Love story. Epic. Adventure. Travel essay. There are many aspects and genres Gilman's novel "Caravan" can be attributed to. Perhaps it is its emotional and physical range that makes the novel so appealing to so many readers. I myself had never read a Dorothy Gilman novel but knew of her series of books, such as "Nun In The Closet" which began to read shortly after finishing this book.

The number of books I read every year has slowly been dwindling due to unseen circumstances, but of the books I have read this year, I am most grateful that I chose to read Caravan over them all. Gilman's style and prose, though well researched and pleasant to read, might lack a certain degree of complexity, but she makes up for it with a plot and cast of characters that is unrivaled, say that of the classic epics.

Yet, what I found so alluring and intoxicating of Caravan, was the scenery and montage she depicts so aptly that I too crossed the desert at night. I was there in Tripoli, smothered by the smells and masses of people. Gilman is able to transport the read in a way that is magical, allowing you and I to feel the sorry, joy, adventure, and love felt by Lady Treal.

My greatest dissapointment ... finding The Nun In The Closet mediocre in comparison to the wonderful story of Caravan.

Love story. Epic. Adventure. Travel essay. There are many aspects and genres Gilman's novel "Caravan" can be attributed to. Perhaps it is its emotional and physical range that makes the novel so appealing to so many readers. I myself had never read a Dorothy Gilman novel but knew of her series of books, such as "Nun In The Closet" which I began to read shortly after finishing this book.

The number of books I read every year has slowly been dwindling due to unseen circumstances, but of the books I have read this year, I am most grateful that I chose to read Caravan over them all. Gilman's style and prose, though well researched and pleasant to read, might lack a certain degree of complexity, but she makes up for it with a plot and cast of interesting characters that is unrivaled, say that of the classic epics.

Yet, what I found so alluring and intoxicating of Caravan, was the scenery and montage she depicts so aptly, that I too crossed the desert at night. I was there in Tripoli, smothered by the smells and masses of people. And I finally returned to England, to reminisce the adventures, places, and people from my life in Northern Africa.

Gilman is able to transport the reader in a way that is magical, allowing you and I to feel the sorrow, joy, adventure, and love felt by Lady Treal.

My greatest dissapointment ... finding The Nun In The Closet mediocre in comparison to the wonderful story of Caravan.

From the other reviews, you will notice a consensus regarding this recording. All are Indian music fans of one sort or another, but each expresses a distinction regarding this recording that elevates Call Of The Valley above other Indian music albums available in the West.

I've been experimenting with Indian music for a decade now, my first exposure being with Jai Uttal, a student of Ali Ahkbar Khan. No one is unexposed to Ravi Shankar who is interested in Indian music. It just goes with the territory when searching through the genre, and to be fair he is an excellent artist. Yet, I always knew there was something pure in Indian music that I was missing when I purchased or listened to these other artists who have been thrust upon the West as the flag bearers of the Raga, sitar, and tabla. Even those inexpensive off-brand traditional Indian music albums seem too conservative and lack the heart and soul that India's spirituality is known for and offered a more conservative recording.

It was not until I came across this album that I found what I had been searching for all this time, perhaps without truly knowing it. This is the first item on Amazon I am granting a 5 star rating. Call Of The Valley ...... how does one describe it? There is something to this album that is unique and magical. Many of the albums that I've listened to, such as The Best Of Shakti are artistic in their own merits, but do not have the ability to transport me to another place, whether it is the fertile valleys of India or an astral voyage of my own making. Call Of The Valley has this power. It is not just a musical summoning (from its title), it is an enchantment for the listener.

An excellent introduction to Eastern philosophy, if not for the fact that the book is a novella in its length and therefor easy to focus on. Many books attempt to express the art of Zen in everyday tasks, but do so through a perspective that roots itself in the West and not the East. Herrigel does not attempt to bring Zen to the reader. We are brought to it without our knowing, much like the arrow which finds its target.

The author is able to transport the reader to a Japanese archery range through prose that places the bow in one's hand and mind. The descriptions are powerful, yet subtle. You see the target. You can feel the taught string yearning to be set free from your grasp and let fly the arrow to its home. Herrigel translates Zen philosophy into the actions of your hands, that are linked to your mind, that is linked to arrow, that is linked to the target, and back again. It is this innocuous connection to everything outside the body that Herrigel aptly writes in a way that almost indirectly explains what Westerners have attempted to define in innumerous ways, but never quite understood.

Never have I read such a novel as cathartic and therapeutic as Silko's "Ceremony". I first encountered it in an English Lit. class in college. As 'sophomoric' as I thought I was at the time, it was not until a few years later that I reread the novel and fully grasped what was being said through the protagonist Tayo and his actions.

"Ceremony" is a journey of the soul, a Bataan Death March that we are all forced to experience at some point or another in our lives. That is what makes this novel timeless and accessible to us all. Leslie Marmon Silko, who I believe won a literary award for this novel, opens the heart and mind of the reader to a theme which has been recorded since the ancient Greeks (see Aeschylus' "Oresteia"), that of mathos through pathos, enlightenment through suffering.

