Apparently 1518 was the last time there was an epidemic like this, but it had happened a number of other times in the Middle Ages. What this book does...moreApparently 1518 was the last time there was an epidemic like this, but it had happened a number of other times in the Middle Ages. What this book does is go through the social background in order to give an explanation for them, and most especially for this (worst) dancing plague in Strasbourg. Basically, it's all caught up with extreme poverty due to several years' failed crops, corruption in the clergy (excessive wealth, sexual shenanigans) which caused the populace to be sure that the clergy could not intervene with God on their behalf, and superstition. The mixed messages about dancing fed the psychological dissonance of the time, and thus extreme stress and trauma manifested in this "choreomania" (dancing plague).
I was intrigued by the mention of a dancing epidemic in 1237 (in Erfurt) when '100 or more children are supposed to have danced and hopped out of the town's gates. ... The children were later found by their distraught and bemused parents; by then some of them were already dead and others were afflicted with tremors and fatigue for the rest of their lives. (p.8)'
This is a very readable book - the author is a historian who writes so that the layperson can read and enjoy the subject.(less)
This is an extraordinary book. Simon Wiesenthal is the “Nazi hunter” who spent his life since the war (WWII) identifying Nazi war criminals in order f...moreThis is an extraordinary book. Simon Wiesenthal is the “Nazi hunter” who spent his life since the war (WWII) identifying Nazi war criminals in order for them to be brought to trial. For this work he has been honoured by the governments of Italy, the Netherlands, Israel, and the United States. He was born in 1908 in Buczaz, a city in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and he studied in Prague and Lvov. He had just begun work in an architectural office in Lvov (Poland) when the Germans invaded. From 1941 to 1945 he was imprisoned in several ghettos and concentration camps, including Buchenwald and Mauthausen.
The Sunflower isn’t about the Holocaust per se, but begins with an essay by Wiesenthal in which he recounts his almost surreal experience of being taken to the bedside of a dying SS officer, who insisted on telling his story of confession. Wiesenthal tells the Nazi’s biographical account, from his childhood through joining the Hitler Youth, the SS, and the detailing of the atrocity he committed shortly before being fatally wounded by an exploding shell, and he intersperses it with parts of his own story – the frequently lethal prejudice of the Poles at the Polytechnic Institute in Lvov; the persecution of the Jews forced to live in the Ghetto and the rounding up of the “useless” children; the evil of the concentration camps.
This encounter stayed with Wiesenthal, and in 1969 he wrote the story and asked leading intellectuals to respond, or, more specifically, to consider what they would have done in his place. For he had walked away in silence when the dying man had asked for his forgiveness. “Yet ought I to have forgiven him?” he asks. He concludes his essay with these words:
Was my silence at the bedside of the dying Nazi right or wrong? This is a profound moral question that challenges the conscience of the reader of this episode, just as much as it once challenged my heart and my mind. There are those who can appreciate my dilemma, and so endorse my attitude, and there are others who will be ready to condemn me for refusing to ease the last moment of a repentant murderer.
The crux of the matter is, of course, the question of forgiveness. Forgetting is something that time alone takes care of, but forgiveness is an act of volition, and only the sufferer is qualified to make the decision.
You, who have just read this sad and tragic episode in my life, can mentally change places with me and ask yourself the crucial question, “What would I have done?”
The following 170 pages are responses from 46 ‘distinguished men and women’. The range of responses covers the full continuum from “I hope I would forgive"(Hesburgh) to a very blunt “It always seemed to me inhuman and a travesty of justice if the executioner asked the victim to forgive. …the easy forgiving of such crimes perpetuates the very evil it wants to alleviate." (Marcuse) They are all written with respect and seem to have had much thought put into the crafting as well as the issues themselves.
These are some passages that have particularly struck me:
According to Jewish tradition, even God Himself can only forgive sins committed against Himself, not against man. (Heschel) Well, I believe that God is as much under the authority of justice as are humans created in the image of God, but God as the Life in All Things is surely “personally” involved in everything.
To be forgiven is a miracle. It comes from God, and it comes when God chooses to grant it, not when we order it up. That is why, in the Amidah, a Jew prays three times a day for the miracle of God’s forgiveness. To say that God forgives is not a statement about God, about God’s emotional state. God’s forgiveness is something that happens inside us, not inside God, freeing us from the shame of the past so that we can be different people, choosing and acting differently in the future. (Kushner) This differs from the previous quote, as it says that God can forgive. Perhaps the rationale is that all sins committed against humans are actually sins against God. I’d say that anyway, in fact I say that all sins are sins against God because they offend the goodness that God created.
