Karl's bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 11 Jun 2015 02:00:17 -0700 60 Karl's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Phaedo 982310 Phaedo is acknowledged to be one of Plato's masterpieces, showing him both as a philosopher and as a dramatist at the height of his powers. For its moving account of the execution of Socrates, the Phaedo ranks among the supreme literary achievements of antiquity. It is also a document crucial to the understanding of many ideas deeply ingrained in western culture, and provides one of the best introductions to Plato's thought.]]> 144 Plato 0192839535 Karl 5 4.08 -380 Phaedo
author: Plato
name: Karl
average rating: 4.08
book published: -380
rating: 5
read at: 2012/08/17
date added: 2015/06/11
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]]> <![CDATA[The Open Society and Its Enemies - Volume One: The Spell of Plato]]> 1129911 Open Society and Its Enemies was the result.


In the book, Popper condemned Plato, Marx, and Hegel as "holists" and "historicists"--a holist, according to Popper, believes that individuals are formed entirely by their social groups; historicists believe that social groups evolve according to internal principles that it is the intellectual's task to uncover. Popper, by contrast, held that social affairs are unpredictable, and argued vehemently against social engineering. He also sought to shift the focus of political philosophy away from questions about who ought to rule toward questions about how to minimize the damage done by the powerful. The book was an immediate sensation, and--though it has long been criticized for its portrayals of Plato, Marx, and Hegel--it has remained a landmark on the left and right alike for its defense of freedom and the spirit of critical inquiry.]]> 368 Karl Popper 0691019681 Karl 1 4.16 1945 The Open Society and Its Enemies - Volume One: The Spell of Plato
author: Karl Popper
name: Karl
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1945
rating: 1
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date added: 2015/04/30
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]]> <![CDATA[Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo]]> 30292 Five Dialogues presents G. M. A. Grube's distinguished translations, as revised by John Cooper for Plato, Complete Works (Hacket, 1997). Cooper has also contributed a number of new or expanded footnotes and updated Suggestions for Further Reading.]]> 156 Plato 0872206335 Karl 5 4.17 -385 Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo
author: Plato
name: Karl
average rating: 4.17
book published: -385
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]]> The Concept of the Political 279245 144 Carl Schmitt 0226738868 Karl 5 3.93 1927 The Concept of the Political
author: Carl Schmitt
name: Karl
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1927
rating: 5
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]]> The Splendor of the Church 638234 I. The Church as Mystery
II. The Dimensions of the Mystery
III. The Two Aspects of the Church
IV. The Heart of the Church
V. The Church in the World
VI. The Sacrament of Christ
VII. Ecclesia Mater
VIII. Our Temptations concerning the Church
IX. The Church and Our Lady]]> 384 Henri de Lubac 0898707420 Karl 5 4.31 1953 The Splendor of the Church
author: Henri de Lubac
name: Karl
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1953
rating: 5
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]]> The Meaning of Tradition 1073493 Some Christians claim to reject Tradition in preference to a supposedly "Bible only" Christianity. Catholics, on the other hand, venerate Tradition, yet often without adequately understanding it. In this masterful book, the great theologian Yves Congar explains why Tradition is an inescapable aspect of a fully biblical Christian faith. He explores the various forms of Tradition and discusses the relationship between Scripture and Tradition, as well as the role of the Magisterium of the Church. The Meaning of Tradition clears up misconceptions held by many Evangelical Christians and even some Catholics on this important subject. Congar's study of Tradition greatly contributed to the teaching of Vatican II and to a deeper appreciation of the Church Fathers.

]]> 175 Yves Congar 158617021X Karl 5 4.29 1963 The Meaning of Tradition
author: Yves Congar
name: Karl
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1963
rating: 5
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]]> Beowulf 18480324 Beowulf by the author of The Mere Wife.

Nearly twenty years after Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf � and fifty years after the translation that continues to torment high-school students around the world � there is a radical new verse translation of the epic poem by Maria Dahvana Headley, which brings to light elements never before translated into English.

A man seeks to prove himself as a hero. A monster seeks silence in his territory. A warrior seeks to avenge her murdered son. A dragon ends it all. These familiar components of the epic poem are seen with a novelist’s eye toward gender, genre, and history. Beowulf has always been a tale of entitlement and encroachment � of powerful men seeking to become more powerful and one woman seeking justice for her child � but this version brings new context to an old story. While crafting her contemporary adaptation, Headley unearthed significant shifts lost over centuries of translation; her Beowulf is one for the twenty-first century.]]> 121 Unknown Karl 5 3.51 1000 Beowulf
author: Unknown
name: Karl
average rating: 3.51
book published: 1000
rating: 5
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]]> The Fairy Queen 365266 633 Edmund Spenser 0460875728 Karl 3 3.37 1590 The Fairy Queen
author: Edmund Spenser
name: Karl
average rating: 3.37
book published: 1590
rating: 3
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]]> The Canterbury Tales 2696 The procession that crosses Chaucer's pages is as full of life and as richly textured as a medieval tapestry. The Knight, the Miller, the Friar, the Squire, the Prioress, the Wife of Bath, and others who make up the cast of characters -- including Chaucer himself -- are real people, with human emotions and weaknesses. When it is remembered that Chaucer wrote in English at a time when Latin was the standard literary language across western Europe, the magnitude of his achievement is even more remarkable. But Chaucer's genius needs no historical introduction; it bursts forth from every page of The Canterbury Tales.

If we trust the General Prologue, Chaucer intended that each pilgrim should tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two tales on the way back. He never finished his enormous project and even the completed tales were not finally revised. Scholars are uncertain about the order of the tales. As the printing press had yet to be invented when Chaucer wrote his works, The Canterbury Tales has been passed down in several handwritten manuscripts.

]]> 504 Geoffrey Chaucer 0140424385 Karl 4 3.51 1400 The Canterbury Tales
author: Geoffrey Chaucer
name: Karl
average rating: 3.51
book published: 1400
rating: 4
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]]> The Song of Roland 103390 The Song of Roland, written by an unknown poet, tells of Charlemagne’s warrior nephew, Lord of the Breton Marches, who valiantly leads his men into battle against the Saracens, but dies in the massacre, defiant to the end. In majestic verses, the battle becomes a symbolic struggle between Christianity and Islam, while Roland’s last stand is the ultimate expression of honour and feudal values of twelfth-century France.]]> 208 Unknown 0140440755 Karl 4 3.57 1115 The Song of Roland
author: Unknown
name: Karl
average rating: 3.57
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]]> The Great Gatsby 4671 The only edition of the beloved classic that is authorized by Fitzgerald’s family and from his lifelong publisher.

This edition is the enduring original text, updated with the author’s own revisions, a foreword by his granddaughter, and with a new introduction by National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward.

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. First published by Scribner in 1925, this quintessential novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.]]> 180 F. Scott Fitzgerald 0743273567 Karl 3 3.93 1925 The Great Gatsby
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: Karl
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1925
rating: 3
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]]> Frankenstein 18490 This is an alternate cover edition for ISBN 9780141439471

'Now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart ...'

