Friday, November 18, 2011

Enter the Void

Best-ever Games for Youth Ministry

The Gospel According to Jesus: What Is Authentic Faith?

  • ISBN13: 9780310287292
  • Condition: New
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John Charles Ryle (May 10, 1816 - June 10, 1900) was an evangelical Anglican clergyman and first Bishop of Liverpool. He was renowned for his powerful preaching and extensive tracts.John Charles Ryle (May 10, 1816 - June 10, 1900) was an evangelical Anglican clergyman and first Bishop of Liverpool. He was renowned for his powerful preaching and extensive tracts.The author of a much-loved two-volume Matthew commentary that he revised and expanded in 2007, Frederick Dale Bruner now offers The Gospel of John: A Commentary â€" the fruit of his lifetime of study and teaching. Rather than relying mainly on recent scholarship, Bruner’s approach honors and draws from the church’s major John commentators th! roughout history, including Augustine, Chrysostom, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Henry, Bultmann, Barrett, and more.

Added to this “historical interpretation” is Bruner’s “contemporary interpretation,” which incorporates a clear translation of the text, references to major recent scholarship, and Bruner’s personal application of the Gospel to his own experience. Rich in biblical insights, ecumenical in tone, broadly historical, deeply theological, and lovingly written, Bruner’s Gospel of John promises to be an invaluable resource for pastors and teachers.Carson states he is trying to explain the text of Johns Gospel to those who minister the Word of God to others, either by preaching or by leading Bible studies. It can be used by those laypeople who want personal growth. He looks at the flow of the text;The first edition of The Gospel According to Jesus won wide acclaim in confronting the 'easy-believism' that has characterized some aspects of evangelica! l Christianity. Over the past 50 years, a handful of books hav! e become true classics, revered world-wide for their crystal-clear presentation of the Gospel and lauded for their contribution to the Christian faith. These extraordinary books are read, re-read, and discussed in churches, Bible study groups, and homes everywhere. John MacArthur's The Gospel According to Jesus is one of those books. In The Gospel According to Jesus, MacArthur tackles the idea of 'easy believism,' challenging Christians to re-evaluate their commitment to Christ by examining their fruits. MacArthur asks, 'What does it really mean to be saved?' He urges readers to understand that their conversion was more than a mere point in time, that, by definition, it includes a lifetime of obediently walking with Jesus as Lord. This 20th anniversary edition of MacArthur's provocative, Scripture-based book contains one new chapter and is further revised to provide Christians in the 21st century a fresh perspective on the intrinsic relationship between faith and works, clearly rev! ealing Why Jesus is both Savior and Lord to all who believe.

Children of Huang Shi - Laminated Movie Poster - 11 x 17 Inch (28cm x 44cm)

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  • This poster is from Children of Huang Shi (2008)
Set in war-ravaged China during the late 1930s, Huang Shi is based on true events. It's the story of a young Englishman, George Hogg (Rhys Meyers), who led sixty orphaned boys on a journey across the Liu Pan Shan mountains to safety on the edge of the Mongolian desert.The Children of Huang Shi is a powerful, inspiring film about a real-life, outsider hero who emerged from Japan's catastrophic invasion of China in 1937. A British journalist, George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) s! neaks into Nanjing at the height of Japan's destruction of that cosmopolitan city. Rescued from certain death by a suave rebel named Chen Hansheng (Chow Yun-Fat), Hogg goes deep into China's countryside in search of another front to the war. Instead of furthering his career, however, Hogg is talked into taking control of a destitute orphanage occupied by starving, lice-ridden, half-savage boys. A roving nurse, Lee Pearson (Radha Mitchell), keeps Hogg focused on his task, provides him with medical supplies, and ultimately becomes his lover. But the former reporter has to figure many things out on his own, including how to inspire the boys to help fend for themselves.

