PDF Ebook The Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses, by Paul Koudounaris

PDF Ebook The Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses, by Paul Koudounaris

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The Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses, by Paul Koudounaris

PDF Ebook The Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses, by Paul Koudounaris

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Review

“. . . an astounding achievement, both as a literary and photographic work.” - Fangoria“Koudounaris gracefully transcends mere ghastliness and ghoulishness to challenge cultural perceptions of death, both current and centuries old. The result is not only a highly original work of great visual beauty and rigorous scholarship but also a surprisingly intimate and tender meditation on what the author calls 'the dialogue with the dead.'” - Bloomsbury Review“The photos of the skulls alone justify the purchase.” - Talk

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About the Author

Paul Koudounaris received his doctorate from the art history department at UCLA. His previous books include The Empire of Death and Heavenly Bodies. He lives in Los Angeles.

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Product details

Hardcover: 224 pages

Publisher: Thames & Hudson; 1st Edition edition (October 24, 2011)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 9780500251782

ISBN-13: 979-0500251781

ASIN: 0500251789

Product Dimensions:

9.2 x 1.1 x 12.4 inches

Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review:

4.9 out of 5 stars

49 customer reviews

Amazon Best Sellers Rank:

#80,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

I am so happy that I ordered this book. It is full of stunning photography and the binding is very elegant. This was a perfect addition to my collection of books about Ossuaries. Typically these kinds of books are either coffee-table books burdened by mediocre writing and poor scholarship, or textbooks with wonderful historical perspective but few images. The text by Koudounaris entirely worth reading, though the format sacrifices ease of reading for visual appeal. Some of the sites in this book are rarely photographed or written about, so it is really a wonderful resource in addition to a beautiful book for display. It also includes map locations and very clear cross referencing in the appendices. To be honest, the photographs are so beautiful that it would be worth buying for those alone.

A lovely photography book that picks up and goes a bit deeper than Paul Koudounaris' excellent previous book, "Heavenly Bodies" - the images are hypnotic and so full of radiant 'life' and beauty, artistry and veneration, that while being drawn in to the superb imagery one can never forget exactly what we are seeing - the glorification of the inevitable. The book itself is a work of art - heavy, golden decorative pattens adorn the thick covers, while the pages are exquisite glossy heavy bond. At 224 pages, this is a work of love and craftsmanship. And, without many of these images, where would all those Death Metal bands get their album covers?

I wanted a book that would give historical and interesting facts on places of death and our treatment of the dead. That is just what was delivered and more. The photos are large, high quality and provoked a range of emotions from me including shock, dread, awe, curiosity, and the desire to learn more. I agree with another reviewer that, despite its "coffee table" appearance, the information in this book is very well researched. Also, the the material is in-depth without being academic or dense and seems to build on itself to form a chronology of the history/facts covered.Two, perhaps, unexpected consequences of my reading this:1. My acceptance of death as a normal part of being human has already increased as a result of what I have read and I am definitely more open to its discussion.2. I recognize a need for society to demystify death and break down the taboos so as to better prepare ourselves, thus living more deliberately.

Awesome! Anthropoligst, phsychologists and thansthologists galore.! Also very interesting for people intrigued about or researching the reality of death. Very few books on this topic available. Not so good as Memento Mori, but also extraordinary images and text. Try a recently released book from another author, called "Death, a graveside companion".(1st edition). It's TRULLY awesome!!

A really beautiful and substantial book in the hand. This book is less picture heavy and much more literature heavy than most books about the catacombs. If you are looking for an enormous photobook that is MOSTLY photos this is not your best bet. If you want lots of information interspersed with gorgeous photos and drawings its a win.!

This is a remarkable book. It is beautifully produced and manages to span the realms of the coffee table grimoire and the insightful scholarly work. Paul Koudounaris speaks authoritatively and succinctly, revealing a world of life and hope that has been effectively extinguished in modern society. There is an unsettling message that resonates through every page; by marginalizing and concealing our beloved dead, we take some of the vivacity from our own lives. Plus, you get a built-in ribbon bookmark.The Empire of Death will likely change the way you think about death, even if you had a relatively amicable relationship before.