Having already paid a heavy price as a veteran of WWII, Tayo returns to the suffering of his tribe. It is then that Tayo is able to recover what he never knew he had lost, his heritage and soul that was intricately linked to everyone and everything around him. The author attacks the demons plaguing Tayo with the rich symbolism in Native American culture (pay particular attention to the use of yellow and blue colors) and the aid of an enigmatic medicine man. Silko's weapons are in Native American song and myth, histories that empower Tayo to fight the state of mind that oppresses the Laguna Pueblo people on his reservation. With this, Tayo is able to finish his Bataan Death march once and for all, his past behind him, and his heart born again as true a Native American.

Um, is it me, or did I just read two very very high thumbs up for this movie? I would rather have bamboo splinters rammed up under my fingernails with water dripping onto my forehead for 48 hours while sitting in a tiger cage than to see this movie again.
Even Stallone was embarassed when the movie was released. I can recall David Letterman teasing Stallone on national tv for making this film. Stallone didn't even dare to defend the movie.

Kids: Go to your room. You shouldn't be watching violent films anyway.

Stallone fans: go see Cop Land, Get Carter, or Cliffhanger for a good time even Stallone would be proud of. Rocky anyone? Anyone?

At first glance, the novel appears to be a travel diary, or an exotic safari journal. Perhaps Matthiessen thought the same when he began the journey. But this is a novel that is penned from the heart and not by any distance travelled. The journey that the author relates is as intangible as the snow leopard itself.
As you can see above, the editors of Amazon deftly describe the beauty and storyline of "The Snow Leopard". But no amount of praise can empart to the reader what truly lays waiting inside the pages of this novel.
Matthiessen expertly transports the reader into his shoes. The author ceases to exist less and less with each chapter. The reader becomes the first person. Halfway through the story, it is ~we~ who are the ones making this journey deep into the wilds of the Himilayas. And by the end of the book, it is ~you~ who just may have found something you did not know you were searching for. Enlightenment.
The snow leopard Matthiessen speaks can be found by the reader, if you let it find you. Read this book with an open heart and open mind, and it just may change your life forever.

One reviewer bluntly summarised his opinion of this novel as "THE SNOW LEOPARD is the best book I've ever read. Period." I agree.

Amazing disc. Minimalism that is expressionistic. Ever shut your eyes and stare at the stars and red clouds that dance beneath your eye lids? World's Edge would be the soundtrack to that display. New Age that is etheral to the 10th degree. It is a soundscape that looks to the heavens (starry night) for its inspiration, but is rooted in something that is cthonic and primordial. Another Steven Roach fan who is a friend of mine prefers the "Early Man" album to this album. Uh uh. No way. What "Early Man" does for a jurassic feel, "World's Edge" would be the audio experience that comes from sensory deprivation. It can reach inside you and squeeze your heart a bit too tightly if you let it. That sounds extreme, but there is something to this disc that can send the listener on an astral journey, if you let it.....

I find it curious and ironic to see reviews of this album that focus and criticize on the aspect of the album missing "this track" or lacking "that transition" in the band's career. One reviewer even goes as far as giving this album a two-star rating, and I think to myself "Has he actually listened to the disc?". Allow me to explain. This album was in fact the first Dead Can Dance album I ever heard. It was recommended to me by a friend of a friend .... One's perspective can not be more unbiased than a first impression of an album and group. No previous albums to compare to, no chronology to gauge the music to.
On its own, A Passage In Time is exceptional. There is a stylistic theme to the album that eludes many compilations. For those who have yet to listen to Dead Can Dance, this album would almost give one the sensation of attending an ancient Byzantine court, or traversing the Aegean sea in a Phoenican trading ship. The music feels antiquital, but it is very refreshing. Classical, yet modern, New Age yet rooted in traditional styles of ancient music. In this era where so much music is repetitive, the DCD duo has been able to honor the past by giving rebirth to the old instead of mimicing it.
Two star rating? No. That comes from listeners not finding what they want and expect. What you will find in this album is an excellent sample of a moment in DCD's career. It is only a passage to explore, a glimpse, not the treasure chamber of DCD that comprises of their entire career.

In a perfect world, all soundtracks would contain the scores and diegetic music the screenwriter and/or director intended to be heard in the cinema. In a semi-perfect world, the recordings themselves would a heavenly digital transfer of the original recording sessions. And in an imperfect world, the album would contain all of the sounds and music viewers enjoyed from the film.

After listening to the album, I disagree with the rancor of other reviews of this album. The technical points hold merit, but the distraction is non-existent for the non-audiophile. As a Doors fan, I was initially dissapointed to learn only a handful of the some 30 odd Doors songs in Oliver Stone's film did not make the film soundtrack. "How could they do this!" And after buying "The Bandit Queen"'s soundtrack, I was suprised to find most of the music was a derivative of the actual film score. Do these complaints sound vaguely familiar (see older reviews of The Man Who Wasn't There) Perfection is not found in those albums, nor is it in The Man Who Wasn't There. Yet if one does not go looking for it, one will not be dissapointed, and instead, you are left with an insightful compilation that sets a Film Noir mood to the genre of Classical music. This is not something so readily done with a genre that cut its teeth on Jazz music (See "Romeo's Bleeding"). And the original music composed for the movie is excellent and narcotic. I yearned to listen to those tracks especially, again and again.

Don't compare the album to other music and albums, and you will find a subtle gem that needs only a little bit of polishing to shine through.