Product Description
This book is a unique testimony to the 'other world' of blindness, describing not the overcoming of suffering, but rather the reality of a world where perceptions of sound, silence and space are greatly changed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A rich and insightful book
On Sight and Insight is a wholly remarkable and wondrous book that should be read by anyone with an interest in blindness, perception, embodiment and human existence. In this book John Hull documents his journey from the world of sight into the world of blindness, by describing what it is like to make this transition, through detailed and revealing descriptions of his daily activities, and by giving us his dreams, thoughts and reflections. His journey, in fact, is from a world of sight into one of insight, for it is not only a story of a courageous and emotionally complex life-transformation, but a profound study of who we are, how we see or do not see, touch or do not touch, how we relate to our world-and most of all an insightful study of what it means to be with one another. Anyone who reads this book will not quite hear a voice or touch or see a face in the same way again.

A good book for anyone facing blindness
A book review, by Carlton Griffin:

"On Sight & Insight, a Journey into the world of Blindness", by John Hull

After losing much of my vision over the past four years due to Retinitis Pigmentosa, I wentlooking for more information about going blind.

I recently finished thisbook and I've had a few days to reflect upon it. The book is written byJohn Hull, who tells about going blind as an adult. As a young man, Johnhas blinding cataracts.He was blind for quite some time in the hospital,long enough to teach himself braille and read several chapters in theBible.

The corrective surgery for the cataracts detached both of hisretinas, one of which they were able to correct.He was blind in his lefteye for the rest of his life, but his right eye stayed pretty dependableuntil he was about 45, and over the following three years he wentcompletely blind.

It's a new book, John went blind in the 1980's and hisbook reads like a diary or journal.It's very easy to read and John easilyholds the reader's attention.

John mostly tells what it is like,emotionally, to go blind.He talks about all aspects of blindness, but thefocus on the book is to share how it affected and affects his emotions andhis spirit; his soul.John really shares of himself in this book, it'svery frank and in some places painful.

However, I enjoyed having read thebook because it provided me with some information I was lacking, helped mecome to terms with some things that before I could not conceive.I've beenworried so much, the nagging question is always "What will it be liketo go blind, how will I live my life?".

While John's book certainlydoesn't fully answer that question, it does allow the reader to gain muchinsight into what it is like, at least from one man's perspective.Whileit did confirm a few fears I have, at least I feel more informed now;certainly the unknown is still more frightening than my actual fate.

Iwish I could say more about this book, I think Mr Hull did a fine job.Irefer to him as John in this review because I feel so close to him and hisfamily, having read the book.If you want to know what it's like for anadult to go blind, John's perspective is wonderfully told in thisbook.

Carlton Griffin ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Orchid of the Bayou: A Deaf Woman Faces Blindness
This is a great book-helps you understand what people with Ushers Syndrome go through.The author is very real and honest.Once you start, can't put it down! ... Read more

Product Description

In THE BLINDNESS CURE, meditation is transformed by Western efficiency.A new “feedback method” solves the problem of wandering minds.The result is a quantum leap in the quest for happiness - a straight line to enlightenment.

The Feedback Method
Trained as a research psychologist, author McMahon explains how the method works.Meditation, she says, has an “active ingredient.”Attention makes meditation effective, but attention is hard to hold on to and slips away unseen.Meditation lacks a way to monitor attention, a way to see what you are doing.It lacks “feedback.”The new method has it.
In the feedback method, attention is focused on the bull’s eye of a disc.This holds the eyes still, keeping the image in the same place on the eye’s retina, using up photo-pigment (as in exposing photographic film), and creating visual distortions in the form of light.As long as you pay attention you see the light.When the mind wanders, however, the eyes wander and the light disappears.
The light is feedback.Seeing the light you attend to your attention: mind your mind!The light is receptor fatigue.Put to use as feedback it harnesses attention and assures success.With feedback you can hold on to attention the way you would grab a rope for a tow.And where does attention take you?Straight to awareness.

“Seeing the Light”
The “blindness” in the title is low awareness.If full awareness is one hundred percent, we have as little as five percent on average.This low awareness keeps us from happiness.
The feedback method restores awareness, guiding you straight to meditation’s grand prize - the breakthrough to full awareness known as enlightenment.Your eyes open to beauty, your senses to pleasure, your mind to truth and your heart to love.Full awareness is nothing less than highest enlightenment.

