5 comments about Patrick's Corner.

1. I can count on one hand the titles of the books I have been unable to put down, and this is one of them. I went in search of more when I read Sean Patrick's column in Catholic Digest and found short, but full, chapters in the life of a true boy - basically faithful to his religous upbringing, but full of mischevious adventures. It reminds me of Roald Dahl's book, "Boy" - another I couldn't put down.



2. This book is a treasury of wonderful stories that will make you laugh and cry and wish that you had known this family personally. I am only sorry that I finished the book so quickly. I hope that Mr. Patrick will soon be compiling another book from his Catholic Digest columns. READ IT!



3. This book will touch your heart. This was my go to lunch alone book. I had enjoyed Sean Patrick's column in Catholic Digest. So I went looking to find anything else that was written by him. It's not Bible thumping but it is inspiring. Makes you wish you grew up in a big family. Each chapter is a story of it's own. 6 Irish brothers growing up with their widowed mother. It will remind you of your own youth, sibling love. READ THIS BOOK!!



4. Sean Patrick writes of the trials and triumphs of being part of a large, poor family. I found this book very uplifting and true to what it means to be part of a family and community who care for each other. Anyone who grew up in the 40s and 50s will understand the spirit of those times. I laughed and cried through most of his stories. Written in a very loving, humorous manner.



5. sean patrick, if thats his name, wrote a self grandizing piece of dribble. Don't waste your time.

1 comments about Publisher to the Decadents: Leonard Smithers in the Careers of Beardsley, Wilde, Dowson (Penn State Series in the History of the Book).

1. While the verbose, academic style of this book makes it more difficult to read than it ought to be, it is still very much worth the effort. Brainard proposes a unique approach to the question of ultimate reality that has the potential to deepen our understanding of this elusive subject in a way I have not seen before. He may have in fact found a way to show how different views of ultimate reality might complement each other without whitewashing their differences.

   Part of what makes Brainard's analysis difficult but also rewarding are his original definitions for "reality", "truth", and "awareness". One of the more intriguing concepts he introduces is that awareness creates reality and truth (like people create languages and cars), and yet realities and truths are not subjective. According to the author, these elements of reality are not products of individual minds (like mine and yours), but rather by the cooperative activity of more than one mind -- or, more exactly, by more than one moment of awareness (in the way an illusory car exists for just you, while a real car exists for all). This objective and external character of reality is based on Brinard's thesis that everything, from Quarks and atoms, to rocks, and plants have some level of awareness, with human awareness being just one flavor out of a great many. While the concept of multi-dimensional awareness is difficult to grasp at first, his discussion of material "awareness" is especially interesting and provides some good insights that makes the rest of his ideas go down more smoothly.

   If this sounds like a bit like Whitehead or Kant or Hinduism or Buddhism (or de Chardin for that matter), you're right; it does recall many different philosophical approaches. In fact, Brainard argues that his approach does not intend to offer another philosophy to compete with others, but rather show the way in which we might discover how competing philosophies and religions might complement each other. Regardless of what he thinks, his approach is certainly a compelling way of doing philosophy, one that seems to offer a set of analytic tools that promise to enable thinkers to get past some of the roadblocks that limit current inquiry into the thorny questions of perception and reality.

   I'm giving the book 5 stars for the concepts and ideas it expresses, even though it does lose some credit with me for being difficult to read by non-academic types such as myself. But for those that take the challenging journey into Brainard's world, they will be richly rewarded.

1 comments about Uphill Walkers: Portrait of a Family.

1. I commend Madeleine Blais for her effort to record her childhood experiences. She recalls her reaction to her father's untimely death and draws nicely described vignettes of her five siblings and their not-quite-able-to-cope mother. The scenes are linked with mentions of songs, current events and other minutiae of the 50s. Unfortunately these sound like they were gleaned from an almanac to serve as fillers.
   She has some pleasant moments in the book, and I was reading it just for that "growing up in the 50s" ambience. I grew up as one-of-six and was interested in her experience in a large family.
   There's nothing much wrong with the biography, but it just seems lacking somehow. The account lacks the elegance of language of Trevanian's The Crazy Ladies of Pearl Street while their middle class life lacks the drama quotient of The Glass Castle. Maybe if I hadn't read those first, I'd find Uphill Walkers more compelling.

No comments about Elkin Mathews: Publisher to Yeats, Joyce, Pound.

5 comments about Fighting the Bolsheviks: The Russian War Memoir of Private First Class Donald E. Carey, U.S. Army, 1918-1 919.

