I.Thirdly, Jung enters into a discussion on the psychological processes of people who have become "incarnations of the spirit", (Jung's words, paraphrased a bit). In this section, Jung discusses the Book of Revelation in detail, tackling some of the issues that book raises, especially in the contrast between the Jesus of the Gospels and the Jesus of Revelation.Overall, the entire book is definitely interesting, and gives one a lot of food for thought. Jung takes an honest and very open look at the problems raised by Yahweh's dealings with Job, and uses that as a spring board for a broader discussion on psychology from Jung's perspective.Despite my own problems of understanding parts in detail, I still enjoyed the book immensely, and have a lot of new ideas to think about. The book was well written, and certainly has a lot crammed into the 108 pages of text, (not including other stuff).However, nowhere does Jung go so far as the Gnostics to say that Yahweh is an inferior and ignorant demiurge. While criticising Yahweh, Jung offers a pyschological explanation as to why Yahweh seemed to be an absolute cretin to a man who was blameless in his sight; as good an explanation as I have ever read or heard.For such a topic, it is pretty rare to find a book that gives so much to ruminate on in such a small space. An excellent buy, and certainly one that will occupy your mind for some time after the last page.

5Book

Answer to Job

14/14

45 stars

God on the couch...

--and brother, does the Big Guy have problems! Read any biography of Stalin side-by-side with the Old Testament and you don't see much difference between the dictator and the Almighty. Paranoid, jealous, vain, ruthless, and vengeful, they demand unquestioning, unthinking obedience and they will crush you with unlimited violence if they don't get it. Gulag, Hell, it's all the same, except you can't escape Hell even in death.God, as Jung points out, isn't quite right in the head. As Exhibit A, Jung uses the biblical story of Job--the faithful servant tortured to within an inch of his life by the God he loves--to deal with that age-old question: why do horrendous things happen to good people, or, if God is so powerful, so good, so infallible, why are there concentration camps, cancers, pederastic serial killers, tsunamis, terrorists--so many Evil-doers in the world? And, even worse, why are there so many innocent victims of all this evil? It's a problem inherent in monotheism. If there's only one God, then why shouldn't he be held responsible for all of it...good and bad?There's got to be a better answer than the one God gives Job in the Bible, which is, basically, "I'm bigger than you, I'm stronger than you, this is my world, I made it, and if you don't shut yer yap I'm gonna rip you a new one, you worm!"Job gets the point: might makes right--and he does obeisance and keeps quiet as any sensible person would confronted by an armed and pumped up lunatic in full-blown `roid rage. But there's got to be a better answer to Job's very valid question than that, doesn't there?With wit, passion, and probing analytic insight, Jung finally provides Job with the answer God Himself should have given Job--if only the Almighty could have articulated it. For the truth is, as Jung rather stunningly tells it, God is actually unconscious of a large part of Himself and not unlike a lot of his creatures, He's in the process of "discovering" Himself as an individual. Perhaps even more stunning is Jung's assertion that God has a lot of catching up to do with his creatures since men like Job, who've looked deeply into themselves, actually occupy higher moral ground than He does. That, according to Jung, is the reason that God had to become man, and why he is still trying to become man: to come to awareness about Himself.God, in other words, would be better if only he realized what a lot of pain and misery He's been causing! It's truly a case of His Right Hand not knowing what His Left Hand was doing.*Answer to Job* is a simply brilliant interpretation of this classic Biblical story and its subsequent influence on the development of New Testament theology from the point of view of Jungian psychoanalysis. The translation is crystal-clear, largely free of technical or scholarly jargon, and livened by Jung's often irreverent sense of humor. You really do get the sense, as Jung says in his preface, that he's writing as a man for whom Job's pained and passionately urgent questioning of God doubles for his own: Why so much suffering? Why so much evil? How can there possibly be a God?As Jung makes clear, these are questions that are evolving over time, along with their answers. And while in presuming to answer for God, Jung's may not be the final word, but it's sure a lot more satisfying than the answer God Himself gave.

5Book

Answer to Job

21/24

45 stars

one of Jung's greatest books....

...and daring in its conjecture that the God-image (NOT God) could only evolve out of its amoral unconsciousness through an encounter with a man of unbending integrity. Highly recommended, especially for open-minded theologians outgrowing the need to idealize images of the deity.

