200 years ago 9 out of 10 people could neither read nor write, now it is just 1 out of 10.Įven if you look at pandemics from a point of view of 100 years, you will see that the Spanish Flu killed at least 45 million people, Aids/HIV about 30 million people. But if we look at developments concerning the world from a long-term perspective - the only sense-making way - almost any aspect concerning humanity seems to get better.įewer people go hungry, fewer people die in wars and natural disasters, more people live in democracies - and live much longer lives - than ever before. Short-term media like Twitter and hourly news create an impression of a world out of control, with democracy in peril, ubiquitous conflicts, and an overall outlook of doom. The Beautiful Numbers exhibit at the Thomas Erben Gallery in New York deals with long-term thinking.
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During the decades of his world fame as sage and preacher as well as author of War and Peace and Anna Karenin, Tolstoy wrote prolifically in a series of essays and polemics on issues of morality, social justice and religion. The works of Dante, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Beethoven, Baudelaire and Wagner are all vigorously condemned, as Tolstoy explores what he believes to be the spiritual role of the artist - arguing that true art must work with religion and science as a force for the advancement of mankind. Impassioned and iconoclastic, this powerfully influential work both criticizes the elitist nature of art in nineteenth-century Western society, and rejects the idea that its sole purpose should be the creation of beauty. These works culminated in What is Art?, published in 1898. During his decades of world fame as a novelist, Tolstoy also wrote prolifically in a series of essays and polemics on issues of morality, social justice and religion. Her trepidation was born of the fact that the man she loved was married-and addicted to drugs. "I fell into a burning ring of fire/ I went down, down, down and the flames went higher," June wrote in her song "Ring of Fire," expressing the mix of ardor and trepidation that she felt at the time. Ultimately, though, none of these experiences proved to be as consuming as her relationship with the Man in Black, whom she met, fell for and set out to reform during the early 1960s. She started performing as a child and later toured with the young Elvis Presley and starred at the Grand Ole Opry. June Carter Cash once had a thriving career of her own. "But I'm sure thrilled to be up here singing for you tonight." Then she sat down with her Autoharp to perform songs from her new album. Johnny Cash all these years," she told the assembled crowd. "I've been real happy paddling along after John, being Mrs. Last month, however, it was June's turn to take center stage as 200 people, mostly family and friends, gathered at the Cash estate north of Nashville to celebrate the release of "Press On," June's first solo album in nearly a quarter of a century. Later, June's husband, Johnny Cash, became one of country music's most revered icons. When she was growing up, her mother, aunt and uncle-the original Carter Family, who had brought country music down from the Clinch Mountains in 1927-helped usher the music into the modern era. June Carter Cash has lived most of her 70 years in the shadow of her family. The foster son of a Thembu chief, Mandela was raised in the traditional, tribal culture of his ancestors, but at an early age learned the modern, inescapable reality of what came to be called apartheid, one of the most powerful and effective systems of oppression ever conceived. He is revered everywhere as a vital force in the fight for human rights and racial equality. As president of the African National Congress and head of South Africa's anti-apartheid movement, he was instrumental in moving the nation toward multiracial government and majority rule. Since his triumphant release in 1990 from more than a quarter-century of imprisonment, Mandela has been at the center of the most compelling and inspiring political drama in the world. Nelson Mandela is one of the great moral and political leaders of our time: an international hero whose lifelong dedication to the fight against racial oppression in South Africa won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the presidency of his country. A country childhood - Johannesburg - Birth of a freedom fighter - The struggle is my life - Treason - The black pimpernel - Rivonia - Robben Island: the dark years - Robben Island: beginning to hope - Talking with the enemy - Freedom They’ll fly business class, paid for by her sister, but the truer journey there takes months and involves endless paperwork and administrative delays, obstructive medical professionals (“villains”, she deems them), and a slaying range of bittersweet emotions. Spoiler alerts aren’t required to say that, ultimately, she does no such thing, even though ensuring that it’s so means making good on the ultimate pledge: helping her beloved kill himself.