The photos are really what this book is all about - stunning, chilling, perplexing and intriguing glimpses into the burial or preservation practices of centuries past.If you actually "read" the book, there are some issues: very small typeface, a bit frozen and boring in terms of content, and not a robust accompaniment for the incredible photos.I looked through and enjoyed this and then gave it away as a sumptuous gift to a friend.

Littered around Europe are so called Ossuaries where bones arekept either in special niches or arranged in convivial macabrebaroque art. This book is a compendium of such shrines and ahomage to death itself.Paul Koudounaris has documented well and little known CharnelHouses, not to mention he presented it with flair and supplementedwith several pictures.Included in this handsome hardbound book are the famous CapuchinChurch in Palermo,Scwarzenberg Chapel, Waldsassen and Church ofSaint Francis in Portugal.This is highly recommended for those who are Connosieurs of theStrange and those who are not brave enough to cross the thresholdof the said chapels and churches. Dr. Koudounaris has done anexcellent job and give us a free tour of the Realm of the Dead.

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The Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses, by Paul Koudounaris PDF

The Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses, by Paul Koudounaris PDF

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Free PDF Imperium, by Ryszard Kapuscinski

Free PDF Imperium, by Ryszard Kapuscinski

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Imperium, by Ryszard Kapuscinski

Free PDF Imperium, by Ryszard Kapuscinski

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From Publishers Weekly

Polish journalist Kapuscinski offers a travelogue account of the collapse of the Soviet system and the difficulties of creating genuine democracy from what has been left behind. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Review

"Kapuscinski is a transcendental journalist. . . . He begins with appearances, for which he has uncommon gifts of poetry, irony and paradox, and clambers down them into essences. . . .He is writing about the whale from inside its belly."—Los Angeles Times"Kapuscinski is an enchanting guide, combining boundless stamina, felicitous writing, childish curiosity and the literate authority of a true intellectual. . . . There are treasures in this book. . . .It is a triumphant combination of bleak history and black comedy."—The New York Times Book Review"When our children's children want to study the cruelties of the late twentieth century . . . when they wonder why revolution after revolution betrayed its promises hrough greed, fear and confusion, they should read Ryszard Kapuscinski."—Wall Street Journal"A compelling and convincing narrative that examines the extensive damage done to entire nations, the human psyche and the physical environment....This is a devastating picture of Russia [that] penetrates deeply into the depressing truths of 70 years of Soviet rule, the borders, the fear, the inhumanity.... His portrait of the 'Imperium' is tragic, but ever so true."—Professor Thomas R. Beyer, Jr., Middlebury College, The Boston Globe

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Product details

Paperback: 352 pages

Publisher: Vintage; 1st Vintage International Ed edition (August 8, 1995)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 067974780X

ISBN-13: 978-0679747802

Product Dimensions:

5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches

Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review:

4.5 out of 5 stars

57 customer reviews

Amazon Best Sellers Rank:

#269,212 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

A gathering of essays and impressions over the years (starting with a flashback to his early childhood in Polish speaking, Nazi-invaded Belorussia) and featuring Kapuscinski's two years of wanderings around the imploding republics in the early 90s. Perhaps the most fascinating insights are derived from his conversations about the peak Stalin years, and the innumerable blind gaffes (and knowingly perpetrated acts of icy bureaucratic inhumanity) which buffeted every region from the Baltic States to the Caucasus to Baikal to deep Siberia. At times it reads like a nightmare, at times like a surreal document from the 15th century, at times like letters home from the front. Indispensable to an understanding of modern Russia.