Obsessed with creating life itself, Victor Frankenstein plunders graveyards for the material to fashion a new being, which he shocks into life with electricity. But his botched creature, rejected by Frankenstein and denied human companionship, sets out to destroy his maker and all that he holds dear. Mary Shelley's chilling Gothic tale was conceived when she was only eighteen, living with her lover Percy Shelley near Byron's villa on Lake Geneva. It would become the world's most famous work of horror fiction, and remains a devastating exploration of the limits of human creativity.

Based on the third edition of 1831, this volume contains all the revisions Mary Shelley made to her story, as well as her 1831 introduction and Percy Bysshe Shelley's preface to the first edition. This revised edition includes as appendices a select collation of the texts of 1818 and 1831 together with 'A Fragment' by Lord Byron and Dr John Polidori's 'The Vampyre: A Tale'.]]> 288 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Karl 4 3.77 1818 Frankenstein
author: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
name: Karl
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1818
rating: 4
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]]> Hamlet 1420 289 William Shakespeare 0521618746 Karl 5 4.02 1601 Hamlet
author: William Shakespeare
name: Karl
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1601
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]]> Crime and Punishment 7144 671 Fyodor Dostoevsky Karl 5 4.26 1866 Crime and Punishment
author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
name: Karl
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1866
rating: 5
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]]> The Iliad 1371
Combining the skills of a poet and scholar, Robert Fagles, winner of the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation and a 1996 Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, brings the energy of contemporary language to this enduring heroic epic. He maintains the drive and metric music of Homer’s poetry, and evokes the impact and nuance of the Iliad’s mesmerizing repeated phrases in what Peter Levi calls “an astonishing performance.”]]> 614 Homer 0140275363 Karl 4 3.88 -800 The Iliad
author: Homer
name: Karl
average rating: 3.88
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]]> A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1622 298 William Shakespeare 0743477545 Karl 3 3.95 1595 A Midsummer Night’s Dream
author: William Shakespeare
name: Karl
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1595
rating: 3
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]]> Romeo and Juliet 18135 Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare creates a violent world, in which two young people fall in love. It is not simply that their families disapprove; the Montagues and the Capulets are engaged in a blood feud.

In this death-filled setting, the movement from love at first sight to the lovers� final union in death seems almost inevitable. And yet, this play set in an extraordinary world has become the quintessential story of young love. In part because of its exquisite language, it is easy to respond as if it were about all young lovers.]]> 281 William Shakespeare 0743477111 Karl 2 3.74 1597 Romeo and Juliet
author: William Shakespeare
name: Karl
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1597
rating: 2
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]]> The Tempest 12985
Each edition includes:
� Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play

� Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play

� Scene-by-scene plot summaries

� A key to famous lines and phrases

� An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language

� An essay by an outstanding scholar providing a modern perspective on the play

� Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books]]> 218 William Shakespeare Karl 3 3.79 1611 The Tempest
author: William Shakespeare
name: Karl
average rating: 3.79
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]]> Mrs. Dalloway 14942 194 Virginia Woolf 0151009988 Karl 2 3.80 1925 Mrs. Dalloway
author: Virginia Woolf
name: Karl
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1925
rating: 2
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]]> <![CDATA[Twentieth-Century Catholic Theologians]]> 794693 244 Fergus Kerr 1405120835 Karl 5 4.13 2006 Twentieth-Century Catholic Theologians
author: Fergus Kerr
name: Karl
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2006
rating: 5
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]]> The Life of Moses 102122 224 Gregory of Nyssa 0809121123 Karl 5 4.30 390 The Life of Moses
author: Gregory of Nyssa
name: Karl
average rating: 4.30
book published: 390
rating: 5
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]]> The Symposium 81779
In the course of a lively drinking party, a group of Athenian intellectuals exchange views on eros, or desire. From their conversation emerges a series of subtle reflections on gender roles, sex in society and the sublimation of basic human instincts. The discussion culminates in a radical challenge to conventional views by Plato's mentor, Socrates, who advocates transcendence through spiritual love. The Symposium is a deft interweaving of different viewpoints and ideas about the nature of love--as a response to beauty, a cosmic force, a motive for social action and as a means of ethical education.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.]]> 90 Plato 0140449272 Karl 5 4.11 -380 The Symposium
author: Plato
name: Karl
average rating: 4.11
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]]> Crito 780072 200 Plato 1853994693 Karl 5 3.94 -385 Crito
author: Plato
name: Karl
average rating: 3.94
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]]> Theaetetus 340960
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.]]> 264 Plato 0140444505 Karl 5 4.15 -369 Theaetetus
author: Plato
name: Karl
average rating: 4.15
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]]> Parmenides 381185
Focus Philosophical Library translations are close to and are non-interpretative of the original text, with the notes and a glossary intending to provide the reader with some sense of the terms and the concepts as they were understood by Plato’s immediate audience.]]> 96 Plato 094105196X Karl 5 4.04 -340 Parmenides
author: Plato
name: Karl
average rating: 4.04
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]]> Othello 12996 319 William Shakespeare Karl 4 3.89 1603 Othello
author: William Shakespeare
name: Karl
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1603
rating: 4
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]]> Much Ado About Nothing 12957 Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare includes two quite different stories of romantic love. Hero and Claudio fall in love almost at first sight, but an outsider, Don John, strikes out at their happiness. Beatrice and Benedick are kept apart by pride and mutual antagonism until others decide to play Cupid.]]> 249 William Shakespeare Karl 4 4.06 1598 Much Ado About Nothing
author: William Shakespeare
name: Karl
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1598
rating: 4
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]]> Twelfth Night 1625 Twelfth Night plays with love and power. The Countess Olivia, a woman with her own household, attracts Duke (or Count) Orsino. Two other would-be suitors are her pretentious steward, Malvolio, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek.

