Brian Howell's novel, like many of his short stories, evokes a strong sense of time and place. His interest in film, the perspective he has gained while living abroad, and his passion for seventeenth-century Dutch art play a role in his creation of a window to the world that one suspects exists just beyond the edge of Vermeer's paintings.

The first section of the novel follows the development of the young artist, who, at times, one fears will not become the master of the works we view from our point in history. The second section, taken from the secret journal of Balthasar de Monconys, tells of the journalist's brief encounter with Vermeer. Monconys' perspective of the real and the painted Delft and its citizens adds motion and intrigue to the characters Vermeer portrays. The final section centers on a copyist's recreation of a Vermeer painting, the imagined reliving of events in his studio, and the personal drama that provides inspiration for the forger.

Each section of the novel can stand, in a manner, on its own, but there is a thread of technique and action that ties the work together and brings Vermeer's world into our own. When one pays a final visit to Vermeer in the reprise, one has a sense of being reconnected to a world that is part of ours but isn't always visible upon first glance.

Certain paintings have the ability to draw one into other worlds and times. Howell's novel effects a similar pull.

Reading Brian Howell's new novel "The Dance of Geometry" took me on a journey in time to 17th century Holland. Through the author's skillful handling of dialogue, description, and explanation of artistic concepts of that period, I experienced the artistic, political, and social thoughts of a fascinating time for art and artists.

Howell integrates the known reality of the period with his imagination, demonstrating his gifts as a storyteller. He combines Vermeer's growth as an artist,his interest in the theories of perspective and space, his personal life, and his fascinating teachers with a plot that is brimming with intrigue and surprising events. A contemporary story about art forgery woven into this tale adds to the colorful mix.

Provocative questions of ethical artistry, the role of the artist, the illusions of the eye, and the power of human connection flow through this book like the clarifying yet remote light of a Vermeer painting.

For those who are unfamiliar with this period in history, there are several pages at the back of the book with explanations of the personalities, artistic terms, and words from Dutch life.

This is a masterful tale that has all the elements of great drama. It is fast paced and thought provoking. The characters are strong and invite our emotions, the plot takes unexpected turns, the setting is exotic, and the story is immersed in fact and fiction wavering between reality and illusion.

Brian Howell has written a 'novel' that is unique on many levels and on most of those levels he is eminently successful. The concept of revealing how an artist of the stature of Vermeer developed his unique method of painting by first (Part 1), letting us hear his child's mind absorb all of the vagaries of light, visual planes, textures, and psychological feeding as young Johannes Vermeer follows his Delft family through the life of the 17th century Dutch atmosphere and training; second,(Part 2) placing us beside an outside observor recording all the intricacies of the adult and successful painter Vermeer became; and third (Part 3), bringing it all round through the tale of a 1980's painter who 'copies' paintings for a living, with all the 20th century information about art history, psychology, and the wacky weird world of business that surrounds art today. If there are stodgy sentence structures and a penchant for the academe in the first part, these are more than compensated as Howell grows into the more readable dialogue of parts two and three.

In the end, we are left with a fundamental explanation of how we, as viewers of art from any era, pass by a great painting, stop a few steps later, then return to truly enter the world the artist has left in front of our eyes and minds. Reading THE DANCE OF GEOMETRY offers insights into the techniques behind fine painting and in doing so Howell has written a 'novel' that is equally valid as a textbook on art appreciation. Well worth your time for either reason, or hopefully for both.

This book has the best recipes for authentic Greek foods. The baklava recipe is excellent. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn the art of Greek cooking!

My mom and I have both used the recipes in this book for many years, and the dishes I have produced always garner many compliments! I made moussaka and dolmades for my Greek employers, which met with high praise. Highly recommend.

As a non Greek married to a Greek, I received this book from my husband in 1971. He marked all the dishes that his mother cooked and I started to try to prepare them. Throughout the years I have used the book as guide and the compliments from my mother in law and Greek friends have been wonderful.I have tried other books however I keep coming back to this one. I have been told that I cook Greek food better than most Greeks. I purchased this book for my daughter and now she has become an excellent cook of Greek foods. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to learn to cook like a real Greek cook.