Reading Ryszard Kapuscinski is like sitting at the knee of a master storyteller! The tales he tells are amazing, horrific, informative, fabulous--all the things a great storyteller weaves into a tale. The only thing is that Kapuscinski does not make up his stories. He boarded (he is deceased) trains and planes for far-flung places--all in the name of news gathering. However, what Kapuscinski delivers then is not just news, but his dry-eyed observations of humans in all their glory, all their disgusting or disquieting ways, their cruelties, their passions, even their incredible, often feeble attempts just to survive, and amazingly, in this context, their jubilations, their small victories, and their powerful will to live. Kapusciski is a master all right: of human nature, of writing, of that rare ability to inform, entertain, and evaluate. He is a newsman extraordinaire.In "Imperium" Kapuscinski turns that extraordinary talent to---call it what you will---the U.S.S.R.---the Soviet Union---Russia and her satellites. He visits, in many cases, multiple times, every country that made/makes up the U.S.S.R. (He divides his book into three parts, each denoting his travels and findings. They are "First Encounters 1939-1967," detailing his own experiences as a Pole with Soviet power and rules. Then Part 2 concerns his observations from his extensive travels across the USSR from 1989-1991. Part 3 (1992-1993)is comprised of his astute commentaries, fascinating reading!) Back to the USSR: I was simply amazed at the extent of differences of each country, of the almost phenomenal ability of the Soviet ruling elite to hold such a disparate world together. But at what unconscionable cost?That's the horror of the story--the horror of mass exterminations that went far, far beyond whatever goals Hitler and his Nazis conceived and carried out. Six millions? A mere pittance in comparison! Kapuscinski's figures in support of the vulgar, despicable number of deaths carried out by Stalin and later Soviet powers are more than shocking! Here's just one figure concerning one circumstance out of dozens: "Stalin starved to death around ten million people" (285). His chapter about the Great Famine will make you absolutely weep that such a distorted and vile creature as Stalin was allowed to live. The reader truly learns the meaning of the words "totalitarian" and "tyrant."But there's also a creative passion. After the dissolution of the Soviet Empire, Kapuscinski tells the reader about a wondrous story in the making. In Belarussia, there are the ruins of a church, felled by German artillery fire during WWII, where someone discovered bits of colored fresco. Prof. Grekov made it his life's work--and his students--to put that shattered fresco back together. Imagine! (Is this tear from Mary at the loss of her son or from the Mary who discovered the resurrection? Is this bit of fire from the burning bush or the fire of hell?) And it is Grekov's imagination that Kapuscinski celebrates. This long quote will show that imagination, that spirit and tenacity of the people, and, most of all, Kapuscinski's magnificent ability to weave facts and observation into gossamer, but gossamer with tensile strength:"And thus observing how from thousands of particles, bits, and crumbs, from dust, molecules, and pebbles, the professor and his students have been for years piecing together portraits of saints, sinners, and legends, I feel as though I were a witness, in this cold and dusty underground, to the birth of the sky and of the earth, of all the colors and shapes, angels and kings, light and darkness, good and evil" (302).So it is with the reader in discovering Kapuscinski's own talents. My personal pick of his most profound talent is that of observation of human nature, which then provides the reader with astute commentary. His explanation of the Russian mafias is illuminating. When Russian mafia figures began showing up in news and then films, I was perplexed. Mafias in Russia? How was this possible in a world of the KGB and totalitarian government? The answer? Bezprizorny! Homeless children! Beginning with the deaths caused by World War I, then October 1917, then civil war and mass starvation resulting from weather and by tyrant--a new class of social strata was born, or hatched, or exploded like Athena from Zeus's head: A new class--the bezprizorny by the thousands. Their goals: find food, find shelter. With no adults to guide them (if there were adults, living conditions still would not be conducive to developing healthy children either physically or emotionally) these pitiful children lived however they could, becoming more and more dangerous as their numbers doubled, tripled.Eventually, they formed their own mafias and lived by mafia rules: stealing and squaring accounts. Today's Russian mafias are the grandchildren of this class. Each successive event in Russia--the second world war, postwar purges, accelerating corruption of government, disintegration of the USSR---all contributed to the huge numbers of homeless children who produced children and grandchildren, who make up today's powerful and horrifyingly violent mafias. In fact, there are three distinct mafias: the Russian Mafia (from Russia proper--a whole other story in his book), the Caucasian Mafia (all other ex-Soviet countries), and the Asiatic Mafia (those from Islam regions, a huge population in the former USSR).I could tell story after story from Kapuscinski's book-- (For example, the story of Turkmenistan, the country of the desert, a place of riches and freedom, but not by America's standard of riches and freedom! This story alone--its explanation of the power of the desert--is worth the price of the book) --so packed it is with horror and passion, but each time I relate a story, I know it is taken out of context. Kapuscinski's account is causally and historically driven. There is an order, a precise arrangement in relating the stories about the USSR and its dissolved union. The only real way to learn this information, this series of inspired scrutinies of days past and days future is to read the book. Whatever I write will never do this book justice. You will also discover that one reading is not enough to absorb the expanse of space and time that that fills Kapuscinski's book."Imperium" is not a book to miss, if you want to learn what the USSR really was. You must order it today! Two other books by this writer that I also highly recommend are "The Other" and "Travels with Herodotus."Thanks to GB who introduced me to Kapuscinski, currently my favorite writer.Note: I see in previewing what I wrote before I hit the publish button that I was totally correct. I did not do this book justice. It is so much more-much, much more-- than the few words I wrote.