THE BLINDNESS CURE
Contents

Preface
Chapter 1:A Breakthrough; A New Tool; A Guarantee
Chapter 2:A Beginner Exercise
Chapter 3:“Original Perfection:” A Baby’s Awareness
Chapter 4:Confusion and Illusion: How Concepts Blind Us
Chapter 5:Self-Interest and the Illusion of Love
Chapter 6:The Feedback Method
Chapter 7:How to Use and Prevent Pain
Chapter 8:Trouble-Shooting
Chapter 9:How to Stay Motivated
Chapter 10:Advanced Practice
Chapter 11:Breakthrough!
Chapter 12:Facets of the Jewel
Chapter 13:How to See God
Chapter 14:Being Love
Bibliography
Appendix: Exercise Index
Index

Complete Self-guidance
Complete self-guidance is offered here: feedback guides your practice, and self-tests guide your progress.Nearly two hundred self-tests measure attention; awareness, capacity for pleasure and capacity for love.Separate chapters offer trouble-shooting, help with motivation, and true story inspiration.

Living Enlightenment
Woven through the chapters are the words and experiences of Master Deac Cataldo, the sixth and only living Master in his martial arts lineage.He contributes wisdom passed down through centuries by word of mouth in face to face teachings, making a new wisdom source available to readers and energizing the book with living enlightenment.

Unprecedented Power
The fail-proof feedback method, and easy step-by-step instructions make this self-help of unprecedented power.Here meditation’s passive wait is traded for “a power tool that sharpens with use and cuts through everything.”Expect to see the light in more ways than one.


... Read more

Product Description
A memoir of blindness and listening rendered with a poet's delight by the author of the acclaimed Planet of the Blind.Blind people are not casual listeners. Blind since birth, Stephen Kuusisto recounts with a poet's sense of detail the surprise that comes when we are actively listening to our surroundings. There is an art to eavesdropping. Like Annie Dillard's An American Childhood or Dorothy Allison's One or Two Things I Know for Sure, Kuusisto's memoir highlights periods of childhood when a writer first becomes aware of his curiosity and imagination. As a boy he listened to Caruso records in his grandmother's attic and spent hours in the New Hampshire woods learning the calls of birds. As a grown man the writer visits cities around the world in order to discover the art of sightseeing by ear. Whether the reader is interested in disability, American poetry, music, travel, or the art of eavesdropping, he or she will find much to hear and even "see" in this unique celebration of a hearing life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Sound-seeing is more than just eavesdropping...
Who needs eyes when they have ears and a mind like Stephen's? This memoir is a remarkable audio tour through exotic locales that is surprisingly vibrant and "feels like being there." He writes that the hard part of sound-seeing is that the listener is mostly dependent upon spontaneous events and action - a conversation, a flock of birds taking flight, a bell tolling - while the sight-seer can look at static sights and let the mind wander. Woven beautifully throughout are Stephen's memories of music and literature that keeps his mind occupied with what most of the rest of us fill with visual stimulation. While not a journey-type memoir in the traditional sense, Eavesdropping is full of wit and wisdom, a compelling read.

senses
We are a very visually oriented society. This book helps you hear, smell and taste the world around us. It is beautifully written and a delightfully different perspective.

Poetry of Blindness
Kuusisto writes his life like a painting.He is blind and yet his descriptive writing sees more than most sighted people.He brings us to the point of wonder at his ability to"see."His descriptive hearing elevates the reader to the level of music and poetic irony. I can't wait to read more.

Not as good as the last one
If you're looking for a sequel to the author's famous 1998 memoir PLANET OF THE BLIND, this isn't it, no matter how they try to market it as such, and indeed called it a "memoir" in its subtitle is pretty misleading according to the Fair Packaging Act.PLANET OF THE BLIND has everything, an intense, nearly unbelievable story of growing up nearly blind and yet trying to pretend to be sighted, and underneath it all it was a story of being mainstreamed and constantly told that everything would be all right and that if you only tried harder you'd be just like any other boy.The journey was all in discovering that no, what society was telling you was just not true and that you needed help all your life.Help you never got.Lessons in braille and a guide dog more like.

Eventually young Kuusisto began living a productive life, freed from his twin demons of obesity and anorexia, and became recognized internationally as a master of disability studies and as a poet.As a poet, he's not one of my favorites, but he's certainly well known in the field and has the respect of many.The present book is sort of a gallimaufry, a compilation of different essays about all different things, and it would be an understatement to say it lacks the focus of PLANET OF THE BLIND.In fact it doesn't have much narrative drive at all.Mostly we hear about different trips Steve has taken, to different places all over the world, and also we hear about his experiences listening to music.You'd think that after all the discussion of compensation in POTB, that being blind might make a person more sensitive to music, but EAVESDROPPING proves that this is not necessarily the case.