With the Japanese closing in on the orphanage and the Chinese looking at the boys as likely soldiers, Hogg, Pearson, and Hansheng lead the kids on an extraordinarily strenuous, 700-mile hike to Marco Polo's so-called Silk Road, leading to the Gobi Desert. The second half of The Children of Huang Shi ! is taken up by this sometimes deadly labor, and director Roger! Spottis woode balances the dreariness of it with knockout images of mountains and eerie, desert vistas. The multi-national cast is the best thing about the film, which avoids canonizing the saintly Hogg by not ignoring his sins of pride (he refers to the kids as "my boys" to the wrong Chinese authority, and pays the price) and jealousy. Chow's jaunty persona adds an essential swagger to this Schindler's List-like story, but it's Mitchell's gritty, soul-weary performance that really grabs one's attention. --Tom Keogh

Hephaestus Books represents a new publishing paradigm, allowing disparate content sources to be curated into cohesive, relevant, and informative books. To date, this content has been curated from Wikipedia articles and images under Creative Commons licensing, although as Hephaestus Books continues to increase in scope and dimension, more licensed and public domain content is being added. We believe books such as this represent a new and exciting lex! icon in the sharing of human knowledge. This particular book contains chapters focused on Films set in Jiangsu, and Nanking Massacre films.Hephaestus Books represents a new publishing paradigm, allowing disparate content sources to be curated into cohesive, relevant, and informative books. To date, this content has been curated from Wikipedia articles and images under Creative Commons licensing, although as Hephaestus Books continues to increase in scope and dimension, more licensed and public domain content is being added. We believe books such as this represent a new and exciting lexicon in the sharing of human knowledge. This particular book is a collaboration focused on Nanking Massacre films.Bron: Wikipedia. Pagina's: 33. Hoofdstukken: The Voyage that Shook the World, Bangkok Hilton, Mad Max, The Black Balloon, The Children of Huang Shi, Mad Max 2, Disgrace, Mary and Max, Babe, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Babe: Pig in the City, Dying Breed, The Phantom, Moulin Rouge! !, Alexandra's Project, The King's Speech, Crocodile Dundee, P! aradise Road, Australia, Crocodile Dundee II, Vinyan, De cup, Rogue, The Year of Living Dangerously, Jindabyne, The Jammed, Death Defying Acts, Dead Calm, Wolf Creek, Muriel's Wedding, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Black Water, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Aquamarine, The Pirate Movie, Candy, Gallipoli, Rabbit-Proof Fence, The Proposition, Thunderstruck, The Chain Reaction, Three to Tango, Komodo, Salute of the Jugger, Attack Force Z, Red Flag over Tibet, December Boys, Storm Warning, Dingo, Holy Smoke, The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, Swimming Upstream. Uittreksel: The Voyage that Shook the World (ook: Darwin: The Voyage that Shook the World) is een gedramatiseerde anti-evolutionaire documentaire uit 2009 van Creation Ministries International, een jongeaardecreationistische organisatie. Het is geproduceerd door Fathom Media. In de film worden de evolutietheorie, intelligent design en creationisme belicht. De titel van de film verwijst naar de reis met he! t schip de Beagle die Charles Darwin van 1831 tot 1836 maakte. De film werd uitgebracht ter gelegenheid van feit dat Charles Darwin 200 jaar geleden was geboren evenals het feit dat 150 jaar geleden zijn werk De oorsprong der soorten werd uitgebracht. Charles Darwin in 1816, op zevenjarige leeftijd. Reis van de Beagle.De film begint met een beschrijving van Charles Darwin als kind: Darwin was iemand die over alles vragen stelde evenals iemand die er van hield om grootse verhalen te bedenken en vertellen. Darwin werd geboren in een gelovig gezin. Zijn grootvader Erasmus Darwin en tijdgenoot Josiah Wedgwood worden genoemd als vrijdenkende rationalisten...Forrás: Wikipedia. Oldalak: 24. Fejezetek: Félelem nélkül, Tigris és sárkány, Secret, Confucius, Aranyvirág átka, The Warlords, The Children of Huang Shi, A tiltott királyság, Ocean Heaven, Initial D, Ellenséges vágyak, 2046, True Legend, Kung Fu Dunk, Old Boys, A repülÅ' tÅ'rök klánja, Shaolin templom, The So! rcerer and the White Snake, A karate kölyök, HÅ's, A pofonok! földje , Jackie Chan: A katona, The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, The Battle of Dingjunshan, Shaolin harcművészete, A bosszú harcosa, Shaolin templom 2., The Knot, Sanghaji Filmkritikusok Díja. Idézet: A Félelem nélkül (Huo Yuan Jia, egyszerűsített kínai írásmóddal: 霍元ç"², magyaros átírással: Huo Jüan-csia, nemzetközi címe: Fearless illetve Jet Li's Fearless; alternatív magyar cím: A küzdelem útja) című kínai harcművészeti film Jet Li utolsó )filmjeként készült. A film ) életének egyes állomásait mutatja be, gyerekkorától egészen haláláig. A rendezÅ' Ronny Yu, a harckoreográfiát ) készítette, a zenét Umebajasi Sigeru szerezte, a film betétdalát a népszerű kínai popsztár, Jay Chou énekli. A film Jet Li ötlete alapján készült, aki a harcművészet lényegét összefoglaló alkotást szeretett volna létrehozni, mely a saját életfilozófiáját is közvetíti. A filmet 2005 tavas! zán kezdték forgatni, a kilencvennapos munkálatok júliusban fejezÅ'dtek be. A film viszonylag kevés drótköteles rásegítést és CGI-effektet alkalmaz, mert a rendezÅ' eltökélt szándéka volt, hogy hagyja Li harcművészetét érvényesülni. Li ellenfelei a filmben valódi harcművészek és sportolók, Nakamura Sidó kivételével. ) minden vágya, hogy harcművészetet tanuljon híres harcművész édesapjától, ám a kisfiú asztmás, így szigorú apja nem engedi meg neki, helyette írást kell tanulnia. A kisfiú azonban, miután apját legyÅ'zi a rivális iskola vezetÅ'je, elhatározza, hogy Å' lesz a környék legnagyobb harcosa és sosem fog veszíteni. Ellopja apja harcművészetet oktató könyvét és megkéri legjobb barátját, hogy másolja le ...Hephaestus Books represents a new publishing paradigm, allowing disparate content sources to be curated into cohesive, relevant, and informative books. To date, this content has been curated from Wikipedi! a articles and images under Creative Commons licensing, althou! gh as He phaestus Books continues to increase in scope and dimension, more licensed and public domain content is being added. We believe books such as this represent a new and exciting lexicon in the sharing of human knowledge. This particular book contains chapters focused on Second Sino-Japanese War films, and Nanking Massacre films.ALL PRODUCTS BRAND NEW, GUARANTEED AND FACTORY SEALED, GREAT PRODUCTS AND EXCELENT SERVICE (IDIOMA:ESPANOL,INGLES,SUBTITULOS:INGLES,ESPANOL,DURACION:125 MINS)MovieGoods has Amazon's largest selection of movie and TV show memorabilia, including posters, film cells and more: tens of thousands of items to choose from. We also offer a full selection of framed and laminated posters. Customer satisfaction is always guaranteed when you buy from MovieGoods on Amazon.

