Epiphany Books

I enjoyed praying and reflecting with this book. For a shorter version that is classroom/youth friendly, I recommend Stations of the Nativity from Kelley and Boadt.

Three kings Day is the story of Melinda and her excitment for the upcoming holiday. The book explains the preparation for the holiday and the excitment of the children as they prepare their boxes for the camels in hopes for a gift.

The illustrations in this book are good, the illustrator also includes some photographs which help the reader get a true look into the culture. I wish there were more photographs throughout the book.

There is a glossary in the back of the book, defining spanish words used throughout the text; this is very helpful. I wish that in addition to the glossary the author would have included a brief history of Three Kings Day.

Overall, this book would be a good supplement to a study of Three Kings Day. It has a good stroy line and will keep the attention of children, while teaching them about another culture.

Fr. Thomas Hopko is the dean & a professor at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, which is under the OCA or Orthodox Church of America. He has written several books, some which are famous in Orthodox circles, specially "All the Fulness of God: Essays on Orthodoxy". He has also written a book for the Pascha season (Lent to Easter) "The Lenten Spring" which I try to read during each Great Lent.

Now that Advent is here, it's time to stop listening to music & read a good book of Theology to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Unlike "The Lenten Spring" which starts at the 40 day Great Fast & ends at the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, "The Winter Pascha" is suppose to start at Christmas & ends 40 days later on January 2 with the feast of the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple, when the baby Jesus was lifted up by St. Symeon; at least this is what the 1st chapter states. Being a member of the Antiochian Orthodox I know a little about my fellow Orthodox Christians in the OCA & that in California they follow the New Georgian calendar, while those in Alaska follow the Old Julian calendar. Does that mean the book should be started on December 25 with the New Georgian calendar & January 7 with the Old Julian calendar? Does 40 days later in the old Julian calendar also end with the feast of the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple? Especially when Great Lent comes early ever so often? When I look at the Lent/Pascha dates, the Old Julian calendar makes it in by a few days. Somehow the book is unclear when to start because in the back cover it states: "Thus Father Thomas Hopko begins the first of forty meditations for the season of Advent, Christmas & Epiphany, ending with the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple on the fortieth day after Christ's birth." 40 meditations at one meditation a day is 40 days. Advent itself is 40 days before Christmas; therefore the beginning of Advent to the Meeting of the Lord in the temple is 80 days away with Christmas in the middle. Then in the 2nd chapter Fr. Thomas Hopko explains about the Advent season with the "Fast of Philip". The conclusion seems to be that there is no basic starting day for this book, but it's a good book to read some mediations during the Christmas season, no matter when you start. Some of the mediations are: St. Andrew, St. Nicholas, St. Herman, the conception of Mary, the genealogy of Jesus, Christ restoring the Image, The two comings of Christ, God is with us, the circumcision of the Lord, the Lord's Epiphany in the Jordan, the manifestation of the Trinity, the meeting of the Lord in the temple, as well as many others which Fr. Thomas Hopko intermixes many scripture passages with liturgical readings with his fine poetic writing.

This year I started the book around Thanksgiving, but ended up matching the days of December with the chapter numbers. On the New Georgian calendar December 25 I reach the 25 chapter of the book which was titled "God with Us". Therefore following the New Georgian dates do match the book chapters. Chapter 29 is about "The Blood of the Martyrs" which starts the day after to the 3rd day after Christmas with the death of St. Stephen & ends the death of the innocent children slain by King Herod. Therefore some chapters can take several days of mediation.

I wish there was an introduction to clarify when the book should be read to match the days of the church readings as did his other book "The Lenten Spring". A rating of "5" for writing style, but a rating of "3" for the lack of clarity balances out to a "4" for a good buy to mediate about the Christmas season.

Have yourself a Winter Pascha.

and you will be disappointed. A civil war begins, main hero steps up as leader of rebellion, a third side appears in civil war, and lot of stuff gets complicated and little solved, and mood is not even close to adventurous/mystery mood of book one.

I couldn't say that this series, 'Long Sun' really ends here, it seems that Short Sun is sequel, but I didn't read it yet.

When Wolfe has idea and inspiration, he is best. When not, he is worst.