As a commonplace book, however, EAVESDROPPING works besutifully, for Kuusisto has a knack for remembering and quoting many of the wisest and funniest sayings he has heard over the years."Hearing poetry starts the psychological mechanism of prayer," he avers, quoting from Theodore Roethke and whether or not you believe Roethke's formulation it's nice to hear the sentiment put so succinctly.At times the book descends into a laundry list of memorable shows he went to: "a Frank Zappa concert in Montreal in the dead of winter; my favorite reggae band, Toots and the Maytals, in New York; Carnbegie Hall for the tenor Jose Carreras; Placido Domingo at the Metropolitan Opera; Bob Dylan on a rainy summer night outdoors; Vladimir Horovitz in Chicago . . ."I can't even type any more, it's too boring.But overall a beautiful book filled with memorable little apercus from one of our greatest writers.

Invaluable.
EAVESDROPPING: A MEMOIR OF BLINDNESS AND LISTENING tells of a blind poet who had to cope with a life without sight - but it's much more than just another memoir of coping. EAVESDROPPING asks - and answers - the essential questions of why and how go on with life without sight, providing an emphasis on the author's travels and what he could experience on these journeys sans sight. Chapters tell not how to cope with being blind, but how to get the most out of life under conditions of affliction and change. Invaluable.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch ... Read more

Product Description
Shortly after John Hull went blind, after years of struggling with failing vision, he had a dream in which he was trapped on a sinking ship, submerging into another, unimaginable world. The power of this calmly eloquent, intensely perceptive memoir lies in its thorough navigation of the world of blindness -- a world in which stairs are safe and snow is frightening, where food and sex lose much of their allure and playing with one's child may be agonizingly difficult. As he describes the ways in which blindness shapes his experience of his wife and children, of strangers helpful and hostile, and, above all, of his God, Hull becomes a witness in the highest, true sense. Touching the Rock is a book that will instruct, move, and profoundly transform anyone who reads it.

"John Hull goes a long way toward taking us with him through his descent into total blindness...He lets us see with no trace of self-pity or self-praise how blindness has become far him a genuine acquisition, an unforeseeably rich gift that has made of him what so few of us are: excellent watchers and hearers of the world...triumphant in the teeth of ruin". -- Reynolds Price ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

This is a powerful book
I can't remember ever reading anything quite as compelling.I'm not going blind nor do I have any cognitive disabilities.However, if you are a practicing meditator as I am and are interested in the nature of consciousness itself, you will be quite intrigued with this highly descriptive account of both the visual and non-visual aspects of perception.If this book doesn't inspire you to start thinking outside the box, nothing will.That been said, the average reader will find this to be an unforgettable, beautifully written book well worth reading.Highly recommended.

This book has stayed with me for years
In place of the word "unsentimental" often used to describe this book I'd use "Lynchian", as in David.Blindness is just the starting-off point: The book is really a luxuriant journey into the *other* four senses and the heightened reality one begins to feel -- for instance how the white noise of a sudden rain can throw your outdoor echolocation into turmoil and immobilize you at some random place.With all respect to anyone looking for a good book on the disability, this one is for the artists.

Touched by John Hull
On the front cover Oliver Sacks is quoted:"Staggering. . . the most extraordinary, precise, deep, and beautiful account of blindness I have ever read."But this book is primarily a message of facing change and developing methods for coping.Of compensating, of reaching out, of accepting your plight and going forward.You sense the author's despair and frustration, but he manages to see his difficulties as challenges. He engages you in the struggles he faces and overcomes.After all, he has a wife and four children, he lectures and attends conferences.Perhaps the most fascinating chapter of all, for me, was how he faced giving a lecture when he could no longer read notes.He eventually learned how to write his speech in his mind so that he could simply read one page as the next ones were being formulated.I pictured it as something like the beginning of a Star Wars movie.John Hull has somelthing to teach us all.

Moving memoir
Heard the taped version of TOUCHING THE ROCK by John
Hull, a moving memoir of a university lecturer who slowly
lost his vision over a period of several years . . . he recorded
his thoughts in a diary, and I must admit to being touched
about how both he and his family dealt with his
condition . . . even typing this brings teary thoughts to
mind . . . imagine having seen a child as a youngster,
then not being able to see her again as she grows up . . . or
never having seen another child from the time he was
born . . . it makes me want to hug my daughter, Risa . . . and
to appreciate all that I do have!