Īssisted suicide is the preferred wording at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland, to where she and 66-year-old Ameche will eventually travel from their Connecticut home in January 2020, in order for him to down a fatal dose of sodium pentobarbital. “I have failed him” is a confession that Amy Bloom utters more than once of her husband, Brian Ameche, in her courageous howl of a memoir. So keep that in mind when I say that I feel like I have met my match in Keiran Masters. Heroes who are possessive and downright unhealthy. I feel like I have to say that I have a sick obsession with romances with heroes who aren’t really good people at all. Even though I knew it was all of those things that I stated above, I couldn’t put the damn book down! I got so caught up in this drama that I couldn’t move on until I finished it. So you’re probably wondering why I rated it anything more than one star. Is this book problematic? Hell yes! Are the scenarios here in any way romantic or realistic? Nope, again. I finally gave into it yesterday evening and in less than 12 hours, I have finished reading but I’m in shock. I’ve had this book on my TBR for quite some time but from the reviews, I was scared to read it. Warning: Fear Me contains sensitive themes. You see…he thinks I sent him away so now he wants revenge…and he knows just how to get it. Now he’s back and wants more than just my tears. But then he went away, and yet I was still afraid. For ten years, he’s been my tormentor and I’ve been his forbidden. It was the first time he hurt me and it wouldn’t be the last. We first met on a playground on a wonderful summer day. I don’t believe in fairy tales and Prince Charming. The funny thing about reviewing toddler books is that you could easily use more words in the review than there are in the book itself! It was my son's first birthday last week and the boy got so many presents we're struggling to find space for them in our little house!Īmongst the loot we hauled home was half a dozen books - and Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's dairy is my pick of the lot. I have a little boy and love reading to him, so this reading list will cover the classic (and new) children’s stories we’re enjoying together. This book falls into my BEDTIME STORIES list. Following the resounding success of my Locus Quest, I faced a dilemma: which reading list to follow it up with? Variety is the spice of life, so I’ve decided to diversify and pursue six different lists simultaneously. Their modest office is overseen by sidekick and assistant Albert (Reece Dinsdale). With such a bold proclamation, clients begin knocking at their door seeking solutions to their own personal, mysterious problems.Īrmed with a stylish fashion sense and "expense privileges," the couple enjoy the magical limelight of movie stars, politicians, explorers, and gamblers. Tommy suggests that the pair combine their talents as Partners in Crime creating a most extraordinary business called Blunt's Detective Agency specializing in 24-hour-results. The PBS mystery favorite is an adventure of a young (and eventually) married couple suffering from the doldrums of a passive and boring life. Agatha Christie's Partners In Crime: The Tommy and Tuppence Mysteries is a mildly exciting and entertaining detective series starring Francesca Annis ( Cranford, Reckless) as Tuppence Beresford and James Warwick ( Lillie) as husband Tommy. She was inducted into the Society of Illustrators in 2001 and into the International Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent in 1999. She won the Coretta Scott King Award for her illustrations in Nathaniel Talking and a Coretta Scott King Honor for her illustrations in Night on Neighborhood Street, all written by Eloise Greenfield. Gilchrist illustrated the highly acclaimed picture book The Great Migration: Journey to the North, winner of the Coretta Scott King Honor Award, a Junior Library Guild Best Book, an NAACP Image Award nominee, a CCBC Best Book, and a Georgia State Children's Book Award nominee. Jan Spivey Gilchrist is the award-winning illustrator-author of seventy-four children's books. Eloise was a beloved children’s book creator whose pioneering voice, especially for the Black American experience, has made her an inspiration to many generations of readers. She received many awards, including the 2018 Coretta Scott King - Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. In Me & Nessie, Eloise Greenfield offers a reassuring story about the special place and imaginary friend and a. She was the author of forty-eight children’s books including Honey, I Love and Other Poems and The Great Migration. Eloise Greenfield’s first book was published in 1972. The reader will not be surprised to discover that the Skull Kingdom is the home of the villain and that there is a lot of mist in the Mist Marsh. These are very suggestive names, whose main function is to easily define these places. The very names of the towns and valleys share this characteristic: there is the Shady Vale, the Skull Kingdom, the Mist Marsh. One can already tell by the name of the villain that the tone that permeates the story will be light and unpretentious. His mission is to form a party to recover the weapon and destroy the Warlock Lord. The protagonist of the book is Shea, a half-elf who, one day, receives a visit from a mysterious Druid, called Allanon, who explains to the young man that he’s the last descendant of the elven king Jerle Shannara and, therefore, the only one capable of wielding the mythical Sword of Shannara. To make matters worse, its narrative is also marred by repetition and the author’s inability able to detach himself from his greatest inspiration: The Lord of the Rings by J. The Sword of Shannara, a fantasy novel written by Terry Brooks in 1977, tells a classic, derivative story that lacks elements to make it stand out in the crowd. |