Probably the most penetratingly satirical look at the nature of systems, how they fail to operate and how "systems people" are still inevitably attracted to them. Any Dilbert fan will love this.

Discovering John Gall's book a view of life. Gall spells out the failings of, largely, cultural assumptions in the realms of education, food production, corporate culture and so on, in ways that are easy to understand despite complexities. Systemantics represents a collection rules and laws that characterize and define systems (from corporations, organizations, religions to families and other social groups), and Gall cites notable examples that have graced the headlines (from the mid-80s, in my edition). With humor and wit, Gall outlines potential and obvious pitfalls. Despite its age, this book is even more relevant today since much of what Gall elucidates is even more rampant than ever. Fans of Daniel Quinn (author of Ishmael, The Story of B, etc.) may find this appropriate to augment their interests.

I read the previous reviews -- the most of them came from people with engineering bend. But this book is not only for engineers, it is for everyone - managers, politicians, lawyers, programmers, urban planners -- you name it. As the matter of fact, you will never read a newspaper the same way after being familiarized with Dr. Gall's book. The Diberterque environment of your office will not feel like something extraordinary after you realize that there are natural reasons why it has become Dilbertesque.

This is a very good book for those interested in Beowulf. In fact, it's as close to my idea of an "ideal" version that I can find.

There are several different sections in this book, besides the text of the poem itself. There are technicial discussions on the poetry itself, and a guide to pronounciation. At the rear of the book are discussions of the historical context of the poem, both internal to the poem and external in the world. A lengthy commentary of the poem follows, then a bibliography, and finally a line-by-line glossary of some of the major sections of the poem.

The part that caught my eye was the "dual langauge" edition. The main text consists of the Anglo-Saxon version on the left-handed pages, and a modern English translation on the right-handed pages. The author states that alliteration in the translation was not a concern, and sometimes the translation does not follow the original word-for-word. Within each numbered five-line block, the translation does follow the original, so it's not too hard to follow both the original and the translation.

As a final comment, Caedmon Audio produces an audio edition read by Bessinger, and I find this is to be an excellent compliment to the book.

Useful for learning Old English. Get a copy of Beowulf read in Anglo-Saxon on CD in order to help you speak Anglo-Saxon. It is lovely, but hard to speak. This is a good book to learn to write Asatru rituals, but to speak to the living Gods in their own tongue you'll need recorded readings of Anglo-Saxon to teach yourself Old English.
This book is old Enough to buy a used copy.
Even at the new prices it is worth it, for any student of Old English

After reading about the immense influence of Beowulf on Tolkien in "Celebrating Middle-Earth", I reread it in this translation. It is powerful and moves along rapidly. It captures the strong yet poetic use of words and brings out changes of mood brilliantly.

Mattimeo is the longest and best book in Brian Jacques series. Matthias the Warrior's son has been kidnapped by a slave band and marched into the far south, with Mattias, and a host of new and old friends, hot on the trail. Meanwhile, Redwall is under attack from a small army of black birds. While Matthias must deal with the largest vermin horde to date, the fierce and funny woodland creatures of Redwall must defend their Abbey from arial invaders. Using high adventure, and great recipes for excellent feasts, Jacques creates a wonderful journey, culminating in the greatest good vs. evil battle I've ever read. Despite the heavy odds against them, the fearless Redwallers always manage to win out in the end. A great book, that I've had the privilege to read more than thirty times (No joke.)

I read Mattimeo by Brian Jacques. This anthropomorphic story was about a fox, who is a kidnapper, and he kidnapped some little animals, including the warrior of Redwall's son. He made them into slaves, and took them to a place called Malkariss, and set them to work on a statue. Meanwhile, some rescuers from Redwall come to rescue them and are successful. At Redwall, some birds attack the Redwallers, but they are beaten back. Then the rescuers return. One is the hero of the story, the warrior of Redwall, Matthias. Everyone at Redwall has a big feast and everyone exchanges tales.
I recommend this book for anyone who likes fast-paced, exciting, and suspensful books, like in the part where Matthias and his friends are fighting all of the rats.
I thought Matthias was cool because he used a sword, unlike his five friends, and with them, defeated seven hundred rats.