Forgiving is not something we do for another person … Forgiving happens inside us. It represents a letting go of the sense of grievance, and perhaps most importantly a letting go of the role of victim. … “.. I refuse to give you the power to define me as a victim.” (Kushner) I like this. It has strength.
… God says: “Now Adam is like one of us, knowing the difference between right and wrong.” The simple explanation that after humans have sinned they become Godlike seems puzzling. In the Mishnah Torah Maimonides reads the verse differently. … “Now Adam is unique. From within himself, he knows the difference between right and wrong.” The human species is unique in the world, in that humans use their own intelligence and reason to distinguish good and evil. (Lipstadt) The writer goes on to speak about forgiveness, but this little piece delights me. I’ve always maintained that the Fall was intended – this Maimonides might have some more to say to me as well. I must do some research.
The SS man had a Catholic education. As a boy he was a “server in the church.” Should not a Christian education make it impossible for a child to grow up to be an SS man? Should not a sentence like “The SS man had a Catholic education” be so thoroughly a contradiction of its own terms that the words come out jabberwocky? The words do not come out jabberwocky: the SS man did have a Christian education. Does the habit, inculcated in infancy, of worshipping a Master – a Master depicted in human form yet seen to be omnipotent – make it easy to accept a Fuhrer? (Ozick) Wow! Who is this writer?! I MUST read some more of her work.
The public form of forgiveness is reconciliation. … Reconciliation entails several stages: repentance, contrition, acceptance of responsibility, healing, and finally reunion. (Pawlikowski) Some of the other writers have said that forgiveness is impossible without the sinner’s proof of remorse and repentance.
Confession and remorse alone are not enough to warrant forgiveness. (Rubenstein)
I think I may be coming to some sort of conclusion about forgiveness: Being forgiven doesn’t mean there will be no punishment. The story of the Crucifixion shows that there is nothing that is ultimately unforgivable, and the power of the message is in knowing that. Faith is understanding that sins are forgiven. If the sinner doesn’t work towards reconciliation, then forgiveness is on hold. “By their fruits ye shall know them (Matthew 7:16)” – the repentant sinner’s actions make the repentance and desire to pay restitution clear. Forgiveness is the means by which the victim lets go, and is an act for the victim. Forgiveness is received by the sinner in the process of reconciliation, which is an act by the sinner. Restorative justice is a necessity for there ever to be hope of true reconciliation and true forgiveness. (less)
I've been reading this over the last couple of months - a page or two or ten each night. It's based on fact, though one can't tell precisely where fac...moreI've been reading this over the last couple of months - a page or two or ten each night. It's based on fact, though one can't tell precisely where facts are deviated from, but who cares?! I love the humour of it - a mixture of clever and "low" and it has amused me greatly. (less)
I had a holiday on Norfolk Island in December 2004 and purchased this little book then. However, it has sat on my WaitShelf until now, when I needed a...moreI had a holiday on Norfolk Island in December 2004 and purchased this little book then. However, it has sat on my WaitShelf until now, when I needed a very small something to read while lying in bed feeling miserable with a nasty cold. It was very interesting to read, especially having studied something of the lives of missionaries to New Zealand in the same time period. These people had the same basic worldview, but what a different lifestyle. Things aren't any different now, are they?!
As an addendum to other items about Norfolk Island, I would thoroughly recommend this little book.(less)
I can't write anything about this book. It is truly horrible - that is, the subject matter is truly horrible. The book itself is so well written that...moreI can't write anything about this book. It is truly horrible - that is, the subject matter is truly horrible. The book itself is so well written that the horror is manageable in a compelling way.
There are some excellent reviews already written.(less)
I would like to finish this book because it is very interesting, but it's not compelling enough for me to keep reading at the moment. Too many books,...moreI would like to finish this book because it is very interesting, but it's not compelling enough for me to keep reading at the moment. Too many books, not enough time. And I'd rather read something that draws me right into it (yeah, escapism, I know) at the moment. Too much thinking required for my study to want to think with leisure reading.