I read his book on Herodotus (actually, his reading of Herodotus while on his many travels) and liked it a lot. So I bought this book and am not disappointed.I've learned a lot about Russia and the former Soviet Union--for instance, how much of a Turkic empire the former central asian republics are. Most of those former "republics" are occupied by Turkic people who speak a common language and can readily understand one another.We are all now aware of the Stalinist brutality that existed. But this book really brings it home and just how hard and grueling life has been in the imperium and how much it continues to be so, especially in the outlying areas.The author notes that Russian demographers have estimated that between 1918 and 1953, between WWI and the Stalinist terror, between 55 and 110 million Russians died of unnatural causes. The full horror of the prison camps--in Siberia, for example, over one-third of those who entered died in prison--the forced starvation and murder of over 10 million Ukrainians, and the appalling harshness of life and environmental depradations that Bolshevism brought are revealed into full view in his writing.The author, who writes this book in the early 1990's and died a few years later, is hardly optimistic in his assessment of what lies in store for Russia and the former republics.The book is a real eye-opener about what is going on in Russia today.

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Download PDF , by Alexandra Risen

Download PDF , by Alexandra Risen

The book , By Alexandra Risen will always provide you favorable worth if you do it well. Completing guide , By Alexandra Risen to read will certainly not become the only objective. The objective is by getting the good worth from guide until the end of guide. This is why; you should learn even more while reading this , By Alexandra Risen This is not just just how quickly you review a publication as well as not just has the amount of you completed the books; it is about what you have actually acquired from guides.

, by Alexandra Risen

Download PDF , by Alexandra Risen

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Product details

File Size: 9090 KB

Print Length: 304 pages

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (July 5, 2016)

Publication Date: June 1, 2018

Language: English

ASIN: B011H55RS6

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Amazon Best Sellers Rank:

#159,401 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Alex Risen’s Unearthed is a lovely memoir, full of detail and lively characterizations. She covers a lot of ground (literally), both in the restoration of the abandoned garden and in the trajectory of her life, mingling the two almost seamlessly. The unearthing of her parents’ mysterious Ukrainian past during WWII, even as her mother has become so senile as not to be able to answer the thousand questions Alex has, is powerfully moving. The restoration of her garden, then, becomes a metaphor for the discovery of her past and finally helps her to heal old wounds. I found some of the transitions a little wobbly, but her beautiful prose more than makes up for this.

As a lifelong gardener who also had a difficult relationship with her gardening mother, this book really hit quite a few chords. I appreciated her description of how gardening connected her to her past and future.

I was also inspired by Gordon Lightfoot!

Never have had descriptions done so well that I actually wanted to be in the garden especially after it was finished.