Onto this scene arrive the twins Viola and Sebastian; caught in a shipwreck, each thinks the other has drowned. Viola disguises herself as a male page and enters Orsino’s service. Orsino sends her as his envoy to Olivia—only to have Olivia fall in love with the messenger. The play complicates, then wonderfully untangles, these relationships.]]> 272 William Shakespeare 0743482778 Karl 4 3.97 1602 Twelfth Night
author: William Shakespeare
name: Karl
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1602
rating: 4
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]]> Richard III 42058 Richard III with a new, modern-spelling text, collated and edited from all existing printings; it uses the First Quarto, the text closest to the play as it would have been staged. It includes passages from Sir Thomas More's 'History of Richard III'; on-page commentary and notes explain meaning, staging, allusions, and much else; and a detailed introduction that considers composition, sources, performances, and changing critical attitudes to the play. This edition also comes illustrated with production photographs and related art, a full index to the introduction and commentary, and has a durable sewn binding for lasting use.]]> 419 William Shakespeare 0192839934 Karl 5 3.90 1593 Richard III
author: William Shakespeare
name: Karl
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1593
rating: 5
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]]> Titus Andronicus 72978 Titus Andronicus is one of Shakespeare's earliest and bloodiest tragedies and was hugely successful in his lifetime. Subsequent generations have struggled with its bold confrontation of violence but in the 20th and 21st centuries the play has chimed with audiences again, perhaps because of its simultaneously shocking and playful approach to violent revenge and bodily mutilation. Jonathan Bate's original Arden edition was first published in 1995 and has had a significant influence on how the play has been performed and studied in the past 20 years. This revised edition includes a new 10,000 word introductory essay in which Bate reassess his views on the play's co-authorship with George Peele in the light of contemporary textual scholarship and updates his lively account of the play's performance history, on the international stage and screen. With detailed on-page commentary notes this will continue to be the edition of choice for students, scholars and theatre-makers.]]> 269 William Shakespeare 0671722921 Karl 3 3.67 1594 Titus Andronicus
author: William Shakespeare
name: Karl
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1594
rating: 3
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]]> All's Well That Ends Well 104790 282 William Shakespeare 0743484975 Karl 3 3.62 1604 All's Well That Ends Well
author: William Shakespeare
name: Karl
average rating: 3.62
book published: 1604
rating: 3
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]]> Measure for Measure 91571 Measure for Measure is among the most passionately discussed of Shakespeare’s plays. In it, a duke temporarily removes himself from governing his city-state, deputizing a member of his administration, Angelo, to enforce the laws more rigorously. Angelo chooses as his first victim Claudio, condemning him to death because he impregnated Juliet before their marriage.

Claudio’s sister Isabella, who is entering a convent, pleads for her brother’s life. Angelo attempts to extort sex from her, but Isabella preserves her chastity. The duke, in disguise, eavesdrops as she tells her brother about Angelo’s behavior, then offers to ally himself with her against Angelo.]]> 278 William Shakespeare 0743484908 Karl 3 3.66 1604 Measure for Measure
author: William Shakespeare
name: Karl
average rating: 3.66
book published: 1604
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[On the Divine Images: 3 Apologies Against Those Who Attack the Divine Images (English and Ancient Greek Edition)]]> 1296785
On the Divine Images is part of the POPULAR PATRISTIC SERIES.]]> 106 John of Damascus 0913836621 Karl 5 4.41 1980 On the Divine Images: 3 Apologies Against Those Who Attack the Divine Images (English and Ancient Greek Edition)
author: John of Damascus
name: Karl
average rating: 4.41
book published: 1980
rating: 5
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]]> On the Holy Spirit 242676 118 Basil the Great 0913836745 Karl 5 4.34 375 On the Holy Spirit
author: Basil the Great
name: Karl
average rating: 4.34
book published: 375
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[On Marriage and Family Life (Popular Patristics) (English and Ancient Greek Edition)]]> 677427 110 John Chrysostom 0913836869 Karl 5 4.46 1986 On Marriage and Family Life (Popular Patristics) (English and Ancient Greek Edition)
author: John Chrysostom
name: Karl
average rating: 4.46
book published: 1986
rating: 5
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]]> The Apology 1345497 Tertullian 1419152440 Karl 5 3.83 197 The Apology
author: Tertullian
name: Karl
average rating: 3.83
book published: 197
rating: 5
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]]> Guide to Thomas Aquinas 25716 192 Josef Pieper 0898703190 Karl 5 4.21 1958 Guide to Thomas Aquinas
author: Josef Pieper
name: Karl
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1958
rating: 5
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]]> Identity and Difference 314929 Identity and Difference consists of English translations and the original German versions of two little-known lectures given in 1957 by Martin Heidegger, "The Principle of Identity" and "The Onto-theo-logical Constitution of Metaphysics." Both lectures discuss the difficult problem of the nature of identity in the history of metaphysics. A helpful introduction and a list of references are also provided by the translator, Joan Stambaugh.

]]> 150 Martin Heidegger 0226323781 Karl 5 4.05 1960 Identity and Difference
author: Martin Heidegger
name: Karl
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1960
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy]]> 1124081 500 Étienne Gilson 0268017409 Karl 5 4.28 1932 The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy
author: Étienne Gilson
name: Karl
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1932
rating: 5
read at: 2014/04/06
date added: 2014/11/30
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]]> The Wellspring of Worship 669698 262 Jean Corbon 1586170228 Karl 0 currently-reading 4.45 1988 The Wellspring of Worship
author: Jean Corbon
name: Karl
average rating: 4.45
book published: 1988
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/09/24
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]]> The Magic Mountain 88077
The Magic Mountain is a monumental work of erudition and irony, sexual tension and intellectual ferment, a book that pulses with life in the midst of death.]]> 706 Thomas Mann Karl 0 currently-reading 4.12 1924 The Magic Mountain
author: Thomas Mann
name: Karl
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1924
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/05/29
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]]> The Phenomenon of Man 232567
The Phenomenon of Man, the first of his writings to appear in America, Pierre Teilhard's most important book and contains the quintessence of his thought. When published in France it was the best-selling nonfiction book of the year.]]> 320 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 006090495X Karl 0 currently-reading 4.05 1955 The Phenomenon of Man
author: Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
name: Karl
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1955
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Christians in China: A.D. 600 to 2000]]> 2210284 605 Father Jean Charbonnier 0898709164 Karl 0 currently-reading 4.62 1992 Christians in China: A.D. 600 to 2000
author: Father Jean Charbonnier
name: Karl
average rating: 4.62
book published: 1992
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/05/10
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]]> <![CDATA[Insight, Volume 3 (Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan)]]> 810205 Insight is Bernard Lonergan's masterwork. It aim is nothing less than insight into insight itself, a comprehensive view of knowledge and understanding, and to state what one needs to understand and how one proceeds to understand it.

In Lonergan's own words: 'Thoroughly understand what it is to understand, and not only will you understand the broad lines of all there is to be understood but also you will possess a fixed base, and invariant pattern, opening upon all further developments of understanding.'