A stunning picture of what it is like to become blind
This book was given to me as a gift a few years ago, and while I am neither going blind nor am actually blind, I found many of the ideas and experiences and thoughts and feelings expressed in this book to be very similar to my own.I have some particular cognitive difficulties (prosopagnosia, often called "face blindness") which give me a rather different outlook on life from most people, and I was amazed to see just how much in common my outlook on life was when compared with the author's life experiences.Well, maybe I wasn't that surprized, but it was still an eye-opening (no pun intended) experience for me to read this book in that context.

Needless to say, I enjoyed this book very very much.It reads more like a personal journal or diary than an actual book, and that gives the whole book a very personal experience when reading it. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
In this raw, intimate and honest memoir, Greenlee shares the surprising lessons and adventures she encountered after the devastation of her sudden and profound loss of vision. She takes the reader past the gates of Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael, California, and into the 28 days of intensive training required to graduate with a guide dog. Surrounded by supportive community of staff and students, Greenlee faces the bondage of her Confucian upbringing and finds freedom far beyond mobility with a guide dog. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Book Review: Steady Hedy: A Journey through Blindness & Guide Dog School
Carolyn Wing Greenlee's recently released book, Steady Hedy: A Journey through Blindness & Guide Dog School is a journey into another world, a world without the benefit of sight. Through Greenlee's delightfully graphic writing, the reader is given glimpses of what she has suffered with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic eye condition that leads to incurable blindness. At the time she attended Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) in San Rafael, California, her vision had dwindled to 4%. In her class of ten, three were totally blind; the others were in various stages of debilitating visual impairment.

For years, Greenlee chafed at the inconvenience of her deteriorating vision loss. Simple tasks took longer, going shopping, especially in a strange store, was a formidable task. Walking brought fear of bumping into something or falling into a hole. The worse part was giving up driving, which meant giving up much of her independence.

People who suffer from blindness feel isolated, no longer feeling that they are a part of the group. They require help which in turn make them feel guilty. They miss communication through body-language and, especially in a group, feel they're missing out on the flow of conversation.

By a series of surprising connections, Greenlee finds herself surrounded by a community of support, individuals who help bridge this gap by providing counseling, technology, mobility skills, and a fresh prospective on blindness. They enable the disabled. The year-long preparation she receives from these many groups and individuals make Greenlee's admission into guide dog school possible.

At the school, Greenlee launches into a world of unknowns-unfamiliar surroundings, challenging tasks, unknown fellow students, new routines. A third-generation Chinese American, Greenlee constantly battles feelings of insecurity, incompetency and inadequacy as the result of her Confucian background. She questions whether she will measure up to the task of learning the work and successfully bonding with a guide dog.

After three days of orientation, the students receive their dogs and Greenlee is given Hedy, a small black lab. She's bitterly disappointed not to have the color of dog she hoped for-a yellow lab. For one, with Greenlee's limited vision, the light color itself would allow her to see the dog more clearly. To Greenlee, Hedy seems small, smelly and indifferent. It is not love at first sight for the dog, either. It's obvious Hedy longs for her previous trainer and shows Greenlee no fondness, only aloofness. Clearly, the dog is only there because she has to be. The staff assures Greenlee that with patience and consistency Hedy will come around. It's a partnership: the handler directs the dog and the dog delivers its owner safely. But it takes patience, time and trust. Especially trust.
With hard-headed Hedy, Greenlee worries. Will they ever become a truly interdependent team?


Greenlee chronicles the ambitious activities of the school. While at first she wonders what they could possibly find to do for 28 days, now it is a rush to get everything done. Along the way, the students have adventures, form close friendships, and have a surprisingly good time even though the schedule is grueling. Step by step they face the challenging obstacles placed before them. With the support of GDB, the students become courageous, adventurous, and full of hope, aspirations they hadn't thought possible.

Stedy Hedy is an engaging, often funny, and thoroughly satisfying story of new found freedom in the face of catastrophic loss, where, as Greenlee says, "Your worse nightmare can become the source of your deepest healing."

[...] ... Read more

Product Description
In this raw, intimate and honest memoir, Greenlee shares the surprising lessons and adventures she encountered after the devastation of her sudden and profound loss of vision. She takes the reader past the gates of Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael, California, and into the 28 days of intensive training required to graduate with a guide dog. Surrounded by supportive community of staff and students, Greenlee faces the bondage of her Confucian upbringing and finds freedom far beyond mobility with a guide dog. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Steady Hedy: A Journey through Blindness & Guide Dog School
Carolyn Wing Greenlee's recently released book, Steady Hedy: A Journey through Blindness & Guide Dog School is a journey into another world, a world without the benefit of sight. Through Greenlee's delightfully graphic writing, the reader is given glimpses of what she has suffered with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic eye condition that leads to incurable blindness. At the time she attended Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) in San Rafael, California, her vision had dwindled to 4%. In her class of ten, three were totally blind; the others were in various stages of debilitating visual impairment.