Cassandra's Dream

  • Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell star as working brothers whose dreams of better lives leads to desperation, greed and deadly betrayal. When gambling debt and an expensive courtship place them in a financial bind, a rich uncle (Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton) offers them an out in exchange for committing murder. Featuring gripping performances from an all-star cast; "this family tragedy puts us
Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell star as working class brothers whose dreams of better lives leads to desperation, greed and deadly betrayal. When gambling debt and an expensive courtship place them in a financial bind, a rich uncle (Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton) offers them an out in exchange for committing murder. Featuring gripping performances from an all-star cast; "this family tragedy puts us near the edge of our seats and pulls us right along on its downward spiral" (William Arnold, Seattle Pos! t Intelligencer). Woody Allen returns in razor-sharp form with this "intense, intelligently-written and directed," (Jeffrey Lyons, Reel Talk) thriller that challenges how far a man should go in the name of family.Scottish Ewan McGregor and Irish Colin Farrell play two Cockney brothers who get in over their heads when a wealthy relative asks for a favor. Woody Allen's sleek thriller Cassandra's Dream begins in innocent times: Ian (McGregor) and Terry (Farrell) buy a sailboat and name it Cassandra's Dream. But soon Terry falls afoul of gambling debts and Ian falls head over heels for a sultry actress who doesn't take him seriously, leading them to ask their uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson) for money, which he's happy to give them--if they'll get rid of a man who's going to testify against him. The first half of Cassandra's Dream zips along with short, concise scenes and charismatic performances by the lead lads. Newcomer Hayley Atwell (Brideshead Revisited) i! s alluring as the actress, while Sally Hawkins (Persuasion) bri ngs warmth and sympathy to the underwritten role of Terry's girlfriend Kate. The second half--as with many of Allen's later films--seems to run out of steam, though there's still much to admire about Allen's clean, unfussy filmmaking. Regrettably, he seems to have lost the ability to sustain his imaginative spark. The weakness is in the writing; too many of the characters are barely sketched and clumsy lines of dialogue jar the ear in otherwise well-shaped scenes. But just when you're ready to throw up your hands, there's a moment of understated grace, in which Allen's simple visuals capture something with crystalline clarity. Cassandra's Dream is a frustrating movie, but it has its rewards. --Bret Fetzer

