Advantages: An entertaining, engaging and thought-provoking travelogue. Disadvantages: None to speak of.
INTRODUCTION
I came across the work of travel writer William Dalrymple quite by accident. I had arrived early for a meeting in London, and, spotting a branch of Waterstone?s quite close to my destination, I wandered in for a spot of window-shopping. The artwork on the front cover of From the Holy Mountain (FTHM) was what initially attracted me, but on picking it up, the subject of the book was not immediately obvious. The back cover was adorned by a number of gushing quotes praising the author, and the only clues to what lay within were brief references to Byzantium and Eastern Christianity. Having been brought up in the Armenian Orthodox tradition myself, my curiosity was thoroughly piqued, and with a quick glance at my watch to ensure I had some time, I dove in to the first chapter then and there. Intrigued by the opening ...
Advantages: Interesting reading. Disadvantages: My pages started to fall out.
This is an awesome book. Holy Blood Holy Grail is a book that was yet another stage of my own search for truth. That journey, for myself, started with The Bible and my desire to reconnect with God after years of thinking I was a bad person for abandoning The Church. My desire to know God and the truth behind all I had been taught as a child led me to pursue pastoral goals. However, the more I used my head, and 'discerned' as the Bible commanded of me to do - the more I started to see that what I was reading was an obvious manipulation of reality. At first I thought it was just an innocent account from a less informed perspective, but I started to come across many sources that led me to believe it wasnt as innocent as I had wanted to think.
This age of information has afforded us many opportunities to find the truth that so many ...
Advantages: Thought-provoking, intelligent lyrics, powerful music Disadvantages: Can make for uncomfortable listening
Richie James Edwards, Manic Street Preachers lyricist and guitarist, was last seen leaving the London Embassy Hotel at 7:00am on Weds 1st February 1995. What happened after that is shrouded in mystery and rumour but what is certain is that his genius as a writer will live on in the form of The Holy Bible, the Manics' third and finest album.
A bleakly disturbing vision of Richie's mind, the album makes for uncomfortable listening with subjects covering the full range of man's corruption, evil and sickness and will certainly not be to everyone's taste. "I don't see it as a record", Nicky Wire (bassist and lyricist) would say later "I see it as a state of mind".
The Holy Bible will always be remebered as Richie's album, but James Dean Bradfield's contribution should not be overlooked. In a predominantly lyric-driven album, he barks ...
Harold (Edwin) Darke (1888 - 1976); Sir Edward C(uthbert) Bairstow (1874 - 1946); Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958); John (Nicholson) Ireland (1879 - 1962); Sir William (Henry) Harris (1883 - 1973); Herbert (Norman) Howells (1892 - 1983); Frank Bridge (1879 - 1941)