1. Tales of World War I are often the most overlooked in military history. Everyone knows the war happened; many know the parties involved; few even know the causes of that war. Yet, it typically serves as a footnote to its much bloodier, more devastating, and clearer cut offspring of two decades later. Those who know some of World War I do know that November 11th, 1918 served as the day of the armistice between the Allied and Central Powers, ostensibly declaring the end of the physical portion of the war and the beginning of the treaty negotiations. What few people know is that fighting involving the Allies continued almost a full year after Armistice Day, but it didn't involve any of the defeated Central powers. With Russia having had to withdraw from the Great War in 1917 because of the Bolshevik rebellion, many western nations looked to that country with fear of the new `red menace' that was being propagated by the Bolsheviks and Communists. As a result, during the dying days of World War I, the Allies sent what amounted to a police force to such northern Russian provinces as Siberia to contain the Bolshevik threat. Some skirmishes were fought, men died, but in the end, nothing much changed. The Bolsheviks still controlled all of Russia and sat as an impending threat to the west and the Allies who were involved in this action were disillusioned by the weather and the need to continue fighting well after their compatriots on the Western Front had returned home.
   
   Very little has been written about this specific military action. However, one of the privates in the U.S. Army who served in Bolshevik campaign did keep an extensive memoir from beginning of basic training until being relieved from duty at the end of this action. "Fighting the Bolsheviks" is Private Donald E. Carey's remembrance of that difficult time. One of Carey's sons edited his father's journal and filled in the missing elements that would enable the reader to better understand what was happening there. Unfortunately, "Fighting the Bolsheviks" isn't a very good book. It's possible that this is because Donald Carey only intended his journal to be a personal or family record, but there's no getting around the boring, dry nature of the narrative and the events that take place. Carey does convey the monotony and misery of the environment he served in, as well as the tremendous displeasure he and his fellow American soldiers felt at being enduring the patronizing attitudes of their British superiors. The problem stems from Carey's preoccupation with needing to make constant reference to and commentary on things like the camp VD inspections, immoral actions (read: sex) by fellow soldiers, and his strong dislike for his British superiors. While the dislike of the British faction can be understood, Carey's obsession with the carnal behaviors of his fellow soldiers seems self-righteous and distracting. The first time it's mentioned and Carey expresses his revulsion for those behaviors because of his devout faith, we get it. We don't need to keep `getting it' throughout the rest of the book. It almost seems as though the battles fought are merely glossed over so that Carey can launch into another moral commentary about his colleagues. This is tremendously disappointing and renders what should an insightful look into a largely unknown event into a ponderous and tasking read. "Fighting the Bolsheviks" could have been so much more. It's too bad that it's not.



2. PFC Donald Carey was drafted into the U.S. Army in the waning days of WW I. Instead of the fields of France, He and the 339th Infantry Regiment were sent to the icy plains of Northern Russia, to fight Lenin's Bolsheviks, in a place as unfamiliar to a Michigan schoolteacher as hardtack is to troopers today.
   This excellent account of America's forgotten true "Cold War" with the Soviets is bound to captivate and surprise, as this conflict is generally forgotten or relegated to a few lines in foreign policy texts. (See George F. Kennan's excellent "Soviet-American Relations, 1917-1920, Volume II: The Decision To Intervene" for a fascinating diplomatic and military discussion of the American North Russian Expeditionary Force).
   Carey's journal is lucid and revealing of a small town man placed into a larger and unfamiliar world that he deals with extremely well. The parochialisms of 1900's America do show, as he refers to some of his fellow soldiers as "wops", but he never denigrates them further, and learns from them. His penchant for temperance leads him to remark on the passage of Prohibition as good for America, as he also is celibate while overseas, unlike many of his fellow soldiers, who succumb to various venereal diseases.
   All in all, a very good book on an obscure but still important chapter of American history.



3. If you're looking for an explanation of what the US and its' allies were doing fighting in Russia in 1918-1919, this isn't it. If you're looking for a book that relates what war is like for the men who actually fight and die in the front lines, this is a good start.
   Carey was drafted and went with the 339th Infantry to Russia as a part of the Allied Intervention in the Russian Civil War. The common soldiers knew nothing of what they were doing there - most of the officers had no clue, either. His unit wound up under British command, and was put in the front lines with no clear mission or purpose.
   This is a book about the day-to-day grind of Army life in WW1; the marching, the drills, the dirt, horrible food, and hard work.
   This is a look at war from a private's viewpoint.



