Book picks similar to
When God Is a Customer: Telugu Courtesan Songs by Ksetrayya and Others by A.K. Ramanujan
poetry
india
religion
sexuality
The Essential Kierkegaard
Søren Kierkegaard - 1996
Drawn from the volumes of Princeton's authoritative Kierkegaard's Writings series by editors Howard and Edna Hong, the selections represent every major aspect of Kierkegaard's extraordinary career. They reveal the powerful mix of philosophy, psychology, theology, and literary criticism that made Kierkegaard one of the most compelling writers of the nineteenth century and a shaping force in the twentieth. With an introduction to Kierkegaard's writings as a whole and explanatory notes for each selection, this is the essential one-volume guide to a thinker who changed the course of modern intellectual history.The anthology begins with Kierkegaard's early journal entries and traces the development of his work chronologically to the final The Changelessness of God. The book presents generous selections from all of Kierkegaard's landmark works, including Either/Or, Fear and Trembling, Works of Love, and The Sickness unto Death, and draws new attention to a host of such lesser-known writings as Three Discourses on Imagined Occasions and The Lily of the Field and the Bird of the Air. The selections are carefully chosen to reflect the unique character of Kierkegaard's work, with its shifting pseudonyms, its complex dialogues, and its potent combination of irony, satire, sermon, polemic, humor, and fiction. We see the esthetic, ethical, and ethical-religious ways of life initially presented as dialogue in two parallel series of pseudonymous and signed works and later in the "second authorship" as direct address. And we see the themes that bind the whole together, in particular Kierkegaard's overarching concern with, in his own words, "What it means to exist; . . . what it means to be a human being.?Together, the selections provide the best available introduction to Kierkegaard's writings and show more completely than any other book why his work, in all its creativity, variety, and power, continues to speak so directly today to so many readers around the world.
Myths of the Norsemen: Retold from the Old Norse Poems and Tales
Roger Lancelyn Green - 1960
In course of time ice piled over the Well, and out of it grew something they called Ymir, the father of the terrible Frost Giants. Ymir was fed on the milk of a magic cow who licked the ice, and with it salt from the Well of Life. As she licked with her tongue, she formed the first of the gods, the Ǣsir, who was called Buri. Buri had a son Borr, and Borr was the father of Odin. Odin and his brothers overcame the ice and frost giants. They thrust Ymir down into the Yawning Void, and of his body they made the world we live in. They set the sea in a ring about the world, and planted the World Tree, the Ash Yggdrasill, to hold it in place. From this making of the world, to Ragnarok, the last Great Battle, Roger Lancelyn Green tells the story in one continuous narrative. It is easy to read, and there is a clear rhythm carrying through to the final climax. He has taken his material from original sources, of which he gives a brief account in his foreword. “The interest in these myths often preceded reading abilty, but this telling will be found good to read aloud, and boys and gtirls from 10 up will easily manage it for themselves. “
Leonard Cohen: Poems and Songs
Leonard Cohen - 2011
Encompassing the erotic and the melancholy, the mystical and the sardonic, this volume showcases a writer of dazzling intelligence and live-wire emotional immediacy.
The Picador Book of Cricket
Ramachandra Guha - 2001
There was a time when major English writers - P.G. Wodehouse, Arthur Conan Doyle, Alec Waugh - took time off to write about cricket, whereas the cricket book market today is dominated by ghosted autobiographies and statistical compendiums. The Picador Book of Cricket celebrates the best writing on the game and includes many pieces that have been out of print, or difficult to get hold of, for years. Including Neville Cardus, C.L.R. James, John Arlott, V.S. Naipaul, C.B. Fry this anthology is a must for any cricket follower or anyone interested in sports writing elevated to high art.
At the Master's Feet
Sadhu Sundar Singh - 1922
13) “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me . . . and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Matt.xi.29) There is nothing so perfect in the world as to be quite above objection and criticism. The verysun which gives us light and warmth is not free from spots, yet notwithstanding these defects itdoes not desist from its regular duty. It behooves us in like manner to carry on to the best of ourability what has been entrusted to us, and strive constantly to make our lives fruitful. When the truths set forth in this book were revealed to me by the Master they deeply affectedmy life, and some of them have been used by me in my sermons and addresses in Europe, America,Africa, Australia, and Asia. At the request of many friends I have now gathered them together inthis little book, and though it is possible that there are defects in setting them forth, I am sure thatthose who read them with prayer and an unprejudiced mind will benefit from them as I have. It would be impossible for me to set forth these truths that have been revealed to me except inparabolic language, but by the use of parables my task has been made comparatively easy. It is my prayer that as God by His grace and mercy has blessed me by these truths, so also theymay be a blessing to every reader. Your humble servant, Sundar Singh
Windhorse Woman: A Marriage of Spirit
Lynn V. Andrews - 1989
Andrews begins a new journey. This odyssey of the spirit will take her to an ending and a beginning: the completion of the circle of learning first described in her wonderful autobiography of her life as an apprentice shaman, MEDICINE WOMAN, and the start of another quest for the truth only reached through struggle on the human path.Over fifteen years ago, Lynn Andrews became an apprentice to Agnes Whistling Elk, a Native American shaman woman from Manitoba, Canada. Since then, her special mission has been to share with us the discoveries and warnings she has learned. In a time of hate and chaos, her purpose is to teach balance and caring; in an age when humankind is destroying the Earthmother that gives us life, she is to show us the healing powers of female consciousness and the power of primal woman.Initiated into the Sisterhood of the Shields, a group of 44 shaman women from all parts of the world, Lynn still has far to travel on her spiritual journey. Now, a dream guides her, along with Agnes and Ruby, another Northwest Indian shaman woman, to a remote valley high in the Himalayas. She carries with her a magical gift, a key to help the Sisterhood unlock the knowledge of women that has been hidden for the last 3,000 years. But waiting for Lynn is an even more precious kind of gift, a marriage to a man who is both spirit and flesh, herself and yet not herself. Before this, some male energies have been her mortal enemy, like Red Dog, the sorcerer who has tried again and again to destroy her. Now a new male force, Windhorse, is joined in a ceremony of love and passion to the female, Windhorse Woman. This oneness carries with its important lessons for us all: "To fall in love, one must not be afraid to die." "If you are afraid of death, you will not live your life." These thoughts and many more wise, moving and often haunting mind images of desire, death and rebirth fill the reader with their immediacy and raw power.~ from hardcover dustjacket
The Christ Commission
Og Mandino - 1980
. . if he were given just one week back in ancient Jerusalem.That night author Matt Lawrence got his wish.A knock-out punch took him right out of this world and landed him in Biblical Judea in 26 A.D., just six years after the execution of Jesus at Golgotha.In relentless pursuit of his investigation, Lawrence walked the same streets Jesus walked, visited the same places . . . and found himself facing the same dangers.Eyewitness reports might lead him to a discovery that would shake the world--but will he live long enough to tell the 30th century that he just solved the greatest mystery of all time?"