For those who have read Redwall, this book will be all the better for you.Being reunited with your old friends gives you unsurrpressed joy, and seeing them with their children fills you with a sence of great pride. ( Though seeing the animals who were quite young in the previous book having children was quite awkward at first )This story is exellent and I rate it accordingly.
Few things can happen to Redwall that is worst than this. First, The young ones are stolen from the Abbey, And when Matthias, Jess and Basil, along with some new found friends, whose young ones have also been stolen, are gone, some other uninvited guests visit the Abbey. General Ironbeak and his birds from the Northlands invade Redwall, at the time when most of the fighting beasts are gone searching. I would tell you more but this book but it is very complicated and wonderful. Another story for the Faithful Redwallers who adore these books and Brian Jacques.

I thought that the book was excellent. I would think that anyone who read it would be able to tackle texts like Dissemination etc. There are so many bad introductions to Derrida around that this book came as a refreshing surprise. I felt that it gave a very good coverage of Derrida's work.

Before I read this book, I knew almost nothing about Jacques Derrida, though I had browsed through some of his works. I think this is a good book for the general reader. It goes more into depth on Derrida than Powell's other book Postmodernism for Beginners.

Derrida is my favorite philosopher. I don't think that his 'Deconstruction' is holistic necessarily but the gist of it explains the inherent problems of doing philosophy better then anything else I've read.

Unlike the greats of Science who simplify complex ideas (i.e..Stephen Hawking, Richard Feynman), the guru's of philosophy take fairly straight-forward ideas and shroud them with such mysterious sounding proprietary language that their work becomes nearly impossible to decipher. Derrida is no exception. This is a shame because his underlying message is brilliant...and really not not all that abstract.

So until philosophers realize that less words does not directly translate to less intelligence, we should be very glad to have commentators like Jim Powell around.

"Derrida For Beginners" concentrates on developing the key concept of "differance" and defining the necessary Derridian terminology used to communicate its meaning. The book clearly defines, "binary opposites", "texts", "logocentricism" etc.. and has plenty of diagram's to help you get the idea. While I can't say the artwork did much for me, the cartoon setting does force the message to be carried accross succinctly...no babling. The first book I read after failing miserably to tackle "Of Grammatology" was "Derrida" by Christopher Norris. While his was an excellent introduction..I will say that after I read "Derrida for Beginners" I went back and read most of Norris' book again and got a lot more out of it. Try this: read "Derrida for Beginners" as many times as needed until you have all the words in bold print at your fingertips..then, read Norris' book "Derrida". With this few hours of investment, do some online searches and read some of the commentaries and criticism of Derrida. You will be surprised at how badly he is misunderstood by so many who have studied him a lot more then you, and should feel good about your knowledge in comparisom. Of course you then need to get humble again so start reading "Of Grammatology". :)

Anne of Green Gables is about a skinny red haired girl who has both a short temper and a very colorful imagination. She really loves the little farmhouse but the Cuthberts might send her back to the orphanage because Matthew needed a boy about 11 or 12 to help him on the farm.

Sometimes her imagination gets her in trouble. For instance when Marilla asks her to get a pattern from Mrs. Barry she doesn't want to because she imagined the woods between the houses were haunted! The book tells about her life growing up in the 1930's. As she grows, she learns many lessons and meets many friends who help her to become Anne of Green Gables.

This book is wonderful. It is a great book for girls to read. I loved it because the character was funny, spunky, and could talk forever. She reminded me of my sister. Anne never gave up trying to reach her goals. She will keep you interested throughout the whole book!

This is one of the best books ever written and the credit goes to spirited Anne (make sure it's spelled with an "e"!) Shirley. It's not often you find such a charming heroine as Anne. ANNE OF GREEN GABLES is the first of a series on this lovable orphan, and it begins with Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, a respectable brother and sister, living at Green Gables. They are both growing old and need a boy to help out on the farm. But they got a talkative redhead girl instead. Before they can send her back to the orphanage, Anne has managed to win the hearts of Prince Edward Island with her wit and imagination. She seems to affect everyone around her - from busybody Mrs. Rachel Lynde to handsome Gilbert Blythe. And now, Green Gables will never be the same! . . .