For years, Greenlee chafed at the inconvenience of her deteriorating vision loss. Simple tasks took longer, going shopping, especially in a strange store, was a formidable task. Walking brought fear of bumping into something or falling into a hole. The worse part was giving up driving, which meant giving up much of her independence.

People who suffer from blindness feel isolated, no longer feeling that they are a part of the group. They require help which in turn make them feel guilty. They miss communication through body-language and, especially in a group, feel they're missing out on the flow of conversation.

By a series of surprising connections, Greenlee finds herself surrounded by a community of support, individuals who help bridge this gap by providing counseling, technology, mobility skills, and a fresh prospective on blindness. They enable the disabled. The year-long preparation she receives from these many groups and individuals make Greenlee's admission into guide dog school possible.

At the school, Greenlee launches into a world of unknowns-unfamiliar surroundings, challenging tasks, unknown fellow students, new routines. A third-generation Chinese American, Greenlee constantly battles feelings of insecurity, incompetency and inadequacy as the result of her Confucian background. She questions whether she will measure up to the task of learning the work and successfully bonding with a guide dog.

After three days of orientation, the students receive their dogs and Greenlee is given Hedy, a small black lab. She's bitterly disappointed not to have the color of dog she hoped for-a yellow lab. For one, with Greenlee's limited vision, the light color itself would allow her to see the dog more clearly. To Greenlee, Hedy seems small, smelly and indifferent. It is not love at first sight for the dog, either. It's obvious Hedy longs for her previous trainer and shows Greenlee no fondness, only aloofness. Clearly, the dog is only there because she has to be. The staff assures Greenlee that with patience and consistency Hedy will come around. It's a partnership: the handler directs the dog and the dog delivers its owner safely. But it takes patience, time and trust. Especially trust.
With hard-headed Hedy, Greenlee worries. Will they ever become a truly interdependent team?


Greenlee chronicles the ambitious activities of the school. While at first she wonders what they could possibly find to do for 28 days, now it is a rush to get everything done. Along the way, the students have adventures, form close friendships, and have a surprisingly good time even though the schedule is grueling. Step by step they face the challenging obstacles placed before them. With the support of GDB, the students become courageous, adventurous, and full of hope, aspirations they hadn't thought possible.

Stedy Hedy is an engaging, often funny, and thoroughly satisfying story of new found freedom in the face of catastrophic loss, where, as Greenlee says, "Your worse nightmare can become the source of your deepest healing."

Steady Hedy: A Journey through Blindness & Guide Dog School can be orderedthrough your favorite bookstore, through the publisher Earthen Vessel Productions ([...]), Amazon.com, Kindle and iBooks.

[...] ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (6)

Why am I reading this book?
What led me to buy this book? I don't know. I have always read newspapers and news magazines for serious news, light fiction for pleasure. and bought books that I wanted for reference materials.'Escaping Plato's Cave' has riveted me from the first few pages.Early on, Rosenblum gives a quote that is a major theme of the book. The answer to the question of what has been going wrong with our country for the past fifty years, he quotes, is that we have been treating the EFFECTS, not the CAUSES. We are always behind.

Think about that.When the bombers flew the planes into the World Trade Center, what was our reaction? "Go get 'em."Did anyone ask, "Why were these people so angry that they would do such a thing?"

How can we win a "War on Terrorism" when our actions make more and more people furious with us?The ranks of terrorists increase when we kill innocent civilians, hold (and torture) prisoners for years before finding out that manywere not who we thought they were, insist on imposing our form of government on cultures that do not admire or want it, arrogantly refuse to cooperated with the rest of the world in curbing pollution and conserving energy.

I thought that we were redeeming ourselves through our disaster aid.Wrong.Rosenblum tells us what has really been happening. He was there.

I'm only part way through the book.Join me in seeing reality.

Exploding the myth
The author piles on historical fact after fact on the high end of the real vs unreal teeter-totter to counteract the the weight of false beliefs, concepts, and expectations that so often keep the wrong end of the teeter-totter on the ground because of our unrealistic and ignorant expectations that have resulted from looking at the shadows on the cave wall instead of turning around to view the reality exists around us and accept it for what is really going on in the world as a result of our ignorance and the capitulation of the news media to cover world affairs in order to sell entertainment.