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. D: The Romantic Period
M.H. AbramsJahan Ramazani - 2005
Under the direction of Stephen Greenblatt, General Editor, the editors have reconsidered all aspects of the anthology to make it an even better teaching tool.
The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness
Simon Wiesenthal - 1969
Haunted by the crimes in which he'd participated, the soldier wanted to confess to--& obtain absolution from--a Jew. Faced with the choice between compassion & justice, silence & truth, Wiesenthal said nothing. But even years after the war had ended, he wondered: Had he done the right thing? What would you have done in his place?In this important book, 53 distinguished men & women respond to Wiesenthal's questions. They are theologians, political leaders, writers, jurists, psychiatrists, human rights activists, Holocaust survivors & victims of attempted genocides in Bosnia, Cambodia, China & Tibet. Their responses, as varied as their experiences of the world, remind us that Wiesenthal's questions are not limited to events of the past. Often surprising, always thought provoking, The Sunflower will challenge you to define your beliefs about justice, compassion & responsibility.
The Ballad of the White Horse
G.K. Chesterton - 1911
On the one hand it describes King Alfred's battle against the Danes in 878. On the other hand it is a timeless allegory about the ongoing battle between Christianity and the forces of nihilistic heathenism. Filled with colorful characters, thrilling battles and mystical visions, it is as lively as it is profound. Chesterton incorporates brilliant imagination, atmosphere, moral concern, chronological continuity, wisdom and fancy. He makes his stanzas reverberate with sound, and hurries his readers into the heart of the battle. This deluxe volume is the definitive edition of the poem. It exactly reproduces the 1928 edition with Robert Austin's beautiful woodcuts, and includes a thorough introduction and wonderful endnotes by Sister Bernadette Sheridan, from her 60 years researching the poem."When Chesterton writes poetry, he excels like no other modern writer. The rhyme, rhythm, alliteration and imagery are a complete joy to the ear. But The Ballad of the White Horse is not just a poem. It is a prophecy." —Dale Ahlquist, President, The American Chesterton Society"Not only a charming poem and a great tale, this is a keystone work of Christian literature that will be read long after most of the books of our era are forgotten." —Michael O'Brien, Author, Father Elijah
Prayers
Sylvia Browne - 2002
In each case, the words were "infused" into her by her spirit guide Francine, and of course, by God. Granted, these words are a passive mode of prayer, yet the goal is to recharge your spiritual battery so that you'll be able to go out into the world and do God's work. "Over many years of public work, people have often asked me how to pray. My answer is simple, 'Just talk to God, and make your life a living prayer." "These prayers will lift your soul and let you magnify the Lord. They have done so for me and thousands of others. Many miracles have occurred by the power of prayer, and now I want to share these commanding words with you."
The Stone Boy and Other Stories
Thich Nhat Hanh - 1996
Combining the traditional and the contemporary, Stone Boy and Other Stories contains ten works of short fiction that illuminate Buddhist themes and Vietnamese culture.
A New Selected Poems
Galway Kinnell - 2000
Lying still in snow,not iron-willed, like railroad tracks, willingnot to meet until heaven, but here and theretreading slubby kissing stops, our trackswobble across the snow their long scratch.So many things that happen here are really little more,if even that, than a scratch, too. Words, in our mouths,are almost ready, already, to bandage the onewhom the scritch scritch scritch, meaning if how whenwe might lose each other, scratches scratches scratchesfrom this moment to that. Then I will go backto that silent evening, when the past just managedto overlap the future, if only by a trace,and the light doubles and caststhrough the dark a sparkling that heavens the earth.
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: In Full Color
William Blake - 1790
Nowhere is his glorious poetic and pictorial legacy more evident than in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, which many consider his most inspired and original work.The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is both a humorous satire on religion and morality and a work that concisely expresses Blake's essential wisdom and philosophy, much of it revealed in the 70 aphorisms of his "Proverbs of Hell." This beautiful edition, reproduced from a rare facsimile, invites readers to enjoy the rich character of Blake's own hand-printed text along with his deeply stirring illustrations, reproduced on 27 full-color plates. A typeset transcription of the text is included.