4. I am always on the lookout for "grunt" history that covers little known theatres and periods.
   His unit was sent to North Russia to protect the vast stocks of war materials left behind on the docks when the Kerensky government lost power. They had already ceased active operations against the Germans but it was the Bolsheviks who signed the peace treaty in 1918. Since the Allies did not want the Germans to capture this booty materiel an expedition was sent made up of British, French, and US army and naval forces.
   In the course of guarding the lines of communications, the allies brushed against the Reds who took to raiding them. The resulting hostilities poisoned US-USSR relations for many years and it was not until the 1930s that ambassadors were exchanged. On the other side, the Allies and Japanese forced landed and took over Vladivostok and advanced west intending to garrison the Trans Siberian Railway, and relieve the Czech Legion which had been formed from POWs from the Austro Hungarian Empire, since they could not march westward through the German Army to get home to Czechoslovakia. Remember, that before 1918, neither Poland nor CZ nor Yugoslavia existed as modern governments. All were carved out of the remnants of the German, Russian, and Austro-Hungarian empires.
   This Siberian expedition which ended up aiding the White Russians also served to alienate the Red government which won the Russian Civil War. Later on US troops who fought against the Bolsheviks formed a society of remembrance, a veteran's club, if you will, and held annual meetings, were thought suspect simply because they had touched Reds, and the federal authorities kept track of their activities for years after.



5. Fighting the Bolsheviks: The Russian War memoir of Private First Class Donald E. Carey, 1918-1919. Edited by Neil G. Carey. Presidio Press, Novato: Ca. 1997

   This is truly one of the most important memoirs to come out of the so-called, Great War. To make it even more important, it didn't appear until nearly eighty years after the events. It, like the Elton Mackin memoir, is an extremely valuable addition to what we know about the ordeals suffered by the American soldiers so many years ago. In addition to some excellent personal photos, two superb maps and a chronology of events add to the value of this book, one of the few, about the famed "Polar Bears," the fighting 339th Infantry from Michigan.

   Carey was a school teacher at the rather advanced age of twenty-five when Uncle Sam beckoned. Like most of his contemporaries, he was no hero, but he knew his duty and went-but not to France, where most of the action was, and where most American soldiers wound-up. No, his crowd was shipped off to North Russia. We had no declaration of war versus Russia so technically sending Americans to attempt to put down a revolution in a foreign country was fait accompli but not legal. Congress didn't like our intervention, and neither did the American soldiers sent there. Most to remain long after the war in the rest of Europe, the real war, was terminated. The lads didn't like it. But, they did their duty and were the first Americans to fight the Reds.

   If you are a WWI buff, and so many people are now becoming that-as they realize what a confused, convoluted, and downright fascinating period that was-you will throughly enjoy this very personal memoir. It is great. Five stars at least. More if they are allowed.

No comments about The Day the Holocaust Began: The Odyssey of Herschel Grynszpan.

No comments about Skelligside.

2 comments about Henry VI (The English Monarchs Series).

1. Bertram Wolffe's biography is readable and entertaining, however, the vast majority of the book describes Henry's relationship with France and how he squandered his father's legacy in Normandy. As mentioned in a previous review, the book is woefully short on detail regarding the Wars of the Roses. The book could have been much more entertaining and informative had it included more detail regarding the last years of Henry's life and the Wars of the Roses.



2. Bertram Wolffe's biography on Henry VI actually read more like a study of politics instead of a biography of a king. The politics involves the inner working of the court of Henry VI as he grew from a child king to an adult king. We really don't get to know Henry personally but understand him by his official actions as King of England and working of his advisors, favorites and office holders.
   
   But one thing the author make very clear in this book was that Henry VI was truly an incompetent man and his ineptitude as a ruler marked him as an unworthy monarch. But its also clear that he was let down by almost everyone around him. Premature death of his father left a power vacuum around the young king and Henry was unlucky enough to have self-interest men around him who probably ruined him during his formative years. Foundation of his father kept things stable for awhile but cracks began to show because Henry wasn't capable and neither were men around him. In some ways, he seem to compared favorably with Henry III although the third Henry was more lucky.
   
   If there is a major weakness in this book, it appears that the book get weaker as Henry VI get weaker on the throne. His last ten years get a mere 15 pages even although it was probably one of the more exciting parts of his personal life.
   
   This book appears to be well researched and well written but it seem to be geared toward people who are well versed in English mediveal history. A novice reading this book may feel bit overwhelmed by massive amount of information regarding English mediveal politics of this time period.
   
   Overall, this book does come highly recommended, although not a great biography of any sort, its a great study of English politics prior to the War of the Roses. Its explained the working of the English policies and reflects well why they lost all that Henry V have won for them.