Gene Wolfe takes patience. His writing and by extension his stories, are subtle things, rarely spelling out what the reader needs to know but dancing around it instead, sketching the outlines of what he's trying to reveal and leaving it to the reader to fill in the blanks. A lot of writers do this and then have the characters explain it all at the right moments, so that the reader can feel accomplished by having put together the scenario before they were "supposed" to. Wolfe hardly does this, revelations come in asides and as seen from a distance. Often the characters don't understand what is being revealed and it's only because we have a different perspective that we don't even know what's going on. But we're not in the story.

SF has had a long history of being far more literary than most non-genre or even genre fans realize (it's had a willingness to experiment with form and subject matter to a sometimes fearless degree) and of those Wolfe is one of the few who can go toe to toe with the so-called literary heavyweights of the day. This omnibus here collects the second half of the Long Sun series and continues the story begun in the first half. Patera Silk has been appointed calde apparently by popular demand, armies are in the city, and matters are barely tottering on the edge of chaos. While Wolfe doesn't do anything vastly different here, the SF elements are scaled back for a more meditative sequence of events . . . having already sketched out the contours of this world, now he's giving everyone a chance to play in the boundaries of it.

Readers looking for big climaxes or stirring bombastic speeches are probably going to be disappointed, the story is pulled along in strings of tiny revelation and it's more the accumulation of events that gives the overall tale its weight. Wolfe never wastes anything, every seemingly random story some character tells, every tossed off detail, it all fits in somewhere and lends weight to the greater narrative. Constantly shifting location and yet maintaining and even, unhurried pace, he manages to capture the scope of great things happening and people trying to keep the world and the people they care about safe.

Silk remains of his best characters, an unmoving and sometimes unwilling pillar in the center of the action, calm and worried, decisive and gambling, he's all too human and the story wouldn't have half the emotional heft it does without him. This story, more than any other, is the sum of its parts, none of the pieces stand out but all of it interlocks to form the story itself, arcing and grand, wistful and epic. It won't dazzle unless you're paying attention but if you are, it becomes worth the effort.

And in the end it isn't about the mysteries of the Whorl, those become almost incidental to the tale itself, but the people who live in it and what they have to do to survive. Even if survival means stepping out entirely.

I loved the Book of the New Sun, and some of Wolfe's other works, so I tucked into this huge opus with glee. Over 1200 pages later and how do I feel - pretty darn irritated and quite keen to reclaim the many hours of my life that I seem to have wasted reading it. What is it all about - I don't know. Does anyone know? Not judging by the other reviews here. Wolfe has a skillful way of sucking you in with the promise of great revelations in the end - but in this series of books there are no revelations, no explanations. The main characters end up leaving the ship (The Whorl) - wow didn't see that coming, did you? Only 700-800 pages ago. No doubt erudite devotees of the author will come up with some profound deeper meaning locked away within it's pages - but what about the reader who wants to actually enjoy what he reads and feel rewarded at the end? I like the review lower down on this page by the guy who has read the entire series 6 times already - but still hasn't quite worked out how to describe what it's about. Says it all really.

I don't have enough superlatives in my vocabulary to praise this work. Once again, our irritating narrator is given to leaving out the important stuff and assuming you know what is obvious to him; much of these books tell bits and pieces of a story while huge, catastrophic events take place just out of view- sort of like real-life. I found that sometimes the parts that seemed very meaningful on the first read turn out to be just the 'bits', and the parts that seem most obnoxiously tedious are the most 'important' later. Pieces come together from previous books, and the settings' larger context seems to peek out of the fog on occasion; the end (as usual) leaves you hanging somewhere you don't really understand.

After a first reading, I need some time to forget some of the major plot elements so that I can re-read this story later. It is quite fascinating, especially so if you view the society as an anthropologist would.

A lot of the confusion from this book stems from the fact that not one word written in it is trustworthy and it should be read with much more scrutiny then I put into it. As we cannot trust the writers of the biblical gospels to be impartial, we certainly cannot trust a young man with a revisionist take on history and a bad case of idolizing a man at the center of a cult of personality. The joy of reading Gene Wolfe comes from scratching hints, shades of meaning and the truth of events from a storyteller who does not want you to know the whole truth, and is probably outright lying (New Sun) or has absolutely no connection to reality (The Wizard)/is incapable of discerning truth from idealization and revision (New Sun, The Knight)/reality from fantasy (There are Doors)/objectivity from subjectivity (Long Sun) or is incapable of having factual knowledge whatsoever (Latro).