The editors of the Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan have established the definitive text for Insight after examining all the variant forms in Lonergan's manuscripts and papers. The volume includes introductory material and annotation to enable the reader to appreciate more fully this challenging work.]]> 810 Bernard J.F. Lonergan 0802034551 Karl 0 currently-reading 4.48 1957 Insight, Volume 3 (Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan)
author: Bernard J.F. Lonergan
name: Karl
average rating: 4.48
book published: 1957
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/02/22
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]]> <![CDATA[The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare]]> 184419
As Jonathan Lethem remarks in his Introduction, The real characters are the ideas. Chesterton's nutty agenda is really quite simple: to expose moral relativism and parlor nihilism for the devils he believes them to be. This wouldn't be interesting at all, though, if he didn't also show such passion for giving the devil his due. He animates the forces of chaos and anarchy with every ounce of imaginative verve and rhetorical force in his body.]]> 182 G.K. Chesterton 0375757910 Karl 0 3.85 1908 The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare
author: G.K. Chesterton
name: Karl
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1908
rating: 0
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]]> The Drama of Atheist Humanism 637654 539 Henri de Lubac 089870443X Karl 0 currently-reading 4.31 The Drama of Atheist Humanism
author: Henri de Lubac
name: Karl
average rating: 4.31
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rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Magisterium: Teacher and Guardian of the Faith]]> 2709906 219 Avery Dulles 1932589384 Karl 0 currently-reading 4.23 2007 Magisterium: Teacher and Guardian of the Faith
author: Avery Dulles
name: Karl
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies]]> 863971
Hart outlines how Christianity transformed the ancient world in ways we may have forgotten: bringing liberation from fatalism, conferring great dignity on human beings, subverting the cruelest aspects of pagan society, and elevating charity above all virtues. He then argues that what we term the “Age of Reason� was in fact the beginning of the eclipse of reason’s authority as a cultural value. Hart closes the book in the present, delineating the ominous consequences of the decline of Christendom in a culture that is built upon its moral and spiritual values.]]> 253 David Bentley Hart 0300111908 Karl 0 currently-reading 4.15 2009 Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies
author: David Bentley Hart
name: Karl
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Beauty of the Infinite: The Aesthetics of Christian Truth]]> 826245
The book begins by tracing the shifting use and nature of metaphysics in the thought of Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Lyotard, Derrida, Deleuze, Nancy, Levinas, and others. Hart pays special attention to Nietzsche's famous narrative of the "will to power" -- a narrative largely adopted by the world today -- and he offers an engaging revision (though not rejection) of the genealogy of nihilism, thereby highlighting the significant "interruption" that Christian thought introduced into the history of metaphysics.

This discussion sets the stage for a retrieval of the classic Christian account of beauty and sublimity, and of the relation of both to the question of being. Written in the form of a dogmatica minora, this main section of the book offers a pointed reading of the Christian story in four moments, or Trinity, creation, salvation, and eschaton. Through a combination of narrative and argument throughout, Hart ends up demonstrating the power of Christian metaphysics not only to withstand the critiques of modern and postmodern thought but also to move well beyond them.

Strikingly original and deeply rewarding, The Beauty of the Infinite is both a constructively critical account of the history of metaphysics and a compelling contribution to it.]]> 448 David Bentley Hart 080282921X Karl 0 currently-reading 4.43 2003 The Beauty of the Infinite: The Aesthetics of Christian Truth
author: David Bentley Hart
name: Karl
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2003
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Jesus and the Victory of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God, #2)]]> 248621 741 N.T. Wright 0800626826 Karl 0 currently-reading 4.43 1992 Jesus and the Victory of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God, #2)
author: N.T. Wright
name: Karl
average rating: 4.43
book published: 1992
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/01/15
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The New Testament and the People of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God, #1)]]> 410758
Provides a historical, theological and literary study of first-century Judaism and Christianity, offering a preliminary discussion of the meaning of the word ‘god� within those cultures.]]> 535 N.T. Wright 0800626818 Karl 0 currently-reading 4.39 1991 The New Testament and the People of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God, #1)
author: N.T. Wright
name: Karl
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1991
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/01/15
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Simply Christian 69094 256 N.T. Wright 0060507152 Karl 0 to-read 4.03 2006 Simply Christian
author: N.T. Wright
name: Karl
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/01/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church]]> 2319645 332 N.T. Wright 0061551821 Karl 0 to-read 4.30 2007 Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church
author: N.T. Wright
name: Karl
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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]]> Is There a God? 270657 back their theories to the moment of the Big Bang; the discovery of DNA reveals the key to life; the theory of evolution explains the development of life--and with each new discovery or development, it seems that we are closer to a complete understanding of how things are. For many people, this
gives strength to the belief that God is not needed to explain the universe; that religious belief is not based on reason; and that the existence of God is, intellectually, a lost cause.
Richard Swinburne, one of the most distinguished philosophers of religion today, argues that on the contrary, science provides good grounds for belief in God. Why is there a universe at all ? Why is there any life on Earth? How is it that discoverable scientific laws operate in the universe?
Swinburne uses these methods of scientific reasoning to argue that the best answers to these questions are given by the existence of God. The picture of the universe that science gives us is completed by God. Powerful, modern, and accessible, Is There a God? is must reading for anyone interested in
an intelligent and approachable defence of the existence of God.]]> 160 Richard Swinburne 0198235453 Karl 0 to-read 3.26 1996 Is There a God?
author: Richard Swinburne
name: Karl
average rating: 3.26
book published: 1996
rating: 0
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]]> The Existence of God 270658 384 Richard Swinburne 0199271682 Karl 0 to-read 3.92 1979 The Existence of God
author: Richard Swinburne
name: Karl
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1979
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Coherence of Theism (Clarendon Library of Logic and Philosophy)]]> 644666 the words by which they are expressed are being used in stretched or analogical senses, this is in fact the way in which theologians have usually claimed they are being used. This revised edition includes various minor corrections and clarifications.]]> 324 Richard Swinburne 0198240708 Karl 0 to-read 3.96 1977 The Coherence of Theism (Clarendon Library of Logic and Philosophy)
author: Richard Swinburne
name: Karl
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1977
rating: 0
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]]> Of Love and Other Demons 23876
Unsettling and indelible, Of Love and Other Demons is an evocative, majestic tale of the most universal experiences known to woman and man.]]> 160 Gabriel García Márquez 0517405091 Karl 0 to-read 4.01 1994 Of Love and Other Demons
author: Gabriel García Márquez
name: Karl
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1994
rating: 0
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]]> Arius: Heresy and Tradition 217281
Arianism has been called the "archetypal Christian heresy" because it denies the divinity of Christ. In his masterly examination of Arianism, Rowan Williams argues that Arius himself was actually a dedicated theological conservative whose concern was to defend the free and personal character of the Christian God. His "heresy" grew out of an attempt to unite traditional biblical language with radical philosophical ideas and techniques and was, from the start, involved with issues of authority in the church. Thus, the crisis of the early fourth century was not only about the doctrine of God but also about the relations between emperors, bishops, and "charismatic" teachers in the church's decision-making. In the course of his discussion, Williams raises the vital wider questions of how heresy is defined and how certain kinds of traditionalism transform themselves into heresy.

Augmented with a new appendix in which Williams interacts with significant scholarship since 1987, this book provides fascinating reading for anyone interested in church history and the development of Christian doctrine.]]> 392 Rowan Williams 0802849695 Karl 0 to-read 4.15 2001 Arius: Heresy and Tradition
author: Rowan Williams
name: Karl
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2001
rating: 0
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]]> Every Man Dies Alone 3344411 543 Hans Fallada 1933633638 Karl 0 to-read 4.22 1947 Every Man Dies Alone
author: Hans Fallada
name: Karl
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1947
rating: 0
read at:
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shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Sound and the Fury 10975 366 William Faulkner Karl 0 currently-reading 3.86 1929 The Sound and the Fury
author: William Faulkner
name: Karl
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1929
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/01/14
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review:

]]> Moby-Dick or, The Whale 153747 "It is the horrible texture of a fabric that should be woven of ships' cables and hawsers. A Polar wind blows through it, and birds of prey hover over it."