No comments about Warrenpoint.

3 comments about Out of Revolution : Autobiography of Western Man.

1. Rosenstock-Huessy has described "Out of Revolution," his history of western man, as his favorite book. This book is an entirely fresh version of his landmark "Die europäischen Revolutionen," and was written after his immigration to the United States. It presents the reader with Rosenstock-Huessy's method of perceiving man, history, and society. He reweaves strands of the old disciplines of philosophy, theology, and history into an entirely new fabric.
   In his introduction, Harold Berman writes:
   "That this book - written six decades ago - is without any question an extraordinary book, a remarkable book, a fascinating book, has not saved it from relative obscurity. It is directed against conventional historiography, and for the most part the conventional historians have either ignored it or denounced it. ... I have no doubt that one day - perhaps soon - the academic historians will discover that Rosenstock-Huessy was also one of the great pioneers in a new and significant interpretation of the history of mankind.
   'Out of Revolution' is history in the best sense of the word. Although it embodies original scholarship of the highest professional quality, it is written primarily for the amateur, the person of general education, who wants to know where we came from and whither we are headed. But it is also a theory of history: how history should be understood, how historians should write about it."
   "Out of Revolution" has been reviewed by others:
   The historian Page Smith considers this Rosenstock-Huessy's greatest work in English. He wrote in his book "The Historian and History" (Knopf 1964):
   "Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy was one of those Europeans who at the end of World War I decided that the war had made familiar categories of thought obsolete. He undertook, in a series of books and articles, to illuminate the relation between history and the human experience and to explicate the progress of man through history toward a common future. ... The revolutions of mankind, Huessy wrote, 'create new time-spans for our life on earth. They give man's soul a new relation between present, past, and future; and by doing so they give us time to start our life on earth all over again, with a new rhythm and a new faith.' This is the framework for Huessy's history of Europe and it may safely be said to be the first historical work written under the new dispensation. As such, it is of profound significance for contemporary history, but its very uniqueness has left it high and dry on the banks of academe. Nobody knew what to make of it because nobody had seen anything like it before."
   Reinhold Niebuhr said of "Out of Revolution":
   "Really a remarkable book, full of profound insights into the meaning of modern European history. I have not read a book in a long time which is so imaginative in relating the various economic, religious and political forces at play in modern history, to each other. Ordinary historical interpretations are pale and insipid in comparison with it."
   Lewis Mumford wrote:
   "Rosenstock-Huessy's is a powerful and original mind. What is most important in this philosopher's work is the understanding of the relevance of traditional values to a civilization still undergoing revolutionary transformations; and this contribution will gain rather than lose significance in the future."
   "Out of Revolution" can also be ordered from Argo Books (www.argobooks.org), as can all the rest of Rosenstock-Huessy's English language works, including many of the lectures he gave on these topics. The lectures alone comprise more than 5000 pages of spontaneous comments he made to students from 1949 to 1968.



2. Eugen was a friend of mine and the teacher of my colleague--Page Smith--one of the great American historians. Eugen came to teach at UCSC after his retirement from Dartmouth. His book on the history of European culture is one of the relatively unknown treasures of modern letters. Eugen was clairvoyant in his unique ability to portray the national character of the major cultures of the West, on the theme of revolution. Although he was a scholar of profound learning, he never lost the passion of his personal voice, which infuses everything he wrote; how appropriate as one of the figures in the I-Thou circle of Martin Buber and Franz Rosenzweig. The book was born out of the agony of the trenches of the lst world war, at Verdun, where the curse over Europe was uttered in the 9th century at the Treaty of Verdun. Eugen gives us the integration of European culture in all of its unique individuality, from nation to nation. Absolutely essential reading for those in charge of the current European Commission and the Council of Europe and the Museum of Europe in Brussels.

   This is the book about the unified cultural heritage of Europe.




3. 'Our passions give life to the world.' That's the premiss upon which Rosenstock-Huessy begins his brilliant study of the 'total revolutions' of the last millenium. He may not always be right about the details or even his conclusions about the origins or meanings of the great revolutions, but he is always insightful, and he always takes you into areas which are worth exploring further. Rosenstock-Huessy knows that catastrophes are the cauldrons of creation, and while there have been critics and advocates of revolution aplenty, few have attempted to trace in such detail the alchemical processes of the great revolutions of the Western world. This is a masterpiece by a thinker who simply knows more about more things than any other twentieth century figure I have read. In addition to being a great historian and sociologist, he has a tremendous understanding of the human heart. His other books are also definitely worth checking out.