I'm really expecting this book to wow me the second time through, especially after analyzing Knight/Wizard and The Book of the New Sun a couple more times, allowing me to realize that the narrator is your worst enemy in trying to understand and enjoy a Gene Wolfe novel.

I enjoyed all three books of the "Vulcan's Soul" trilogy, although I found the first book a little slow. The last book, "Epiphany," was the best of the three. I highly recommend this collection for anyone who wants to understand how the Romulan branch of the Vulcan evolutionary tree ended up on Romulus.

This book was a great read & finished giving the background to the Vulcan/Romulan split & the Romulus/Regus split plus the explanation of the Watraii origin. I enjoyed it immensely but I love all things Vulcan!

All througout the trilogy the sorry tale of the people who eventually became the Remans and the Watraii was well chronicled. It led me to believe that eventually...there would be great resolution to their plight and sufferrings at the end. Unfortunately, while most of the trilogy and this last book in particular was pretty good...I am really let down by such a weak ending. Unless they are planning more sequels...the ending is really quite weak.

Firstly...we never find out how the Romulans eventually subdued or controlled the mutants on Remus that eventually became the modern-day Remans...intitially it seems they had lots of trouble even finding the hidden lairs of these telepathically advanced mutants.

Secondly...I don't like how Spock portrayed the Watraii and the Romulans as somehow both equally right and equally wrong during his speech to the Federation Council. It sounds too much like a convenient political solution instead of actual recognition of the sorry plight of the Watraii because of the callous betrayal of their fellow exiles from Vulcan.

Thirdly...the last chapter tells us...rather vaguely and with few details...that the Remans revolted and somehow this caused a war between the Federation, the Klingons, and the Romulans...and Remus ending as a Klingon protectorate. What's missing in all this is what of the Watraii? Did they join the war? Aid the Federation in helping the Remans? The Watraii after all have an ancient vow to help free their former fellow slaves on Remus when they were "strong enough". But we are not told what the Watraii did during this Reman Revolt. Nor are we told what the current fate of the Watraii are. All we know is a Vulcan healer was sent to their homeworld...and after that...we don't know what else becomes of them, or their claim to Romulus.

And very confusingly...Charvanek vows to aid Spock in going to Remus and doing what she can to "right" Romulus' ancient wrong (after the Reman Revolt / War is over). But she gives conflicting thoughts on the Watraii. It says she is convinced of the truth of their claims based on the information from the Coronet about Sarissa and the people who left Remus with her. Yet at the very last page, Charvanek thoughts seem to indicate she wanted "more proof" regarding the Watraii's grievances and their claims. And that if she got this so-called proof she will do her best to aid them, as she is going to aid the Remans, including taking the throne of Romulus itself (if she could) as honor would demand.

This is one of the most confusing endings I have ever read. It provides no clear resolution to the plight of the Watraii, the people and decendants of the betrayed family of Vulcan exiles who we got to know so well during this entire trilogy. I hope there will be a sequel that eventually addresses what this book does not.

I have probably read over 100 Star Trek books over the past 15 years. This book is by far the worst one I have ever read. It jumps all over the place randomly, never connecting the 3 stories going on together. I cannot tell you how much I hate this book. DON't DON'T DON'T waste your money on this one. I will never buy another book written by these two authors.

This book is a nice little fantasy about a father of three grown children, who dies in the first chapter and watches them from the spirit world. They come to grips with their lives and expectations, eventually learning that they didn't know Dad like they thought they did.

Publisher's Weekly says, "Filled with thoughtfulness, wry humor and the occasional touch of magic," which is more than I would have said. I like everything I've heard from McCusker. He has written many strong scripts for radio, and he has been awarded for his children's literature. Epiphany is definitely a good little story, but it isn't deep. There isn't a stirring headspace from the characters. Only their words and the perception of Richard Lee, the father/narrator who dies and lives to tell about it. A few times the dead narrator trick is taken too far.