Deliver us from evil
Mort Rosenblum's book, Escaping Plato's Cave, is, alas, the kind of wisdom that those who would most benefit from it, are the very same that are least likely to seek it. This is a highly reommended present for George W. Bush and his most fervent supporters, Bill O'Reilly and those that nod in approval under his rants and finally as a teaching aid for all the budding reporters that dream of working for Rupert Murdoch. To those of you that are saying; well then, what about the terrorists; I say, Bush is not making it better.

A veteran's perceptive take on the world
Mort Rosenblum's writings are always deeply perceptive, keenly observed and smartly composed. Those of us belonging to a certain journalistic generation know how wonderful Mort's dispatches were during his long tenure at The Associated Press. His books are something to look forward to, and "Plato's cave" is a delight. This kind of writing can only come from long experience and from personal knowledge of the world's complexities.

excellent!
I found Escaping Plato's Cave to be an eye opening view of the corporate journalism in American now and a "must read book". It is well written and packed with a lifetime of tales of traveling to wars and disasters as a reporter. Like a good reporter, he speaks in a well modulated and clear voice throughout despite the horrible catastrophe he is describing. He is reporting a vast attack on journalism that is not being reported in the press. This is not some fringe lunatic, but a major mainstream professional writer and reporter who has been our trusted eyes and ears fro a long time.
This is a book by an insider about how and why the news is no longer accurate reports from the source at the scene. When organizations like the AP cut down the number of reporters on location, soon the news from many places is only available from official government sources.
How can you have news without reporters? As this books shows it maybe exactly what the major news organizations are doing.
It is a first hand account of the corporate takeover that is happening in many critical areas of American life. Like all news, it is meaningless unless you understand it and believe it to be true. The many ways the truth can be spun should not be the hallmark of good journalism.
Mort Rosenblum and many other experienced journalists have been gotten rid of as part of a downsizing trend. It is a trend that suits the new owners since it cuts costs and all the difficulties with reporters in the field whose stories don't agree with the press releases from Washington. With no reporters in the field who can disagree with the word from Washington? ... Read more

Product Description
Today, most intellectuals agree that (a) Christianity has profoundlyinfluenced western culture; (b) members from different cultures experiencemany aspects of the world differently; (c) the empirical and theoretical studyof both culture and religion emerged within the West.The present study argues that these truisms have implications for theconceptualization of religion and culture. More specifically, the thesis isthat non-western cultures and religions differ from the descriptions prevalentin the West, and it is also explained why this has been the case. The authorproposes novel analyses of religion, the Roman `religio', the construction of`religions' in India, and the nature of cultural differences. Religion isimportant to the West because the constitution and the identity of westernculture is tied to the dynamic of Christianity as a religion. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

most misunderstood
This work is most misunderstood by those who approvingly cite this, and by those who criticize this work. This misunderstanding has nothing to do with the structure of the book, but everything to do with the nature of any scientific hypothesis. The author has *not* criticized the concept 'religion' because the latter is western:do we think the concept of positron is western?And this book is not a critique of essentialism: entire natural sciences are `essentialistic.' `culture' is not monolithic; of course, species is not monolithic either, yet is amenable to study.What properties of Christianity are ones by virtue of which Christianity is a religion? Here Sweet Willman, in his criticism of the book, presumed that the properties of Christianity = the properties of religion. There are others who criticize it because it conflicts with their intuition.Of course, the author explained the necessity of experiencing religion in India.

Coming back to what the book does: the author identified a set of problems through historical research. Any theory of religion has to solve these problems.The author proposed a hypothesis of religion that solves these problems, and further explains the experience of believers; that shows why one can't study, say, Christianity as religion without being a believer. Then it is showed, one is compelled to do theology in order to study Christianity as a world view. Given this, the author shifted the study to a different level of abstraction: religion as that which generates a configuration of learning. This hypothesis sheds light on various issues: skepticism of Antiquity; origin of natural sciences in the West; vacuous debates of all sorts of relativism; cultural differences; theories of actions; etc. In other words, this theory does generate more problems, and can solve the same problems-in the long run.

The author nowhere did mention that `Hinduism', `Buddhism' etc. are not `something' else but not religions; whatever conceptual gestalts these entities `Hinduism' etc. refer to are non-existent in the way unicorn is.

An excellent book: read it.
It is not often that one reads a book that changes one's outlookdrastically. This is one such book. I am really impressed. Sooner or later,the ideas propounded in this book will prove to be a major challenge tomany disciplines like anthropology, religious studies, and such like.

An excellent book: read it.
It is not often that one reads a book that changes one's outlookdrastically. This is one such book. I am really impressed. Sooner or later,the ideas propounded in this book will prove to be a major challenge tomany disciplines like anthropology, religious studies, and such like.