Having said that, I would like to return to this book in the future, so I'll note that I'm up to Chpater VIII (page 85 in this version).(less)
This wasn't quite how I'd hoped it would be, though it wasn't actually more than it promised. My error in hoping for more. Nevertheless, Jack Dunn's D...moreThis wasn't quite how I'd hoped it would be, though it wasn't actually more than it promised. My error in hoping for more. Nevertheless, Jack Dunn's Diary entries of his time in training in Egypt and then at Gallipoli are interesting. So me of White's paintings are very good, and would have been great to see in full size; and some of his poetry is good. But a different layout, and some sort of integration, would have made this much more pleasurable.(less)
On picking this book off the shelf I thought it would be really interesting and probably rather beautiful. Sadly, it disappointed. I think they tried...moreOn picking this book off the shelf I thought it would be really interesting and probably rather beautiful. Sadly, it disappointed. I think they tried to make it a beautiful coffee-table book with interesting text, but it didn't quite work.
If they'd made it a readable size, with one illustration perpage pictures, then it would've been a good read. But it's much too large to read comfortably, and the pictures are too many on each page. I guess the thinking was about putting in as many illustrations as possible within financial constraints, but visually it doesn't work.
So I ended up neither enjoying the illustrations much, nor reading any of the text. What a shame.(less)
Somebody recommended this for Reading Seals, so I diligently gave it a go. But it was hard work reading this. There were some rather fascinating parts...moreSomebody recommended this for Reading Seals, so I diligently gave it a go. But it was hard work reading this. There were some rather fascinating parts, but such an awful lot of detail. In the end I didn't quite finish it. I'm just not a history book reader.(less)
I think part of the blame needs to be laid on the e-version that I read, because the layout is really bad, but I pretty much knew anyway that I wouldn...moreI think part of the blame needs to be laid on the e-version that I read, because the layout is really bad, but I pretty much knew anyway that I wouldn't 'enjoy' this book. But I do have to state my major disappointment in the presentation. Thumbs down to the publisher.(less)
I read this today in the train on the way to my lecture. I was possibly the only person in the class (of some dozen present today) to have read it cov...moreI read this today in the train on the way to my lecture. I was possibly the only person in the class (of some dozen present today) to have read it cover to cover - if anybody else had they were one of the shy people who never speak. Our lecturer (for the paper Christianity in the South Pacific which I'm really enjoying now that it's got to investigating people within the broader context (rather than just the broad context and some this-happened and that-happened) and we get to write essays on interesting things) had specifically asked us all to read this little book because he'd be discussing it with us tonight. AND, it's one of only two choices for doing a 1500-word Document Study on.
This little book was originally written in 1871, and it appears to have been written into English by a missionary who had many discussions with Bulu in which Bulu told his life-story (or the pertinent parts thereof). In the edition I have at hand, the name of the translator isn't mentioned, nor is the editor given anything more than 3 initials. However, a little detective work by lecturer and a classmate have furnished full information, which I will add to the book details once I've finished this review.
When Bulu went to Fiji from Tonga, it was a land with extraordinarily savage customs, and he and his compatriots were frequently in deadly danger. By all accounts, Bulu was a devout and perhaps saintly Christian. He was diplomatic, and a pacifist (as all Christians should be if they were honestly to be followers of Christ!).
We discussed in class how much we thought this is a reliable historical document. I lean to the view that some parts of it may be exaggerated, or rather - "seen through a Gospel-tinted lens". The precedent for this is, of course, in the Bible itself. This book is clearly modelled on the Gospels - there is a Calming of the Storm; there is a Bulu Telling Off the Impetuous Offsiders - and the portrait of Bulu, though not going so far as to have him Walking on Water, has him very close with a hint that he might have just come from that direction.
Notwithstanding, I found this book excellent to read. I have no doubt that much of the content is accurate, and I'm going to very much enjoy doing this assignment.(less)
This is terrible. Beowulf is the most famous epic poem ever. I remember learning about it when I was at school, and thinking how I'd like to read it o...moreThis is terrible. Beowulf is the most famous epic poem ever. I remember learning about it when I was at school, and thinking how I'd like to read it one day. I never have (too many books, too little time), and I still say (despite listing this on here as "Read") I haven't. BECAUSE, like The Art of War, this is impossible to read on an e-reader.
So, to be honest to the experience, I have to give this one star only. This feels like a betrayal. In fact, it feels so bad that I am, at this very minute, logging into my local library to see if they've got a decent copy to read properly. . . . . Several copies, not all currently available (it's good to see that others are reading this great classic). I shall visit the library tomorrow.(less)
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