So Melville wrote of his masterpiece, one of the greatest works of imagination in literary history. In part, Moby-Dick is the story of an eerily compelling madman pursuing an unholy war against a creature as vast and dangerous and unknowable as the sea itself. But more than just a novel of adventure, more than an encyclopaedia of whaling lore and legend, the book can be seen as part of its author's lifelong meditation on America. Written with wonderfully redemptive humour, Moby-Dick is also a profound inquiry into character, faith, and the nature of perception.

This edition of Moby-Dick, which reproduces the definitive text of the novel, includes invaluable explanatory notes, along with maps, illustrations, and a glossary of nautical terms.]]> 720 Herman Melville 0142437247 Karl 0 currently-reading 3.53 1851 Moby-Dick or, The Whale
author: Herman Melville
name: Karl
average rating: 3.53
book published: 1851
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Spirit of Catholicism (Milestones in Catholic Theology)]]> 1283884 260 Karl Adam 0824517180 Karl 0 to-read 4.22 1924 The Spirit of Catholicism (Milestones in Catholic Theology)
author: Karl Adam
name: Karl
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1924
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/01/10
shelves: to-read
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]]> Apologia Pro Vita Sua 6574646 384 John Henry Newman 0395051096 Karl 0 currently-reading 4.00 1864 Apologia Pro Vita Sua
author: John Henry Newman
name: Karl
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1864
rating: 0
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[Foundations of Christian Faith: An Introduction to the Idea of Christianity]]> 131768 488 Karl Rahner 0824505239 Karl 0 currently-reading 4.14 1976 Foundations of Christian Faith: An Introduction to the Idea of Christianity
author: Karl Rahner
name: Karl
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1976
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Catholic Controversy: A Defense of the Faith (Library of St. Francis de Sales, #3)]]> 770549
One of the most remarkable and well-documented events in Catholic history began when a young priest, St. Francis de Sales, volunteered to re-evangelize the Calvinists of the Chablais. Finding his preaching forcefully rejected, St. Francis de Sales shrewdly switched tactics and began a written apologetics campaign, posting pamphlets on walls and slipping them beneath doors under the cover of night. His defense of the Faith was so clear and thorough that at the end of four years nearly the entire population of 72,000 had returned to the Catholic Faith! These powerful little tracts are as relevant today as they were in the late 1500s. St. Francis de Sales draws support from Scripture, the Fathers and Doctors of the Church to address questions still frequently posed by modern Protestants. Revered as some of the most cogent arguments against Protestantism ever penned; they present a defense of the Catholic Faith that has never been equaled. Now with beautiful new cover, easier to read size, updated typesetting, and the original content. 320 pps PB St. Francis de Sales was one of the most effective Catholic apologists and evangelists of the past five centuries. Undoubtedly, he is the most effective apologist to Protestant Calvinists who has ever lived.
Steve Wood (Family Life Center International)]]> 376 Francis de Sales 0895553872 Karl 0 currently-reading 4.49 1598 The Catholic Controversy: A Defense of the Faith (Library of St. Francis de Sales, #3)
author: Francis de Sales
name: Karl
average rating: 4.49
book published: 1598
rating: 0
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]]> Encounters With Silence 83009 96 Karl Rahner 1890318221 Karl 0 to-read 4.29 1960 Encounters With Silence
author: Karl Rahner
name: Karl
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1960
rating: 0
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[I Believe in the Holy Spirit: The Complete Three Volume Work in One Volume (Milestones in Catholic Theology)]]> 827935 728 Yves Congar 0824516966 Karl 0 to-read 4.28 I Believe in the Holy Spirit: The Complete Three Volume Work in One Volume (Milestones in Catholic Theology)
author: Yves Congar
name: Karl
average rating: 4.28
book published:
rating: 0
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[Jesus Christ: Fundamentals of Christology]]> 1063017 230 Roch A. Kereszty 081890917X Karl 0 currently-reading 4.27 1991 Jesus Christ: Fundamentals of Christology
author: Roch A. Kereszty
name: Karl
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1991
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/01/08
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]]> <![CDATA[Principles of Catholic Theology: Building Stones for a Fundamental Theology]]> 638194 398 Pope Benedict XVI Karl 0 currently-reading 4.37 1987 Principles of Catholic Theology: Building Stones for a Fundamental Theology
author: Pope Benedict XVI
name: Karl
average rating: 4.37
book published: 1987
rating: 0
read at: 2014/01/08
date added: 2014/01/08
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[Transformation in Christ: On the Christian Attitude]]> 1932981 ùPublishers Weekly "A major contribution to the only important the transformation of our soul in Christ."
ùArchbishop Fulton Sheen "A masterpiece of modern eminently practical and highly recommended."
ùFr. John Hardon, S.J. "A solid and penetrating analysis of the Christian virtues, and their application in the struggle toward Christian perfection."
ùLibrary Journal]]> 538 Dietrich von Hildebrand 0898708699 Karl 0 currently-reading 4.65 1940 Transformation in Christ: On the Christian Attitude
author: Dietrich von Hildebrand
name: Karl
average rating: 4.65
book published: 1940
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/01/07
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Soul Mountain 45961 Soul Mountain.

Bold, lyrical, and prodigious, Soul Mountain probes the human soul with an uncommon directness and candor and delights in the freedom of the imagination to expand the notion of the individual self.]]> 510 Gao Xingjian 0060936231 Karl 4
2. Hence, it would be difficult to appreciate the book without acknowledging the author's attempt to reconstruct the notion of transcendence in his spiritual journey. Notice the transcendence in the book is unlike the platonic or medieval nonphysical realm as a Western would have understood; neither is a purely fictional and magical thing that has no basis in human existence. As a Chinese myself, if I understand Gao correctly, the notion of the transcendence is much like this a mixture of Taoism and Buddhism with the primitive experiences of the local people in relation to the world, the supernatural phenomena and legends in particular, a mixture that has not been largely emasculated and contaminated by the ugliness, monotony, and boredom of a naturalistic mentality, which according to the character himself, is utter unlivable and destructive to human spirit.

3. Then, what is exactly the definition of this mixed notion of transcendence or "soul mountain" he searches for? Even throughout the book, there is no explicit answer given because there is none. Any effort or attempt to access or describe "the mystery of being" is determined to fail, since transcendence, by essence, is uncontrollable and ineffable. Furthermore, it is precisely because human beings are intrinsically oriented toward such mystery, we are forever under the unquenchable longing for being in unity with it, we are forever on the journey of climbing the mountain that may redeem the soul.

5. In other words, the main character of the story does not know what is exactly he is seeking but he knows he is seeking something that goes beyond him simultaneously and irrepressibly resides within his most inner being. It is precisely because the things he is seeking are beyond him, his seeking becomes both possible and meaningful. In other words, if they are to be found like whatever can be identified, manufactured, and manipulated, as what materialism and political power of the Communist government have done with the nation, then he would not have begun his seeking for meaning in the first place. As it has been said, this does not mean he is seeking something that does not exist. In fact, the things he seeks exist precisely in the process of seeking and cannot be captivated and hence ceased in the process. Consequently, seeking can go on and perpetually strikes and surprise him and us.