DALLAS 362 ORIGINAL MOVIE POSTER

  • SINGLE-SIDED REGULAR 27X41 NEW
  • DESCRIPTION:  Authentic original (or specified high quality reproduction) one-sheet movie poster.
  • SIZE: Approx 27x40 inches unless otherwise stated.
A gritty portrait of the complex dynamics between friends and family and the journey one man takes and the choices he must make to find his way home.

Rusty wanders through his life, happily finding himself in the middle of trouble with the only person he can relate to, his best friend, Dallas. Without the understanding of Rusty’s mother, the only adult figure in either of their lives, Rusty and Dallas would never get out of their jail cells. For sanity’s sake, Mary employs her therapist boyfriend, Bob, to help set Rusty on the right path. As Rusty and Bob forge a genuine relationship, Rusty begins to embrace the life and death of his father, a rodeo star, allowing him to make bold decisi! ons about his future that lead to new possibilities in the lives of all three. While Rusty finds small doses of clarity and direction, Dallas chooses a darker road to a more meaningful and higher status. When the time comes to begin their journeys, their friendship is pushed to the brink and they are both forced to make decisions that will change their lives forever.JOURNEYMAN/DALLAS 362 - DVD MoviePRODUCT DESCRIPTION: At Moviestore we have an unbeatable range of both original and classic high quality reproduction movie posters. Movie poster art is a wonderful collectible item and great for home or office decor. We have been in business for 16 years so you can buy with confidence. Our guarantee - if you are not fully satisfied with your purchase from Moviestore we will gladly refund your money.

Goodbye Bafana Poster Movie 11x17 Joseph Fiennes Dennis Haysbert Diane Kruger Patrick Lyster

  • Approx. Size: 11 x 17 Inches - 28cm x 44cm
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  • Goodbye Bafana 11 x 17 Inches Style A Mini Poster
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Joseph Fiennes (Running with Scissors, Shakespeare in Love) and Dennis Haysbert (TV's 24) star in the incredible true story of the deep bond that develops between political prisoner Nelson Mandela and James Gregory, the racist white South African who was Mandela's prison guard for more than 20 years. Based on Gregory's controversial memoir, Goodbye Bafana, The Color Of Freedom powerfully chronicles the life-changing journey both men experience during Mandela's imprisonment - as one man confronts the racism he has always known, the other's struggle for freedom ! makes him a worldwide symbol of South Africa's heroic fight for democracy.Inspired by James Gregory's memoir, Goodbye Bafana, The Color of Freedom offers an inside look at the 27-year incarceration of future South African President Nelson Mandela (24's Dennis Haysbert). Apartheid-friendly guard Gregory (Shakespeare in Love's Joseph Fiennes), social-climbing spouse Gloria (National Treasure's Diane Kruger), and their two children move to Robben Island, home of the infamous political prison, in 1968. Because he speaks Xhosa, Gregory’s superior charges the warder with censoring correspondence and supervising visits between the African National Congress (ANC) leader and his wife, Winnie (Faith Ndukwana). As it transpires, the guard had a black childhood friend named Bafana, and his relationship with Mandela rekindles Gregory’s long-lost belief in racial equality. Directed by Denmark's Bille August (The Best Intentions), The Color! of Freedom captures the natural beauty of South Africa an! d the un natural fashions of yesteryear (including Kruger's '60s-era foundation garments). The actors also give it their all, particularly Fiennes, who nails the Afrikaner dialect, but predictability and underdeveloped personalities dilute the drama (it's also worth noting that Mandela hasn't corroborated the facts in Gregory's book, contributing to its controversial reputation). The six-foot-four Haysbert's dissimilarity to the Nobel Peace Prize winner also proves distracting. Like Blood Diamond and other recent motion pictures concerning African history, August's effort means well, but fails to register as more than a made-for-TV movie with superior production values. --Kathleen C. FennessyAn account of how the author was Nelson Mandela's gaoler for over twenty years. Despite opposing political views and Gregory's initial dislike of Mandela, the two gradually formed a firm friendship, becoming each other's confidant and source of comfort. Gives insight into the charac! ter and political beliefs of Mandela.United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), French ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), Spanish ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), English ( Subtitles ), French ( Subtitles ), Spanish ( Subtitles ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (2.35:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: White prison guard James Gregory's life is profoundly altered when he meets the prisoner Nelson Mandela, whom he ends up guarding for more than twenty years. ...Goodbye Bafana ( Il Colore della liberta' ) ( Detenuto 46664 )United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), French ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), Spanish ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), English ( Subtitles ), French ( Subtitles ), Spanish! ( Subtitles ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (2.35:1), SPECIAL FEATUR! ES: Inte ractive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: White prison guard James Gregory's life is profoundly altered when he meets the prisoner Nelson Mandela, whom he ends up guarding for more than twenty years. ...Goodbye Bafana ( Il Colore della liberta' ) ( Detenuto 46664 )Goodbye Bafana reproduction Approx. Size: 11 x 17 Inches - 28cm x 44cm Style A mini poster print

