Vikings

 
Vikings - A Concise History of the Vikings (2016) - Henry Freeman



long ship heroes
painted by history as blood-thirsty warriors

but
could they really be

long ship 
pioneers

trail blazers

MY GOOD READS REVIEW
 Vikings: A Concise History of the Vikings by Henry Freeman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A thirst to know more about those intrepid Vikings of legendary history led me to this book. Who were the Vikings beyond the brash invaders in long ships? Did they really hold people to ransom in the 8th to 11th centuries A.D.? The Viking altercations with the Frankish emperor Charlemagne are intriguing. That explains one reason for Viking assaults on monasteries. In early days Vikings traded in human beings... people were sold as merchandise...But what people and why? The book leaves the question hanging in space...The Vikings, at one stage, sacked and looted Paris...But then what? Often, this book makes amazing claims about the Vikings, but there is no evidence or source to substantiate the claims...So frustrating...Who would believe that Kiev Vikings became an elite military unit in the Byzantine Empire to protect the Emperor. So what active duty did they perform? Evidence? While this book only claims to be a concise history of the Vikings - intriguing as it may be - perhaps it is a little too concise for the history lover?

View all my reviews

MY AMAZON REVIEW
Behind the Viking mask
A refreshing insight into the Viking impact on northern worlds. Beyond the axe-wielding, horned helmet raiders of popular, staged history, the book suggests that the Vikings are a group of people intent on active progress beyond home borders and maybe even valued sustainability. Unbelievable that the Viking groups from Norway, Denmark and Sweden had little solidarity with each other and were even prone to some in-fighting if the circumstance involved land or bounty. Further, most amazing must be the fact that Vikings became an elite army unit for the Byzantine Empire. This book traces Viking footprints well, but, as enlightening as many facts may be, there is still the one major question that seems to get little attention and exploration. When and why did the Vikings embark on a trail of invasion, plunder and settlement? What was the first spark?

Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness (1899) - Joseph Conrad


Steaming blindly into the unknown

unknown jungles
unknown humanity
unknown heat
unknown pressures

but the greatest unknown
the greatest fear
the greatest horror

the shock

to meet

the unknown self

MY GOOD READS REVIEW
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When cultural and social conventions slam up against the unknown in a past era of colonial drive and glory, some strange impressions emerge. Kurtz is the enigmatic adventurer in the heart of Africa who pounds the trail for the British ivory trade, but subconsciously, even unwillingly, finds the darkness in his soul. Marlow, the narrator, seeks the thrill of sailing away from 'sepulchral' London and, by chance, aligns with the intrepid, 'god-like' Kurtz. In the background, steamy African humanity seems to be scooped into a monochromatic pit of savagery, rather distasteful to 21st century norms. For some readers, this may be abhorrent. But times then were the times. This novel has become a mirror of late 19th century trends and attitudes. Accept the existence of those features, and the novel becomes a dark horror of a self-absorbed humanity. Kurtz and Marlow could almost be the slim hope that some see 'the truth'.

View all my reviews

MY AMAZON REVIEW
In the Pits of Dark Humanity
Getting to know the raw heartbeat of the soul is not for the faint-hearted. Kurtz, in colonial Africa, is an intrepid adventurer seeking ivory treasures. By chance, he is thrust into a spiralling freefall, a reluctant confrontation with his own inner darkness. Marlow, the narrator, (the Henry Morton Stanley of Dr Livingstone history), seeks the elusive, god-like? enigma that is Kurtz. The Kurtz he finds is unnervingly like the man Marlow realises is the man he himself is subconsciously becoming. Set in a rich tapestry of steamy jungles, waters and shifty sheds of an Africa on a precipice, this novella introduces 'the horror' of greedy, blind civilisation bent on invasive self-destruction.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

 

Kindle edition on Amazon

he glittered

like a jewel of humanity

polished

youth

unattached

he painted a picture

of beauty

he WAS

the picture

wisdom

toyed with his mind

overturned

his soul

passed him by

a black future

framed

MY GOOD READS REVIEW
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sparkling epigrammatic wit frames this dark plunge into the abyss of an errant young soul, a soul doomed to be forever young. The narrative could be labelled a thriller - there's murder afoot, a sci-fi journey - a painting becomes the dark journey of the human mind and spirit. And yet there are the settings locked in 19th century fashions and sophistications and devious games. Cast the labels aside, and perhaps there is the raw confessional, the secret, the private mirror, the picture of any age.

View all my reviews

MY AMAZON REVIEW 
A brilliant dive into the darkness of the soul...
A long time ago, I read this tale. I remember the dark tensions, but not the myriad dark signposts along the way to hell. Oscar Wilde has created a thriller streaked with wit and mayhem. A picture is worth a thousand, timeless words. It has the strength to be daring and the fragility to shatter like glass into millions of meaningless pieces.

The Discovery of the High Lama

The Discovery of the High Lama (2009) by Sushma Joshi (ebook on Short Stories)
The spin of apparent circumstance settles into a life purpose for one and a humbling experience for another.


Dead Rose Tigerbalm in the Insight Bar

So far from the studies of Boston

Strumming lop-sided chords on the guitar

A Kathmandu backwater 

So far from marketed fortunes

A potato stuffed mentality
Ripe for
Chopping boards

And remote
Elusive 
Mongolia

Bigyan thought he was on a quest for
Enlightened
Black belt success

But the Enlightened One decided
Other
Wise

GOODREADS REVIEW

The Discovery of the High Lama by Sushma Joshi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Elusive be "the simple science of inner knowledge" for those burdened with bookish academics; for those who have concocted their own template of superiority. While his "friends" travel to Boston or Australia to seek mercenary, intellectual status, Bigyan, with his black belt in kyo-kushin karate, travels from Kathmandu to Mongolia to compete. He wins a silver medal and stumbles into the delighted welcome of monks. A bizarre, but fascinating sequence of circumstantial scenarios give birth to a multi-faceted awakening.

View all my reviews



Linking to:
Poets United - Poetry Pantry