The big revelation which changes two of the character's perspectives on life was not as stunning as it should have been. I would believe that the trouble swelling within the younger son's heart was enough to drive him to his life-changing moment; but the story uses a small fact about the father's life as the catalyst. The son says, "I barely knew who Dad was," all because of this little detail. I'd sooner believe that he forgets that detail in the swirl of his passions.

I knew from page one this tale would have a happy ending, and I wanted that. But I think I would have been more satisfied if one of the characters had continued to be the disillusioned egocentric he was in the beginning. Still, there's a place for novella's like this, I suppose, but I think, for Christmastime, I'd rather reread Tolstoy's "Where Love is God is."

This touching and well written book provides a deep insight into who we are and why we are and our relationship with God.

It combines elements of "It's a Wonerful Life" with the parable of the Prodigal Son.

The story is a parable itself. As it teaches us about our family relationships as well as our eternal ones.

I read this book in one sitting. It is a wonderful story to ponder as we rush through life making assumpitons about others and ourselves. Rather than focus on the disfunctions of families, this books tells the story of the love in this family. Parents do try the best they can and this story does a wonderful job of turning the perspective so that sons and daughters can understand the love of their parents. Also some insight as to just how little children do know about their parents and their history. Great reading, a definite keeper for my home library.

Greg Keeler wants to have his poems mean something; at every turn, he's trying to define the indefinable, which is the job of every poet worth his salt. Unfortunately, too often these poems simply work by the numbers instead of shocking and surprising us with the sense of bewildering discovery that this poem holds the truth. At times, the poems are simply derivative; his poem on "The Guilt Bug" is a spiritual rip-off of Philip Larkin's paean to the inherited complexes one gets from parents, "This Be the Verse." His memo poems are very like the poems William Carlos Williams wrote on his little prescription pads. He works in the confessional mode, but has none of the nuttiness that the confessional mode requires to be truly shocking. Overall, there are moments when I enjoyed his folksy twists away from the poetic, but nothing stuck in my head as truly marvelous.

I first read work by Greg Keeler while reviewing his recent novel, Waltzing With the Captain, about friend and fellow writer, Richard Brautigan. A colleague said, "If you like Keeler's writing, you should read his poetry." I followed through on that advice. Keeler's book of poetry, Epiphany at Goofy's Gas is a gem.

Greg Keeler wears a lot of hats. Musician, lyricist, writer, poet, satirist and educator are among his accomplishments. As poet, his work is never predictable or trite. I laughed out loud at his humorous sleight-of-hand one minute, and found myself blinking back tears the next.

Keeler excels at sly humor. His"Memo to Blue Gnats" is priceless:
We are writing to request
a thorough and precise
accounting for this behavior
since, under standard procedures,
you are supposed to be dead.
Ditto his "Memo to The Hornets":
Those of you who happened
to be away at 10:00 A.M.
will notice that your nest
and your colleagues are missing.

I was still contemplating the memoes while reading his seven part anthem, "The Meat." Believe me, this is social commentary and satire on the highest order. A hint regarding content can be found in the first three lines:
Once more the meat converges on
Atlantic City for the annual selection
of the meatiest of the meat.

But Keeler's work is more than simply caustic satire and sly self-examination. He also provides moments of rare beauty, as found in two lines of a poem about his dying grandmother in "Grandma Wulz":
...there is more grace in this flesh than death
could possibly know....
And the musings of a lonely woman in "The Fisherman's Wife" brought a crush of empathetic understanding:
Don't think of the garden unplanted
or the stars unseen when dawn comes.
I've trailed my footprints
like obsolete currency
down the sand
where you left me so often.

In between the laughter and lumps in the throat, Keeler dangles clear cut visions of joy then snatches them away via contrasting moments of reality. I've heard it said the mark of a good wordsmith is that their words haunt readers long after the book has been read. Greg Keeler's work more than qualifies if Epiphany at Goofy's Gas is an example.

Greg Keeler strikes a balance between what another great Montana poet Richard Hugo referred to as the private poet and the public poet. For the private poet words mean something to the writer that they don't mean to the reader. Regrettably most of the exalted poets of the 20th century were private poets. With the public poet's words, what you see is what you get (i.e., the emotional contents of the words are the same for the writer as for the reader). While Keeler's poems are intensely personal, and seemingly private (e.g., he often using family member's names), the observations, anxieties and the sometimes playful, sometimes sardonic sense of humor all resonate with the reader. Keeler's work is delightfully accessible and masterful (e.g., He makes dying in a La-Z-Boy chair seem as other-worldly and significant as an astronaut being catapulted into outer-space).