4. This is why in his attempts to restore the notion of transcendence in the novel, he spends huge portions to rediscover the lost and oblivious legends and mysteries of the native cultures in the southeast of China after the Cultural Revolution, and these stories and fables (some of them are fascinating and some of them are dreadful), kept in the memories of old generations, open up a world that is ultimately immune to any cognitive and sentimental categories that are meant to eradicate mysteries and wonders of the world....

5. For Gao, at least from my reading of the novel, history is not objective knowledge based on evidence and documents, but it is a collective living memory of a group of people. In a sense, this collecting living memory is much real and richer than than the former because people often tend remember things much intriguing and enchanting, alluring their imagination, and inspiring the will for adventure.....we are not beings live on material necessities, we are dreamers, thinkers, and hopers.......the world is not composed of matter, but orchestrated by mysteries and for mysteries.....]]> 3.60 1990 Soul Mountain
author: Gao Xingjian
name: Karl
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1990
rating: 4
read at: 2013/01/01
date added: 2014/01/07
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1. I read it in Chinese and sort of understand where is Gao coming from. After had suffered personally the catastrophes of ten years Cultural Revolution and witnessed the destruction of traditional values, especially the metaphysical dimension of the Chinese culture under the Communist Regime, Gao wishes to paint again or recapture the original beauty of the tradition, which is inseparable from the mystical and even whimsical layers of the reality perceived by the local people who possess rather a less sophisticated mindset and sentiment before the intrusion of the ideological materialism of the government.

2. Hence, it would be difficult to appreciate the book without acknowledging the author's attempt to reconstruct the notion of transcendence in his spiritual journey. Notice the transcendence in the book is unlike the platonic or medieval nonphysical realm as a Western would have understood; neither is a purely fictional and magical thing that has no basis in human existence. As a Chinese myself, if I understand Gao correctly, the notion of the transcendence is much like this a mixture of Taoism and Buddhism with the primitive experiences of the local people in relation to the world, the supernatural phenomena and legends in particular, a mixture that has not been largely emasculated and contaminated by the ugliness, monotony, and boredom of a naturalistic mentality, which according to the character himself, is utter unlivable and destructive to human spirit.

3. Then, what is exactly the definition of this mixed notion of transcendence or "soul mountain" he searches for? Even throughout the book, there is no explicit answer given because there is none. Any effort or attempt to access or describe "the mystery of being" is determined to fail, since transcendence, by essence, is uncontrollable and ineffable. Furthermore, it is precisely because human beings are intrinsically oriented toward such mystery, we are forever under the unquenchable longing for being in unity with it, we are forever on the journey of climbing the mountain that may redeem the soul.

5. In other words, the main character of the story does not know what is exactly he is seeking but he knows he is seeking something that goes beyond him simultaneously and irrepressibly resides within his most inner being. It is precisely because the things he is seeking are beyond him, his seeking becomes both possible and meaningful. In other words, if they are to be found like whatever can be identified, manufactured, and manipulated, as what materialism and political power of the Communist government have done with the nation, then he would not have begun his seeking for meaning in the first place. As it has been said, this does not mean he is seeking something that does not exist. In fact, the things he seeks exist precisely in the process of seeking and cannot be captivated and hence ceased in the process. Consequently, seeking can go on and perpetually strikes and surprise him and us.

4. This is why in his attempts to restore the notion of transcendence in the novel, he spends huge portions to rediscover the lost and oblivious legends and mysteries of the native cultures in the southeast of China after the Cultural Revolution, and these stories and fables (some of them are fascinating and some of them are dreadful), kept in the memories of old generations, open up a world that is ultimately immune to any cognitive and sentimental categories that are meant to eradicate mysteries and wonders of the world....

5. For Gao, at least from my reading of the novel, history is not objective knowledge based on evidence and documents, but it is a collective living memory of a group of people. In a sense, this collecting living memory is much real and richer than than the former because people often tend remember things much intriguing and enchanting, alluring their imagination, and inspiring the will for adventure.....we are not beings live on material necessities, we are dreamers, thinkers, and hopers.......the world is not composed of matter, but orchestrated by mysteries and for mysteries.....
]]> The Republic 30289 416 Plato 0140449140 Karl 4 3.97 -400 The Republic
author: Plato
name: Karl
average rating: 3.97
book published: -400
rating: 4
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]]> The Odyssey 1381 Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns
driven time and again off course, once he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy.

So begins Robert Fagles' magnificent translation of the Odyssey.

If the Iliad is the world's greatest war epic, then the Odyssey is literature's grandest evocation of everyman's journey though life. Odysseus' reliance on his wit and wiliness for survival in his encounters with divine and natural forces, during his ten-year voyage home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, is at once a timeless human story and an individual test of moral endurance.

In the myths and legends that are retold here, Fagles has captured the energy and poetry of Homer's original in a bold, contemporary idiom, and given us an Odyssey to read aloud, to savor, and to treasure for its sheer lyrical mastery.

Renowned classicist Bernard Knox's superb Introduction and textual commentary provide new insights and background information for the general reader and scholar alike, intensifying the strength of Fagles' translation.

This is an Odyssey to delight both the classicist and the public at large, and to captivate a new generation of Homer's students.

--

Robert Fagles, winner of the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation and a 1996 Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, presents us with Homer's best-loved and most accessible poem in a stunning new modern-verse translation.]]> 541 Homer 0143039954 Karl 4 3.79 -700 The Odyssey
author: Homer
name: Karl
average rating: 3.79
book published: -700
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1)]]> 100915
Lucy is the first to find the secret of the wardrobe in the professor's mysterious old house. At first her brothers and sister don't believe her when she tells of her visit to the land of Narnia. But soon Edmund, then Peter and Susan step through the wardrobe themselves. In Narnia they find a country buried under the evil enchantment of the White Witch. When they meet the Lion Aslan, they realize they've been called to a great adventure and bravely join the battle to free Narnia from the Witch's sinister spell.]]> 206 C.S. Lewis Karl 4 4.24 1950 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1)
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Karl
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1950
rating: 4
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]]> The Seven Storey Mountain 175078
The Seven Storey Mountain tells of the growing restlessness of a brilliant and passionate young man, who at the age of twenty-six, takes vows in one of the most demanding Catholic orders—the Trappist monks. At the Abbey of Gethsemani, "the four walls of my new freedom," Thomas Merton struggles to withdraw from the world, but only after he has fully immersed himself in it. At the abbey, he wrote this extraordinary testament, a unique spiritual autobiography that has been recognized as one of the most influential religious works of our time. Translated into more than twenty languages, it has touched millions of lives.
ձ> 467 Thomas Merton 0156010860 Karl 4 4.05 1948 The Seven Storey Mountain
author: Thomas Merton
name: Karl
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1948
rating: 4
read at:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Trinity (Milestones in Catholic Theology)]]> 762915 144 Karl Rahner 0824516273 Karl 4 3.91 1997 The Trinity (Milestones in Catholic Theology)
author: Karl Rahner
name: Karl
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1997
rating: 4
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]]> The Everlasting Man 112760 As always with Chesterton, there is in this analysis something (as he said of Blake) "very plain and emphatic." He sees in Christianity a rare blending of philosophy and mythology, or reason and story, which satisfies both the mind and the heart. On both levels it rings true. As he puts it, "in answer to the historical query of why it was accepted, and is accepted, I answer for millions of others in my reply; because it fits the lock; because it is like life." Here, as so often in Chesterton, we sense a lived, awakened faith. All that he writes derives from a keen intellect guided by the heart's own knowledge.