5Book

Answer to Job

39/50

23 stars

Interesting Psychology, NOT A WORK OF THEOLOGY

I write this review as a caution to others who might consider taking up this book as a commentary on the Biblical Book of Job. This text is a fine example of Jungian psychology, from the pen of the man himself, and as such it deserves respect and a proper evaluation on psychological rather than theological grounds. However, this book is not and was never intended to be a work of theology of any sort, much less a piece if Biblical interpretation. Jung uses the contest between God and Satan for the soul of Job as a metaphor for his own theories about the processes of the unconscious and the innate structure of the human psyche. Those theories, in themselves, may be correct, but that is a highly dubious interpretation on the Scriptural work itself. Jung, to his credit, admits up front that he is not engaging in theology per se; alas, many of his readers don't seem to comprehend that. In short, if you are interested in Jungianism, this is a central work, but if you are looking for theology in general or a commentary on Job in particular, you should go elsewhere.

5Book

Answer to Job

6/6

45 stars

one of the most important books of one of the most important thinkers

C.G. Jung was literally unique in both knowledge and wisdom. "Answer to Job" is by his own attestation one of his most important books of so many excellent contributions to understanding the human psyche. It is most essential for human survival that people understand how the lack of integrating the self in what Jung calls individuation allows the unconscious to compel us perpetually towards attitudes and actions of mutual destructiveness. (See also his essay "The Development of Personality". ) "Answer to Job" delineates precisely how humans have projected onto their image of god the unresolved conflicts of a deeply conflicted shadow self. It should be read with Edward F. Edinger's "Transformation of the God-Image" and Murray Stein's "Jung's Map of the Soul". Dr. Jung (medical doctor, analyst, scholar and author extraordinary) remains one of the great SEERS of the modern world, and as such offers us a special CURE FOR THE SOUL of humanity in our perilous condition.

5Book

Answer to Job

5/5

45 stars

A breathtaking study on religion

Answer to Job is Jung's attempt to make sense of certain Christian teachings in the Bible (and the 1950's Papal dogmatisation of Assumption of the Virgin Mary) that might be inexplicable to a rational mind and traditionally being believed on faith. Jung's method is analytic psychoanalysis with particular focus on God's communication to man through Archetype or Collective Unconscious. In essence it is a psycho-analysis of God, justifiable conceptually by the postulation that the Collective Unconscious is both autonomous and has to be comprehended by human consciousness for its existence as psyche fact. Needless to say, that rested upon Jung having established (else where) that the Collective Unconscious itself is empirical rather metaphysical (i.e. with scholastic respectability).The first puzzle is God's (Yahweh's) "unfair" treatment of one pious Job. The omniscient God is therefore interpreted as one-sided, unconscious and amoral. Both disturbing to Job (exemplified all pious humans then) and to God - the created had been elevated to a higher moral platform than the creator, since by definition morality presupposes consciousness. The decision of God to become conscious (i.e. become Man) is an understandable development. And according to Jung's analysis, this is the real reason of the Incarnation. To avoid contamination by Satan (God's first son), the help of wisdom/Sophia/Virgin Mary is needed. Thus, Jesus represented the best/positive side of God. Here, Jung differed from Christian dogma that says the sacrifice of God's Son is for the purpose of Man's redemption. Both views however seem (to me) to be on agreement that the Incarnation brought HOPE to Man.As explained by Jung, Jesus taught us, without Jesus, Man has to use his own consciousness (and wisdom) to differentiate the Holy Ghost from Satan. John's revelation of a more revengeful God-Christ-image certainly signified rougher seas, and a new child image, as interpreted by Jung, signified God's wish to become Man himself, this time to ordinary man, total with God's amoral capacity as demonstrated towards Job. Based on this line of thought, Man certainly needs a helper or mediator on his side. It was therefore, timely, according to Jung for the Pope to introduce the Dogma of Assumption of the Virgin Mary (in addition to the need to address the becoming importance of the female sex in our society).Despite its complexity, this book is a breathtaking study on religion and humanity that deserves a reader's every effort to comprehend and appreciate. Highly recommended.

5Book

Answer to Job

15/19

45 stars

Answer to Job more aptly titled Answer to Freud

For me this book is a wonderful example of how Jung was able to work with archetypes and myths when dealing with his own relationships. One familiar with the letters between Freud and Jung will find in the description of Yahweh and Jung's complaints against this punishing, abandoning, and at times unself-aware image of God the very real feelings he experienced with Freud.I believe Jung did in this book what he could not do in his real life experience with Freud. That is reconcile parts of the relationship that hurt him deeply while finding a way to understand the limitations of both Freud and the PsychoAnalytic community which he felt abandoned him after the break with Freud.He did this by attributing to God the containment of all things of the paradoxial nature of being both light and darkness/ evil and good.