This prolific author, head of his own foundation, writes consistently crazy books that lack support. This one is no exception, but it is highly amusing. You will not be convinced of his argument. You will be entertained.

In "The Ancient Egyptian Roots Of Christianity", Gadalla connects certain historical and spiritual aspects of Christianity to their roots in Ancient Egypt including the prominent ancestors (Moses, David, and Solomon) of the historical Jesus, Christian tenants of the early church; the names Christ, Mary, Lazarus, and others; the creation story as set down in the Book of Genesis; and such Christian concepts as Christmas, epiphany, Last Supper; Easter, transfiguration, and more. A welcome and iconoclastic addition to the growing body of alternative archaeology and Egyptology, especially recommended to the attention of students in Egyptology, Christianity, Metaphysics, and Archaeology.[...]

I wonder how many more books she can write about her life, and yet avoid reality

It is a little scary to review a book written by someone of Doris Grumbacher's stature. Saying something about the work of a noted novelist, NPR book reviewer and essayist is a little humbling. It is only because of her honesty in print that I can write this review.

It is interesting that the customer reviews of all her books listed on Amazon.com that two had a rating of five stars and the average was four stars. However, one book received only a star and a half and that was this book. The reason, I think, is that this is an honest writing about a subject very sensitive to most of her readers.

This is a very brave book about religion. You won't find many of these works. The honesty of her writing makes some people very uncomfortable, because they perceive themselves in her writing. What did a distinguished author write that made the reviewers only rate the book at a star and half?

It is in the bibliography that the mystery unfolds. Most of her quoted references relate to western religious writings. It is difficult to walk through the Cathedral or Monastery then walk out the back door and into the world of spirituality. The synonym for mysticism is experiential. The very experience that Doris Grumacher expected for so long after her epiphany at age 27, is experienced by many people in the garden of Nature everyday.

Spirituality is being connected to the universe that you live in. That could mean your relationship, your family, your community, your country, your concept of the universe, your feelings about God and yes, your religion. Religious doctrine is a confining space. Spirituality in its simplest form is liberating and at the same time a new territory for most of us. Many of us seek comfort like Doris Grumbach in the writings of western theology. The fundamental problem is should we pray for epiphany from up there or should we seek the epiphany from where we are. It is difficult to take your religion with you on the journey. However, the end result of your journey will be a spirituality that will increase the sacredness of your religion. Keep an open mind and take the journey. It will enhance your religion. Cross the threshold of expectation and simply enjoy the wonder of the life all around you, for isn't that the epiphany?

Enclosed is a poem I wrote from "In and Out of Time" to be published in early 2001. Hopefully it makes the point of this review.

"Reprieve"

The stars are in my sight. The universe is in my mind.

Through the labyrinth The images do wind.

Release me from the rules Let my mind and spirit fly.

To escape beyond my fate And soar to the edge of why.

I got this book expecting something as good as Nora Gallagher's or Kathleen Norris's work and instead found self-absorbed, immature and disorganized maunderings. The theme of this book is Ms. Grumbach's fifty-year effort to recreate a spiritual experience she once had. She wanders aimlessly and apparently uncomprehendingly through bits and pieces of Western spiritual thinking, mostly complaining about the fact that she's "lost that lovin' feelin'." This seems to me to be on a par with dedicating your life to trying to recapture the feelings you had when you first tasted chocolate. Let go. Move on.

Meanwhile she takes a very defensive and often patronizing attitude toward all the many (and far more mature) spiritual writers who counsel patience and participation in the life of the religious community as doors to a true spiritual experience. She seems to honestly believe that the main point of Christianity is to produce in oneself a feeling of pleasurable religious awe.

If she didn't have a name, I doubt this book would ever have found a publisher.