A Clear Stream of Reason
Although the theory on religion that is submitted in this book is generally found to be highly controversial, Balagangadhara's arguments are so strong that one cannot simply dismiss this theory as intellectual'spielerei'. His account identifies crucial constraints on Western thinkingabout other cultures and the social world in general, and convincinglyexplains why even 'giants and geniusses' have not been able to surmountthese constraints. I heartily recommend this fantastic book. In thelegendary words of one reader: "it might even change your worldview." ... Read more

Product Description
A driver waiting at a red light suddenly becomes blind. So does his wife and the doctor who examines them. They are the first cases of an epidemic of blindness. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation, a vivid evocation of the horrors of the twentieth century, and a terrifying allegory of the dark times of the new millennium, Blindness masterfully portrays man's worst appetites and weaknesses and man's ultimately exhilarating spirit. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

Cuativante reflexión sobre diversos temas
La compré y en menos de una semana, entre otras tantas ocupaciones, me la leí. Es una de las novelas que cautiva desde sus inicios. Estudia diversos aspectos de la condición humana, sin decaer un solo instante.

Con Saramago tenemos la narración pura, esa que se basa en la bondad del decir y no en los efectismos del contenido o la intriga, tan usuales en las novelas--guiones cinematrográficos-- a que nos tienen acostrumbrados los autores de habla inglesa contemporáneos.

Definitivamente recomiendo este clásicó de la novela contemporánea.

A story without brightness
What if mankind suddenly became blind? What would everyday life be like if our eyes could only see a white light? The subject seems interesting but the developing of it becames sometimes dull during the book. Saramago spends about 100 pages describing the life of a group of people who have been locked up in a building for quarantine. Too many details make this episode a little boring. The story resumes when these people can finally escape from the building and have to face with "the world" without sight. I could be politically correct (as most of the reviews that I read) and say this book is spectacular. My opinion is that the author missed the chance to tell a great story and got lost in the details.

Ensayo sobre la ceguera (Blindness)
"Ensayo sobre la ceguera" es una obra muy intrigante y bien escrita sobre el comportamiento del ser humano durante una crisis; les va a gustar a los aficcionados de Saramago. El único problema con la historia es cómo termina.

"Blindness" is a well-written, intriging work about human nature during a crisis. Fans of Saramago will like it. The only problem is how the story ends.

Espectacular
Saramagodespunta y se reafirma como uno de los mejores palabristas de nuestros tiempos. Su estilo único de contar una historia y su estructura novelistica rompe esquemas literarios y nos abre una ventana a un mundo nuevo de expresión escrita. Al principio nos asusta, o a algunos podrían hasta rechazar su inigualable manejo del lenguaje, pero en poco tiempo nos atrapa, y nos embarca en un hermoso y exquisito viaje del que nunca desearías terminara.

Very captivating book!
I already read this book a few years ago, and like the other people above said, it`s an incredible history you can't not put down the book once you started reading, because you get involve into it. Personally I recommended, I was thinking to read it again... ... Read more

Product Description
The purpose of this book is to contribute to our understanding of Developmental O and M, independent movement and travel in blind children. Unlike many books and articles on orientation and mobility (O&M) for blind children, this one is not about the effect of blindness on movement. Such an inquiry is self-defeating from the start, as it often begins with misconceptions and deficit-thinking about blindness and the blind child s early motor development. Instead, this book is about the effect of movement on development and the importance of movement experiences for the development of independent movement and travel in blind children. It has a clear premise: blind children must become "active movers" if they are to become independent "travelers." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great tool - very professional
This book is full of good ideas and was a great instrument for working with blind children.I've always work with adults since I graduated as an O&M specilaist and I am now working with childrens.This was a good refresher and add on to working with childrens.This book is also very professional and I will recommend this book to parents and teachers working with blind children.My workplace and clientele is 100% French so I would have love to have this book in French... if you ever have it, let me know.Merci!

Should be handed out at the hospital.
This is a fantastic Orientation and Mobility book.My only wish is that I had gotten it sooner.

Well written
It was very friendly written to make it easy to read.I was disappointed in that the book favored one organization over another.

Very Helpful Book
As a parent of a blind 7 year-old, I will use this book to help me to encourage my daughter to become an independent and confident traveler. I can help her learn the skills of blindness. This book would also be extremely helpful for a parent with a baby or toddler who is blind including those with multiple disabilities.Mr. Cutter suggests a partnership between parents and O&M teachers.This book would be invaluable in a O&M teacher preparation program and for current teachers.An in-depth discussion of cane use, selection, and teaching is discussed including the use of a "teaching cane."I was encouraged by the positive attitude of this book toward blindness. ... Read more

Product Description
More than 500 detailed entries are included in clear, concise language with a minimum of technical jargon. The volume incorporates a history of blindness and vision impairment with an A-to-Z presentation of health issues, types of surgery, medications, medical terminology and social issues. ... Read more

Product Description
Returning to the themes of her classic Drama of the Gifted Child, the famed psychoanalyst examines the consequences of cruelty to children and offers ways we can heal our early psychic wounds.