]]> 260 G.K. Chesterton 1573832979 Karl 4 4.15 1925 The Everlasting Man
author: G.K. Chesterton
name: Karl
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1925
rating: 4
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]]> Don Quixote 3836
With its experimental form and literary playfulness, Don Quixote has been generally recognized as the first modern novel. The book has been enormously influential on a host of writers, from Fielding and Sterne to Flaubert, Dickens, Melville, and Faulkner, who reread it once a year, "just as some people read the Bible."]]> 1023 Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Karl 4 3.86 1615 Don Quixote
author: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
name: Karl
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1615
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[On Being and Essence (Mediaeval Sources in Translation)]]> 1814978

Since we ought to acquire knowledge of simple things from composite ones and come to know the prior from the posterior, in instructing beginners we should begin with what is easier, and so we shall begin with the signification of being and proceed from there to the signification of essence.]]> 79 Thomas Aquinas 0888442505 Karl 4 3.99 1256 On Being and Essence (Mediaeval Sources in Translation)
author: Thomas Aquinas
name: Karl
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1256
rating: 4
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]]> Night 1617 Night is the terrifying record of Elie Wiesel's memories of the death of his family, the death of his own innocence, and his despair as a deeply observant Jew confronting the absolute evil of man. This new translation by his wife and most frequent translator, Marion Wiesel, corrects important details and presents the most accurate rendering in English of Elie Wiesel's testimony to what happened in the camps and of his unforgettable message that this horror must simply never be allowed to happen again.]]> 120 Elie Wiesel 0374500010 Karl 4 4.38 1956 Night
author: Elie Wiesel
name: Karl
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1956
rating: 4
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]]> Animal Farm 7613
The book tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy. Ultimately, however, the rebellion is betrayed, and the farm ends up in a state as bad as it was before, under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon.

One night, all the animals at Mr. Jones' Manor Farm assemble in a barn to hear old Major, a pig, describe a dream he had about a world where all animals live free from the tyranny of their human masters. Old Major dies soon after the meeting, but the animals � inspired by his philosophy of Animalism � plot a rebellion against Jones.

Two pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, prove themselves important figures and planners of this dangerous enterprise. When Jones forgets to feed the animals, the revolution occurs, and Jones and his men are chased off the farm. Manor Farm is renamed Animal Farm, and the Seven Commandments of Animalism are painted on the barn wall...]]> 129 George Orwell Karl 4 3.90 1945 Animal Farm
author: George Orwell
name: Karl
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1945
rating: 4
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]]> Utopia 18414 Utopia, Thomas More imagines a perfect island nation where thousands live in peace and harmony, men and women are both educated, and all property is communal. Through dialogue and correspondence between the protagonist Raphael Hythloday and his friends and contemporaries, More explores the theories behind war, political disagreements, social quarrels, and wealth distribution and imagines the day-to-day lives of those citizens enjoying freedom from fear, oppression, violence, and suffering. Originally written in Latin, this vision of an ideal world is also a scathing satire of Europe in the sixteenth century and has been hugely influential since publication, shaping utopian fiction even today.]]> 113 Thomas More 0140449108 Karl 3 3.53 1516 Utopia
author: Thomas More
name: Karl
average rating: 3.53
book published: 1516
rating: 3
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]]> Macbeth 8852
This shocking tragedy - a violent caution to those seeking power for its own sake - is, to this day, one of Shakespeare’s most popular and influential masterpieces.]]> 249 William Shakespeare 0743477103 Karl 3 3.90 1623 Macbeth
author: William Shakespeare
name: Karl
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1623
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity?]]> 405339 192 N.T. Wright 0802844456 Karl 5 3.91 1997 What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity?
author: N.T. Wright
name: Karl
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1997
rating: 5
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]]> Paul: In Fresh Perspective 148779 195 N.T. Wright 0800637666 Karl 5 4.07 2005 Paul: In Fresh Perspective
author: N.T. Wright
name: Karl
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2005
rating: 5
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]]> The Abolition of Man 79428 The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis, the most important Christian writer of the 20th century, sets out to persuade his audience of the importance and relevance of universal values such as courage and honor in contemporary society. Both astonishing and prophetic, The Abolition of Man is one of the most debated of Lewis’s extraordinary works. National Review chose it as number seven on their "100 Best Nonfiction Books of the Twentieth Century."]]> 113 C.S. Lewis 0060652942 Karl 5 4.07 1943 The Abolition of Man
author: C.S. Lewis
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]]> <![CDATA[The Practice of the Presence of God]]> 498641 Alternative cover edition of ISBN 0883681056 can be found here

Brother Lawrence was a man of humble beginnings who discovered the greatest secret of living in the kingdom of God here on earth. It is the art of “practicing the presence of God in one single act that does not end.� He often stated that it is God who paints Himself in the depths of our souls. We must merely open our hearts to receive Him and His loving presence.
As a humble cook, Brother Lawrence learned an important lesson through each daily chore: The time he spent in communion with the Lord should be the same, whether he was bustling around in the kitchen—with several people asking questions at the same time—or on his knees in prayer. He learned to cultivate the deep presence of God so thoroughly in his own heart that he was able to joyfully exclaim, “I am doing now what I will do for all eternity. I am blessing God, praising Him, adoring Him, and loving Him with all my heart.�
This unparalleled classic has given both blessing and instruction to those who can be content with nothing less than knowing God in all His majesty and feeling His loving presence throughout each simple day.]]> 95 Brother Lawrence Karl 3 4.31 1692 The Practice of the Presence of God
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]]> <![CDATA[Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life]]> 121732 Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life is a partial autobiography describing Lewis' conversion to Christianity. The book overall contains less detail concerning specific events than typical autobiographies. This is because his purpose in writing wasn't primarily historical. His aim was to identify & describe the events surrounding his accidental discovery of & consequent search for the phenomenon he labelled "Joy". This word was the best translation he could make of the German idea of Sehnsucht, longing. That isn't to say the book is devoid of information about his life. He recounts his early years with a measure of amusement sometimes mixed with pain.