I have read many books on the topic of Jack The Ripper and this one is, by far, the best. The basic premise is that Jack the Ripper is a team of influential Aristocrats led by a prominent surgeon are committing the murders in Whitechapel. The best part of this book is the evidence that the author has found through her extensive research. She does a great job of proving that Police Officials and Doctors involved in the case lied to cover up for very important persons involved. The greatest discovery can be found in Chapter 10 and you will be astounded at the photographic evidence contained therein. I don't understand what Robert Hinton from the UK is talking about, however, maybe he has not read the same book as I have. Some people can be vindictive when they have not wrote a book. Trust me, you will want to read this book. 5 stars guaranteed!

After reading "Epiphany of the Whitechapel Murders" I was shocked to see that one reviewer had rated it so high. While Jack the Ripper is not my primary area of research, I have read a good amount of historically significant publications regarding the Whitechapel Murders and the Thames Torso Murders. Trenouth's information in this book conflicts with some of the most widely accepted and factual historical findings in the research community. For example, Trenouth claims that there is a Baphomet idol in the 2nd picture of the fifth victim Mary Jane Kelly, however if you look at the picture, you can clearly see what Trenouth is referring to is actually a pile of flesh.

Trenouth claims this book was a result of her own research. I found this quite disturbing as several of Trenouth's passages were direct copy n' pastes from numerous respected authors and researchers on the JtR casebook site. What Trenouth did manage to write was a muddled distortion of imaginary facts that failed produce her promised result. Trenouth's book is very troublesome in that regard. It's scary to see that one can write anything one wants and pass it off as fact. Even more disturbing is that Trenouth proudly touts that she has solved the case, but none of the thoughts presented in this book prove who JtR was. I am not suggesting the plot of Trenouth's book is imaginary, but even the land of make believe has standards.

To be fair, I guess I'm not the target audience for this book. It's really more the result poorly written self-published work of un-organized imaginary thoughts. (The kind of book you might read while wearing a tin foil hat.) But it troubles me that the bulk of the information is wrong, yet touted at stone cold fact. It is definitely a quick read, but that's only if you don't try to re-read the the parts that simply don't add up. I guess it would look good on your shelf, if you know nothing about the Whitechapel Murders. As long as no one else has studied JtR, you could probably convince them that you too, are a self-proclaimed ripper expert who has "solved" the case.

Bottom line, I am kicking myself for having paid "used price" for Trenouth's book. If you can get one for .01 and you interested by the mixed reviews, why not give it a try?...but don't get your hopes up. I personally won't be buying anymore of Trenouth's books.


(((Notice how the positive review below is *NOT* an Amazon "Real Name" user)))

The best thing about this book is that it is hilarious; the worst is that I don't think it was meant to be!

A work of fiction, the author uses a well-tested device of mixing actual events with imaginary ones. Unfortunately whereas masters of this genre such as Bernard Cornwell and George McDonald Fraser manage to use this ploy successfully Ms Trenouth fails miserably.

The paper-thin plot revolves around a mysterious cabal who meet in secret, smoke filled rooms plotting the murder of a prostitute named Mary. The method chosen is to just start killing prostitutes and hope they get lucky! Since records show that the prostitute population of the East End at this time (1888) was about 80,000, you have to admire their determination if not their intelligence!

Characters are just picked up and dumped in front of the readers with no other justification for being there other than they happen to be available. In a vain attempt to inject some interest into this abysmal nonsense, Ms Trenouth enlists the help of the usual suspects. Knights Templar, Freemasons and Devil worshippers are all thrown into the mix, Dan Brown you have a lot to answer for. Even Queen Victoria is given a walk on part which seems to consist solely of muttering `We are not amused' and handing out free pardons to anyone who requires one.

All in all a badly written, poorly presented mishmash of facts (which seem to have been cut and pasted from the internet), and weak and unconvincing invention.

The only possible reason for having this book is if you have a wobbly table that needs propping up!

From what I hear, this book can't be praised. It is as ridiculous to accuse Prince Eddy of the Whitechapel murders as it is to pretend they must have been done by some lone wanderer. It's an ambitious fantasy.

I don't speak for anyone else, but I am heart-weary of being shreiked at until I 'admit Karen Trenouth has solved the case'.

This book was put together far too soon. Okay, she has been sabotaged. That's wrong. But if she'd done a good job, her saboteurs wouldn't have had such a field day.

Sorry Karen.