5Book

Answer to Job

6/7

45 stars

A gift for Christians

The Book of Job has remained a mystery to me regardless having readthe biblical texts several times, studied several sermons and evengone through a group study with several fellow christians - they allsay more or less the same thing. Repeatedly hearing the same thingbrings about a distinct curiosity for a deeper and broader understanding."Answer to Job" is a gift from Jung to christians in such sense.As enlightening as scientists come to explain the physicalbiblical wonders, so is Jung's insights to the psyche'sdevelopement(both God's and human's) since creation and where dohuman beings fit in the process, providing a unique perspectivethat fits right in. Another reason I like the book is due toJung's humble and objective attitude in observing, perceivingand interpreting, albeit how passionate he felt about the subject,I could sense his integrity as a scholar. This book is a valuablepersonal sharing from a man to his fellow human beings whom hecared about dearly.

5Book

Answer to Job

17/23

34 stars

Why have you forsaken me?

Freud was merely a rational atheist. Jung not only believes in God but in 'Answer to Job' he has the temerity to psychoanalise Him. . .The reuslts are provocative.Jung reasons that God was a schmuck towards Job (and by extension to all innocents who suffer from 'acts of God') due to His not being fully conscious. A strange theory since, it would seem that by definiton God is Omniscient.However God, in Jung's model, contains all opposites and paradoxes--including choosing not to consult Himself. Had He done so, He could have seen that Job would have been faithfull to the end and not needed to take Satan's "bet".The devil is still able to waltz into heaven in the book of Job and complain about how rotten mankind is.Unconsciousness accounts why God allows evil, why He breaks His own covenant and commandments, and why throughout The Old Testament accounts in His dealings with Israel He often resembles a petulant child given to fits of rage towards his pet hamster.In short, why the Jews were right to "fear" Him, big time.In the end of, God pulls out all the stops and counters Job's anguished pleadings for an answer to his misery with a 'might makes right' speech; while all poor Job can do is declare that he knows that his 'Advocate' lives, and then shut up.Job is the moral winner while the seed of doubt is implanted in God that He's not exactly playing cricket, and His desire to Know culminates in the 'tour the force' (Jung's words) of The Incarnation.Jesus (the Advocate) now had to be born so that God could experience how we poor slobs muddle through down here.Christ's mission therefore is not only to save humanity, but also God from His worse half.On the cross, when God shouts to God: 'Why have you forsaken me?' He's finally made the grade.The union of God and Man.Four stars only due to Jung's heavy prose and his peppering his paragraphs with untranslated Greek--At first the book seems like a joke (perhaps it is but is it a joke or a Joke?) but going from syllogism to syllogism Jung does builds a powerful if disturbing thesis.Despite his protestations that this is a work of psychology, inevitably 'Answer to Job' becomes a fascinating and bizarre work of theology.

5Book

Answer to Job

14/61

12 stars

Surprised at how poorly Jung understood God

Carl Jung is highly respected by psychologists, both private and religious. I read some works by Jung on dreams and people who claimed they saw flying saucers. These so much impressed me that I also formed a high opinion of Jung. I then read Jung's "Answer to Job" when I researched a book I wrote about "Revelation and the Fall of Judea." I had read commentaries by many authors to make sure I understood what others had said. "Answer to Job" touched on the same topic. What an eye opener! This man, so highly revered as an expert on human thinking, doesn't himself understand who God is and what God has done, even with Job.Jung claims that God once was in a state of unconsciousness and was prodded by Lucifer, who was inclined to make use of God's omniscience, into acting unfairly with Job. Job proved himself morally superior to God. God then became the human being, Jesus Christ, so he could suffer the way Job was made to suffer. Jung's position surprised me because God was never in a state of unconsciousness. God is unchanging. Jung mentions Lucifer. I'm surprised that Jung didn't believe the biblical text that it was Lucifer who brought suffering onto Job. Lucifer did it to demonstrate before God that Job would blaspheme God if Job experienced misfortune. God gave Lucifer permission to harass Job but set limits on what Lucifer could do. Job actually proved himself morally superior to Lucifer because, even when suffering misfortune, Job would not rebel against God, whereas, Lucifer, without any suffering, rebelled through pride.Job had three friends who tried to convince him that he offended God somehow, and that is why misfortune came. Their opinions were not true. Scripture has it that Lucifer brought misfortune to goad Job into rebellion. God permitted this because God had already informed Lucifer how faithful Job is. Now, under fire, Job's faithfulness is tried and proven. Spiritual growth came out of Job's suffering. That's why God permitted it. When the book of Job ends, God told Job to pray for his three friends because their untrue advice had offended God. I'm surprised Jung didn't pick up on that. God's asking Job to pray for his friends is one of the keys to understanding the book of Job.