It's not often you find such a spirited and lovable heroine as Anne. Captivating and captivatED, Anne is full of enthusiasm and fun, which gets her into all sorts of scrapes. This book is one that you are guaranteed to laugh over, cry over, and never want to put down! It is an ideal novel that you won't want to pass up! (Even if you don't read the rest of the Anne books, read this!)

A few weeks ago, I got really sick of today's children's literature. I had read enough mysteries and trashy books about romance to last me a lifetime. So I wanted something else to read, something well-written with a good plot and lifelike characters. I had to look no further than the first book I picked up- Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery.

Anne of Green Gables is the first book in the Anne of Green Gables series. It takes place, as most of L. M. Montgomery's books do, on Prince Edward Island in Canada. This particular story takes place in the town of Avonlea. It follows young Anne Shirley, an orphan brought to Green Gables to help Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert on their farm. Much to Anne's dismay, Marilla tells her that they wanted a boy to help around the farm, not a girl. However, Marilla changes her mind and decides to keep the dynamic young girl who would become Anne of Green Gables.

This novel is incredibly written, with well-developed characters and an intricate plot. I absolutely loved it. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a great example of children's literature at its height.

The Bellmaker is another wonderful Redwall book. Everything I like in books is in it- action adventure, fighting, and much more.

This book gets you hooked right from the start. Chapter 3 (the chapters are farely short), really gets you wanting to read more, as the prisoners escape from their captured castle, owned by the vicious Foxwolf, the Urgan Nagru. Mariel and Dandin, Redwall warriors adventuring in the south get captured by Foxwolf.

In Redwall Abbey, Joseph the Bellmaker, Mariel's father, has a dream and comes down with four others to save his son. After an amazing escape, the fugitives gather up their puny forces to defeat the mighty hordes of rats and Foxwolf himself.Wan't to know the result's? It'll surprise you, for sure.

Jauques writes a wonderful book, with lovable characters, lots of surprises, exciting actions, plenty of humor, amazing feats, unpredictable outcomes, and lots of adventure, fighting, and everything you could want in a book. I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR ANYONE.

Amazing! This book was even better than Redwall and the Outcast of Redwall! It has everything you could expect from a Redwall novel: Evil, Action, Adventure, Humor, and Mouthwatering Food. The plot is as follows: Mariel and Dandin, along with a new friend called Major Meldrums, are in serious trouble. They were caught while resisting the evil Foxwolf, Urgan Nagru, his mate Silvamord, and their hordes. So, when Martin the Warrior visits Joseph, Mariel's father, in a dream, and tells him to help Mariel along with four other Redwallers, Joseph sets out immediately. The Redwall Rescue Team makes a new friend in Finnbar, a sea otter, who steals his old ship back from searats. They journey to Southsward, the beautiful land that Foxwolf has taken over. There they encounter toads, warrior hedgehogs, and (gasp) Foxwolf. Can they save Mariel, Dandin, and Meldrums in time? Read the book to find out. I recommend this book to Redwall readers, fantasy readers, and just plain readers.

The Bellmaker is a very exciting book to read. It starts off with the Foxwolf's clan of 300 armed vermin, sailing southward to to capture the Castle of Gael the Squirrel King. After that, it goes into the Bellmaker's dream that his daughter, Mariel was in great danger. So he sets out like Martin the Warrior tells him to, but also, Martin said that "four will ride the Roaringburn, but only for e'er out of five will return." So does that mean that one of the five will die in battle with the Foxwolf? Read it and find out!
I liked the battle which was when everybody swarmed toward the castle that Foxwolf took over, and everybody from the castle swarmed and they fought. Only Joseph the Bellmaker, Meldrum, Dandin, and others, went in the castle to save Rab, Mariel, and Muta.They ended up fighting Foxwolf's highest executive, Silvamord, and her horde. Arrows flew with javelins, lances, and spears at the battle field. It was a wild dance of death, which made it very cool and exciting, and nobody in the southward army cared if the lived, so everybody had bloodwrath in them which made them diffcult to defeat them. That was what I liked about the book.
What I didn't like was when Gael kept in the Foxwolf for hospitilaty. Instead, Foxwolf took over and put his family in the dungeon. That's just sad, when I read that, it was very painful. Later, I got mad at the squirrel king, he was a very foolish mule. I wouldn't have done that, if were him I would let the Foxwolf stay outside and starve. That was what I didn't like about the book.

