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The Book of Calamities Five Questions About Suffering and Its Meaning Peter Trachtenberg 9780316158794 Books

Download As PDF : The Book of Calamities Five Questions About Suffering and Its Meaning Peter Trachtenberg 9780316158794 Books

The Book of Calamities Five Questions About Suffering and Its Meaning Peter Trachtenberg 9780316158794 Books

This book is both powerful and compelling and the beauty of its writing pulls you into these true stories of calamities. I couldn't wait to read more each evening after work, till I finished it all. Now I want to re-read it and re-visit the places and people Peter Trachtenberg has introduced to us. He's a fine writer (see 7 Tattoos) who is becoming a great writer.


Tags : The Book of Calamities: Five Questions About Suffering and Its Meaning [Peter Trachtenberg] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. What does it mean to suffer? What enables some people to emerge from tragedy while others are spiritually crushed by it? Why do so many Americans think of suffering as something that happens to other people-who usually deserve it? These are some of the questions at the heart of this powerful book. <BR>Combining reportage,Peter Trachtenberg,The Book of Calamities: Five Questions About Suffering and Its Meaning,Little, Brown and Company,0316158798,Emotions,Essays,Suffering,Suffering.,GENERAL,General Adult,Human suffering; Survivors; Overcoming adversity; Philosophy; Sociology,LITERARY COLLECTIONS Essays,Movements - Humanism,Non-Fiction,PHILOSOPHY (SPECIFIC ASPECTS),PHILOSOPHY Movements Humanism,PSYCHIATRY (SPECIFIC ASPECTS),PSYCHOLOGY Emotions,Philosophy,Psychology,SOCIAL SCIENCE Sociology General,Sociology, Social Studies,United States

The Book of Calamities Five Questions About Suffering and Its Meaning Peter Trachtenberg 9780316158794 Books Reviews

I am a hospice nurse assistant and I just finished a 36 hour shift. I began this book at Mon 8 am ish and finished it 30 minutes before leaving tues evening.
I felt the book offered a wide variety of both ancient and relevant examples the reader can relate to as well as numerous philosophical and literary queries to mull over.
A brilliant book it is.

Thank you~
I have never read anything like this before on any subject. The author is highly intellectual, almost overly so, yet also profoundly emotional in his response to human experience. He can write about ancient philosophy and make it as immediate as pop culture without losing any depth or seriousness--he truly makes art and culture timeless and universally applicable whether he is writing about the case of child-murderer Andrea Yates or the Rwandan genocide, or two young women suffering from a rare and deadly disease. Many of the stories in this book are appalling; many are profiles in courage.
I am SO glad I read this book. Despite my initial hesitations (just wasn't eager to read about suffering), once I committed myself to the book, I couldn't put it down. Peter Trachtenberg does an excellent job of summarizing intelligent related work I would like to read directly but probably never will (Epic of Gilgamesh, Book of Job, Simone Weil)and interwtining it with engrossing narratives of people making sense of their own suffering. The author adroitly weaves these strands together leading the reader through important questions and answers without being intrusive. I plan to read it again (& some parts again & again as they will continue to intrigue me). I recommend it for thoughtful reading on universally relevant topics.
This book endlessly frustrated me. There were some parts that had really insightful commentary on the great canon of western lit in regards to the problem of 'suffering.' Oedipus Rex, Orestes, Gilgamesh, etc. & I thought that these were insightful. But the tie to the 'real-world' stories of misery seemed tenuous at best. What Trachtenberg undertakes is to look at the ancient world's approach to suffering and death and compare it with our own modern approach.

Sometimes the descriptions of war, death, and disease became so grisly that it was hard to keep interest in the book's narrative thrust. When the author goes into his experiences interviewing Vietnam war vets, it reads like a museum of anguish. 'homonuculus in a jar' is his metaphor. I could hardly bear to read on some of the descriptions. I had to put it down a couple of times.

A good read, but not for the faint of heart. Anyone interested in the situation in Rwanda should give it a look.
The question of human suffering remains a tangled & frustrating one for most of us, and it was no less so for author Peter Trachtenberg. In this compelling book, he delves into whether suffering has a purpose or meaning, and whether that even matters. He poses the questions in beautifully interwoven strands, combining classic myth & ancient philosophy on one hand, and specific events of contemporary life on the other -- and his own life experiences are the binding thread. What I especially like about this book is that the author states right in the beginning that he began his book as a layman & that he ends it as a layman. In other words, he's in the same position the rest of us are in, struggling to understand the reason for suffering -- or is it the reason to try & make sense of senseless, meaningless suffering? Given that the modern world seems more torn & crumbling with violence, hatred, natural disaster, etc., than ever before, every one of us who hasn't chosen closed eyes & whistling in the dark is presented with this terrible question. If nothing else, reading Trachtenberg's thoughts on the subject will help the reader see things more clearly, focus his or her own questions.

One warning, though -- you may have to read it in small sections, as the horrors of what human beings can do & have done to one another is described vividly enough to sicken & appall the reader at times. This is necessary in order to give some idea of what survivors of such suffering must endure & live with afterward; but it's not easy going, to put it mildly. With that kept in mind, the book is still highly recommended to thoughtful readers.
I actually met the author, had him as an instructor one day workshop on "creative nonfiction," before I read this book. He was great in the workshop was great. However I thought the book was very far from that. I was extremely disappointed is very sorry I purchased this particular text. The book starts out very well, but then soon devolves into a very opinionated and preachy tome on the supposed social and moral value pain-and-suffering. I was expecting a lot more "story" and personal reflection, and a lot less academic essay or exhortation
i could not put this book down. it proved novel and enlightening in so many ways. it is an exciting exploration of human suffering and god's place in the world. Trachtenberg is a tremendous writer and thinker and i can't wait for additional writings.
This book is both powerful and compelling and the beauty of its writing pulls you into these true stories of calamities. I couldn't wait to read more each evening after work, till I finished it all. Now I want to re-read it and re-visit the places and people Peter Trachtenberg has introduced to us. He's a fine writer (see 7 Tattoos) who is becoming a great writer.