Discovery and restoration of an old garden, should be a fascinating story. Unfortunately this book fails to be fascinating. Practical information is lacking here. What is in abundance are attempts to make "profound and deep" connections with the earth. The author hired a guy who balances the earth's magnetism. That really puts most of what she says here into perspective.The book seems to be written in the same impulsive, leapfrog manner that she directs her attention to activities. One second we are making the garden look nice for her "blessing" event and digging up dead roses, and the next she is playing with clay found under a rose and taking a pottery class. We hear way too much about how her clay won't do, or maybe it will, or it is better than he thought at first. Not necessary detail. The focus of the book is constantly changing.So this wild ravine has weeds? The solution they picked was to power pump vast quantities of mulch????? Where on earth did she find her experts? Have you ever seen a wooded ravine where a thick layer of wood mulch blanketed the area naturally? And then they are shocked when it washes down hill.EVERYTHING seems to scare either the author or her "experts". Old wires and light fixtures are hardly a danger, unless they are still live. EASY to determine with a voltage sensor. If no longer connected, they don't have to be yanked out to make the area safe! One deer, doing nothing but lying down, is another very alarming happening! Wow. We hear a lot of unnecessary worry but little of interest.Why is there such a problem about her parent's past? How could she not be interested? She acts as if the found paperwork can somehow contaminate her. Her responses to too many things are "far out there".At the end, she suggests being careful when foraging for plants. If you aren't sure what a plant is, you might want to rub it on your skin. WHAT? Would it not be far more prudent to identify it FIRST? Picking and rubbing a leaf on your skin is an excellent way to give yourself a serious case of say, poison ivy. After touching it with your fingers, those fingers are likely to make contact to skin in many other places, before you get home or think to wash them!And even after slogging through to the end, we have zero idea of how the garden was restored, what lives there, how they maintain it. Just vague mentions of buckets of heavy things carried up and down the 81 steps. We have no idea what was actually done to save the failing pagoda. After hearing the foundation is sinking and powdered, the roof failing, the columns disintegrating, about all we learn is they chose black slate tiles and small white marble ones for the floor and removed some wood in the ceiling.The writing is very jumbled. Besides poorly interweaving the garden parts with her personal hangups, the present and the past keep mixing. The result is a book that is hard to read and not enjoyable.

Just as the author and her husband buy an acre property just outside downtown Toronto, her father dies. This doesn’t make much of a difference in Risen’s life; in her entire life he has hardly ever spoken to her. He didn’t ignore her; he would work on projects with her- silently. That was pretty much their only interaction. It wasn’t that he couldn’t speak; her parents had long, loud arguments all the time. Her mother, always working in the garden or putting food by, is now alone and getting fragile, and has always preferred Risen’s older sister; she also almost never spoke to her younger daughter. The restoration of their new house and property, a chunk of a former large estate, is narrated concurrently with Risen’s quest to understand her parents.The reason that the author was so taken by this rundown and overgrown piece of property is that it’s on a ravine and is like a piece of forest in the urban setting. As a child, she would escape into the forested ravine behind her house, spending hours there away from her parents, who apparently didn’t care that she was never home. It’s also a challenge, I suspect; if she can make this garden beautiful and orderly, maybe her gardener mother will finally think her worthy of love and attention. Sadly, over the ten years of so it takes to renovate the acre, her mother has a stroke and then develops dementia. Despite Risen’s insistence that she get on a plane and visit, she will never see this piece of property. But when the author and her sister clean out her mother’s place as she is moved to a home, they find a cache of old papers- papers that may hold some answers to her questions about her immigrant parent’s origins.I really felt for the author; like her, my now dead parents are a deep mystery. Unlike her, there is no folder of hints or clues, but her search for answers struck a chord with me. The urge to know where one came from is, I think, fairly universal, and to have parents who never speak of the past leaves a hole in one’s heart. I’m also an avid gardener, and would love to have a property with old oaks, a redwood, a spring fed pond, and an old falling down pagoda. I understand the amount of work it would take to bring a place like that back into orderliness, although I have no comprehension of the amount of money it took them with all that they hired to have done- had the concrete pagoda rebuilt, professional arborists, landscape designers, a pool installed- their place is the proverbial money pit.Risen does remember her mother’s lessons on wildcrafting; each chapter ends with a recipe or craft done with plants from the land. Risen also chronicles her son growing up; he’s not very much into gardening-he’s a computer kid- but he does enjoy the paths and the pond, wildlife, and some of the crafts. The garden provides them with ways to be closer.The story is bookended by deaths; the author’s father begins it and her mother’s ends it. Risen has not found the answers she wanted, but she has learned some of what made them who they were. And she feels they did, as my mother said she did, ‘the best they could’. I really liked the book, even though I found the author frustrating at times as she had moments of immaturity. I stayed up nights reading it, and thinking about it when I was out gardening.

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