5Book

Answer to Job

4/44

01 star

Girard's "Job: Victim of His People" much better

A much better take on the book of Job and the problem of suffering is René Girard's book, "Job: The Victim of His People". Jung's analysis pales and bores in comparison with Girard's.

5Book

Answer to Job

3/41

01 star

The archtype of the acuser in full force

Jung presents an interesting view of the book of Job, picking up on Job's affirmation that he doesn't deserve what's been dealt to him. But this book should be seen as mearly Jung's perception of the book, and as a reaction to a religion of Law, and not of Grace. He bases his interpretations on misquotations of the Bible and the apocrypha. I guess every power figure, even God, gets his words misrepresented in print.

5Book

Answer to Job

2/2

45 stars

The best book I've read in a very long time!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I won't be able to say enough good things about it! I will be re-reading this several more times and devoting time to carefully study it. It isn't very long, only a little over 100 pages, but it is densely packed with imporant ideas anyone interested in religious and spiritual matters should consider. This is especially true of those familiar with the Christian religion given Jung is discussing Job throughout the text. Not however for the faint of heart! If questions such as, Is God evil? bother you, or you find that question itself to be Evil, then I suggest you don't read this book. But if you consider this to be a fair question, especially considering the treatment of Job, you may be ready for Jung's ideas. My favorite section was XIX, wherein he discusses Sophia and our need for the missing feminine aspect of the Divine.

5Book

Answer to Job

2/2

34 stars

My answer to the Answer to Job

Amazing well written book on one of the most powerful books in all of literature. Possibly the finest peace of classic literature is the Book of Job and Carl Jung breaks the book down and analyzes all of its pitfalls and shortcomings in how it shows the way you relate to Yahweh to the way it shows how we relate to our own lives. For anyone that loves the Book of Job you should read this.

5Book

Answer to Job

1/1

45 stars

Interesting but hard read

Jung presents an interesting discussion with God. Whatever your faith, you will find this book challenging. It's a hard read but well worth it for the substantive and provocative thoughts.

5Book

Answer to Job

1/1

45 stars

Creation and Destruction. Two Faces of the Same Coin.

.The ancient Hindu story of Sita and the Old Testament Book of Job have always struck a chord with me. Whever I hear someone cry out in anguish, demanding to know why if God exists, He lets good people suffer, I think of these tales.Jung also poses these questions, and reminds us that if God created the Universe and all that is in it, that Satan is also one of God's creations and is one of His most favored children. Jung reminds us that God listened to Satan before torturing Job.As Jung questions God and ponders his cruelty and also his kindness, he reminds us that Yahweh is not a human being. He is both a persecutor and a helper in one, and the one aspect is as real as the other. Yahweh is not split but is an antimony--a totality of inner opposites--and this is the indispensable condition for his tremendous dynamism, his omniscience and omnipotence.The difference between good and evil is not one of kind, but of degree, like the difference between light and darkness. The same thing can appear as good and evil under different circumstancesI like this book. Jung makes perfect sense to me.Kim BurdickStanton, DE

5Book

Answer to Job

1/1

45 stars

Fine little book

This is just a review of the 2010 edition of this particular work by Jung. The paperback cover is crisp, mature, well-balanced in its design, color, motifs. There are two prefaces by Jung and a new 4-page note on the 2010 edition relating it to the "Red Book". The typeset pages of the actual Jung text appear to be taken directly from a past printing, and are just right for reading -- no new, modern, gaudy liberties are taken with the font or layout of the body of the text, the headings, or the footnotes -- it looks like something printed in the 50s, as I think it should. The original one-page bibliography and Jung's extensive index are here as well. The paragraphs of the original text are numbered 553-758, in line with the collected works. In my opinion this particular edition of the text is very nice, and much more handy for reading or toting around than the collected works.

5Book

Answer to Job

0/0

34 stars

UNKNOWN BINDING most likely PAPERBACK

If you are in search for hardcover, do not guess with the selection "unknown binding." Most likely you are going to get a paperback version. Carl Young is a great writer, so I give the writer a 4-star.

5Book