More than twenty years ago, a little-known Swiss psychoanalyst wrote a book that changed the way many people viewed themselves and their world. In simple but powerful prose, the deeply moving Drama of the Gifted Child showed how parents unconsciously form and deform the emotional lives of their children. Alice Miller's stories about the roots of suffering in childhood resonated with readers, and her book soon became a backlist best seller.

In The Truth Will Set You Free Miller returns to the intensely personal tone and themes of her best-loved work. Only by embracing the truth of our past histories can any of us hope to be free of pain in the present, she argues. Miller uses vivid true stories to reveal the perils of early-childhood mistreatment and the dangers of mindless obedience to parental will. Drawing on the latest research on brain development, she shows how spanking and humiliation produce dangerous levels of denial, which leads in turn to emotional blindness and to mental barriers that cut off awareness and the ability to learn new ways of acting. If this cycle repeats itself, the grown child will perpetrate the same abuse on later generations--a message vitally important, especially given the increasing popularity of programs like Tough Love and of "child disciplinarians" like James Dobson. The Truth Will Set You Free will provoke and inform all readers who want to know Alice Miller's latest thinking on this important subject. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

A must read for all parents
After having read another of Alice Miller's books (Drama of the Gifted Child) I thought I'd see what else she had to say and in The truth will set you free I was not disappointed. She writes in a free flowing and honest manner and is able to make the reader reflect on and even question the validity behind things we take for granted; things we often assume to be a fact of life. I think this book is especially relevant for anyone that is a parent or hopes to one day become one. We owe it to ourselves and we especially owe it to our children and future generations to overcome the blindness Miller speaks of. It is also a great read to help elucidate one's own character development.

Subliminal and insideous trauma
What Alice Miller does better than anyone else is uncover assaults to the soul that are generally unrecognized.She discloses words and behaviors that are experienced, during the developmental years of childhood, that undermine one's value and sense of self.

a book with great insights regarding humans personal matters
The book is very well written and interesting. It is of great help to all adults of narcissistic parents / families. Alice Miller gives support and understanding to the grown-up that wants to be in control of his own life. The truth also allows advance in emotional growing. Highly recommended for parents as a tool to improving communication with their children and progressing the intent of raising loving and caring children.

Break through the family curse
This is a great book to help me understand myself. From my grandma to my mother, and to me, our personal life seem repeat the same fate of the earlier generation's. My daughter is now entering her early adulthood. Is she going to be another victim of this family curse? Reading this book, bring back a lot of my buried childhood memory. I can see how strongly that drives me today on making decisions and choices, and how I response and relate to other people. This awareness bring me a great hope that I can live differently in the rest of my life, and positively impact my daughter, and her children in the future.

Book review
This book was in great condition and was sent instantly. There were absolutely no problems. ... Read more

Product Description
Inside this book are reflections on the nature of vision and blindness. Further, there are explorations of interpretive research, andpresentations of some seminal and contemporary publications in the field of blindness. The other major fodder for conversation with you thereader is an elaborated example of empirical research entitled Blind Online Learners. Each element of this inquiry is explicitly reflected uponas an example of interpretive research.This book is intended for four intersecting groups of readers. If you are a philosopher, closet or sanctioned, then youcannot ponder the nature of being without due consideration for vision, and cannot contemplate the role of seeing in our liveswithout listening to the stories of those who are blind. The tales within this text are particularly contemporaneous because theyare contextualized by the cyber-phenomena of online learning. This segues to the second group of readers, as the describedempirical research was originally intended to bring greater depth and breadth of understanding to the field of educational technology,particularly as it intersects with disability studies. There is a paucity of published literature that has inquired into disabledonline learners, and this research study responds to that call. Third, this book may be used as a textbook on approachesto interpretive empirical research. It is as close as one may come to a recipe, walking students through a specific example.Because it is situated in actual empirical research, the intention was that it avoid the trap of being prescriptive or formulaic.Finally, the text is intended for readers interested in the field of blindness. The text reviews some of the seminal and contemporaryresearch on blindness, and then presents an elaborated example of what we can and should expect to emerge in the knowledgeproduction industry, changing what it means to be blind. ... Read more