Those readers who love intricate fantasy worlds and complicatedplots, with rollicking good action, will enjoy this and any of theseveral "Redwall" books by Brian Jacques. To describe the main storyline sounds almost silly. Mice and other woodland creatures living in an abbey must protect themselves from the evil creatures, usually weasels and ferrets, who would take over their riches. The characters are richly drawn, and the action is at times intense. Sometimes a character dies, sometimes a character allows the bent for revenge to transform them into less than good--just like in real life.

Brian Jacques creates intricate plots and subplots, but always keeps the main action moving forward. He delights readers with his dialects and language variants of some of the creatures, most noteably the moles and sparrows. The peculiar speech of these characters is a challenge to anyone who reads this aloud, but my kids, who are now 10 and 14, can't get enough of these books for family reading time. If you haven't discovered the world of Redwall, it's time you did!

Hi I'm 14 years old actually but I couldn't use the adult form. I wanted to tell everyone under 13 to read this book. It has action, adventure, horror(well maybe not horror)comedy and love. It's a beautiful story and I urge you to read it. I personaly love Matthias. He kind of has the same attitude like me. Always standing up for waht you believe in. Matthias, Cornflower, Constance and Basil Stag Hare are my favorite characters. They're funny, entertaining and its easy just to fall right into their world with them as the "stars" of the book. Mr. Brian Jacques is a magnificent author. I think that his book, Redwall, beat Harry Potter 1,2,3,4,5,6 and 7, and 5,6, and 7 aren't even out yet. When I read this book for the first time at the end it brought a tear to my eye when. . . Well if you want to know why it brought a tear to my eye, Read This Book! Then try reading all 14!!

This book is the first volume in a long series of books which I consider to be the best series I've ever read. It centers around the adventures of a clumsy, unsure young mouse called Matthias. He is forced to grow up abruptly with the arrival of Cluny the Scourge, a rat warlord who commands vast armies of murderous rats, ferrets, stoats, and weasels. Cluny's aim is to conquer the immense Redwall Abbey, which is Matthias's home. However, the Abbey's inhabitants are peaceful creatures, most of whom have never handled a weapon in their lives. The Abbey dwellers manage to keep Cluny at bay, but their skills are too poor to ward him off for too long. Meanwhile, Matthias has gone in search of a legendary sword that once belonged to the famous mouse warrior, Martin. He hopes to use the weapon to defeat Cluny's infamous army and save Redwall. Helped by different friends along the way, he finally discovers the sword's location, but is unprepared for the grave danger he stumbles across while searching for the sword... This book introduces the reader to Redwall, one of the best children's book series ever written. I recommend the book (and the rest of the series) strongly if one is looking for a creative plot with many twists.

It is hard when you know the life that God has called you to when you are called to be an intercessor. In this book you learn that it is not for those who do not have faith. Faith that God will lead you to places that you do not expect and you need to learn to hear the voice of God. This book shows how the life of an intercessor is very serious work. I thought that I had reached all that I could as an intercessor until I read this book and it then changed my life.

I have read this book for the second time - laughing on many occassions and weaping on still many more. Rees Howells' intimate (and normal) communication with God in the person of the indwelling Holy Spirit broke my heart (again, the second reading) with the recognition of how "watered down" and powerless Christianity seems today in America and in my own life. If you desire to see what a life of faith and fellowship with God can look like - this is the book. It has deepened my spiritual resolve to cooperate with God to break "self" that His life can be manifest in this vessel.

If you desire to be a powerful man or woman of God, or you simply wish to know Him, this is a must read book. Next to the Bible, this has been the most life changing book for me. You see God's ways detailed in a mans life, (a man who just recently went on to Heaven) and it will open up much knowledge to you on how to be an intercessor, and it will be a great aid for the Holy Spirit to pull you through giving up your will. And giving up your will to God is a prerequisite to be a General of God.