However, while he does describe his life, the principal theme of the book is Joy as he defined it. This Joy was a longing so intense for something so good & so high up it couldn't be explained with words. He's struck with "stabs of joy" throughout life. He finally finds what it's for at the end. He writes about his experiences at Malvern College in 1913, aged 15. Though he described the school as "a very furnace of impure loves" he defended the practice as being "the only chink left thru which something spontaneous & uncalculating could creep in." The book's last two chapters cover the end of his search as he moves from atheism to theism & then from theism to Christianity. He ultimately discovers the true nature & purpose of Joy & its place in his own life.

The book isn't connected with his unexpected marriage in later life to Joy Gresham. The marriage occurred long after the period described, though not long after the book was published. His friends were quick to notice the coincidence, remarking he'd really been "Surprised by Joy". "Surprised by Joy" is also an allusion to Wordsworth's poem, "Surprised by Joy-Impatient As The Wind", relating an incident when Wordsworth forgot the death of his beloved daughter.]]> 185 C.S. Lewis 0006280838 Karl 3 4.07 1955 Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life
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]]> The Four Loves 30633 The Four Loves summarizes four kinds of human love--affection, friendship, erotic love, and the love of God. Masterful without being magisterial, this book's wise, gentle, candid reflections on the virtues and dangers of love draw on sources from Jane Austen to St. Augustine. The chapter on charity (love of God) may be the best thing Lewis ever wrote about Christianity. Consider his reflection on Augustine's teaching that one must love only God, because only God is eternal, and all earthly love will someday pass away:
Who could conceivably begin to love God on such a prudential ground--because the security (so to speak) is better? Who could even include it among the grounds for loving? Would you choose a wife or a Friend--if it comes to that, would you choose a dog--in this spirit? One must be outside the world of love, of all loves, before one thus calculates.
His description of Christianity here is no less forceful and opinionated than in Mere Christianity or The Problem of Pain, but it is far less anxious about its reader's response--and therefore more persuasive than any of his apologetics. When he begins to describe the nature of faith, Lewis writes: "Take it as one man's reverie, almost one man's myth. If anything in it is useful to you, use it; if anything is not, never give it a second thought." --Michael Joseph Gross]]> 170 C.S. Lewis 0006280897 Karl 4 4.13 1960 The Four Loves
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]]> Till We Have Faces 17343
Set against the backdrop of Glome, a barbaric, pre-Christian world, the struggles between sacred and profane love are illuminated as Orual learns that we cannot understand the intent of the gods "till we have faces" and sincerity in our souls and selves.]]> 313 C.S. Lewis Karl 3 4.19 1956 Till We Have Faces
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]]> The Great Divorce 17267 160 C.S. Lewis 0006280560 Karl 5 4.27 1946 The Great Divorce
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]]> The Screwtape Letters 17383917 The Screwtape Letters is the most engaging and humorous account of temptation—and triumph over it—ever written.

Now, for the first time, The Screwtape Letters is presented with its full text alongside helpful annotations provided by Lewis enthusiast and dramatist Paul McCusker. The notes include literary, theological, and biographical information to enhance Lewis's core themes and demystify complex ideas. McCusker also guides readers to concepts and references from the beloved author's other treasured volumes to deepen and enrich this timeless classic. The annotated edition is the ultimate guide for understanding the heavenly truths buried in these epistles from below.]]> 223 C.S. Lewis 0062023179 Karl 5 4.25 1942 The Screwtape Letters
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]]> Metaphysics 208036 365 Aristotle 1888009039 Karl 4 4.08 -330 Metaphysics
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]]> Poetics 13270 'What is poetry, how many kinds of it are there, and what are their specific effects?'

Aristotle's Poetics is the most influential book on poetry ever written. A founding text of European aesthetics and literary criticism, from it stems much of our modern understanding of the creation and impact of imaginative writing, including poetry, drama, and fiction. For Aristotle, the art of representation conveys universal truths which we can appreciate more easily than the lessons of history or philosophy. In his short treatise Aristotle discusses the origins of poetry and its early development, the nature of tragedy and plot, and offers practical advice to playwrights.]]> 144 Aristotle 0140446362 Karl 4 3.84 -335 Poetics
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]]> The Nicomachean Ethics 19068 ‘One swallow does not make a summer; neither does one day. Similarly neither can one day, or a brief space of time, make a man blessed and happy�

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle sets out to examine the nature of happiness. He argues that happiness consists in ‘activity of the soul in accordance with virtue�, for example with moral virtues, such as courage, generosity and justice, and intellectual virtues, such as knowledge, wisdom and insight. The Ethics also discusses the nature of practical reasoning, the value and the objects of pleasure, the different forms of friendship, and the relationship between individual virtue, society and the State. Aristotle’s work has had a profound and lasting influence on all subsequent Western thought about ethical matters.

J. A. K. Thomson’s translation has been revised by Hugh Tredennick, and is accompanied by a new introduction by Jonathan Barnes. This edition also includes an updated list for further reading and a new chronology of Aristotle’s life and works.

Previously published as Ethics]]> 329 Aristotle 0140449493 Karl 4 4.00 -350 The Nicomachean Ethics
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]]> Timaeus and Critias 159788 Vintage paperback 167 Plato 0140442618 Karl 4 3.86 -360 Timaeus and Critias
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]]> Meno 846122 Meno (/ˈmiːnoʊ/; Greek: Μένων, Menōn) is a Socratic dialogue by Plato. In it, Socrates tries to determine the definition of virtue, or rather arete, meaning virtue in general, rather than particular virtues, such as justice or temperance. The first part of the work is written in the Socratic dialectical style, and depicts Meno as being reduced to confusion or aporia. In response to Meno's paradox (or the learner's paradox), however, Socrates introduces positive ideas: the immortality of the soul, the theory of knowledge as a recollection (anamnesis), which Socrates demonstrates by posing a mathematical puzzle to one of Meno's slaves, the method of hypothesis, and, in the final lines, the distinction between knowledge and true belief.]]> 33 Plato 0915144247 Karl 4 3.94 -386 Meno
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]]> <![CDATA[The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2)]]> 15241
Frodo and his Companions of the Ring have been beset by danger during their quest to prevent the Ruling Ring from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord by destroying it in the Cracks of Doom. They have lost the wizard, Gandalf, in a battle in the Mines of Moria. And Boromir, seduced by the power of the Ring, tried to seize it by force. While Frodo and Sam made their escape, the rest of the company was attacked by Orcs.

Now they continue the journey alone down the great River Anduin -- alone, that is, save for the mysterious creeping figure that follows wherever they go.]]> 322 J.R.R. Tolkien 0618346260 Karl 4 4.45 1954 The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2)
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]]> <![CDATA[The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)]]> 34
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkeness bind them

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, The Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell into the hands of Bilbo Baggins, as told in The Hobbit.

In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.
--back cover]]> 398 J.R.R. Tolkien 0618346252 Karl 4 4.36 1954 The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)
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]]> <![CDATA[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]]> 3049 144 Unknown 0451528182 Karl 4 3.71 1375 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
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]]>