Pop Culture Graphics, Inc is Amazon's largest source for movie and TV show memorabilia, posters and more: Offering tens of thousands of items to choose from. We also offer a full selection of framed posters..

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The Heartbreak Kid (Widescreen Edition)

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More and more American children are emotionally hurt early in life and cannot form the relationships necessary to heal themselves. The cost to America as these children become adults is beyond estimation. This book takes a hard-hitting look at our society's key role in creating uncontrollable, unreachable young people and the no-nonsense steps we absolutely must take toward a genuine solution.Caution! High Voltage!

Electrician Sophie North felt as if she'd touched a live wire the first time she laid eyes on Tyler Barnes. That was to be expected, of course.

He had a heartbreaking grin, an incredible body and a thousand watts of cowboy charm. Half the women in Brody, Texas, were out to snag him. But Sophie was just passing through. And she'd sworn never to live her life at the mercy of her own passionate nature.

Nevertheless, every tim! e Tyler came near her, her response was shocking. Which wasn't supposed to be happening.

Lightning was only supposed to strike once!After her brilliant career in a comedy duo with Mike Nichols, Elaine May made tentative progress as a director, making only four films between 1971 and 1987 (her last being the disastrous but underrated Ishtar). Released in 1972, The Heartbreak Kid (from a screenplay by Neil Simon) is widely considered her best work from behind the camera, and it's still one of the most accomplished--but least recognized--comedies of the 1970s. Charles Grodin landed one of his best roles as Lenny, a newlywed husband who meets a gorgeous blonde (Cybill Shepherd) while on his honeymoon, and finds his new bride, Lila (played by May's daughter, Jeannie Berlin), unappealing by comparison. When Lila is forced to rest with a severe case of sunburn, Lenny's free to pursue his new interest, oblivious to the manipulative games that he'll soon be subjecte! d to. May and screenwriter Simon draw plenty of pain, awkwardn! ess, and embarrassment from hilarious situations, giving this comedy a perceptive awareness of human foibles and unchecked desires. It's a newlywed's worst nightmare come true, made enjoyable because we're watching it happen to someone else. Grodin's a prime choice of casting for expressing the movie's lusty anxiety--he's a schmuck, but you can still sympathize with the anguish he's brought on himself. --Jeff ShannonStudio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 05/06/2008 Run time: 115 minutes Rating: RBen Stiller and the Farrelly brothers bring out the best in each other. In The Heartbreak Kid, Stiller plays Eddie Cantrow, who--persuaded by his father and friends that he's commitment-phobic--marries a gorgeous and seemingly ideal woman named Lila (Malin Akerman, The Brothers Solomon) that he's been dating for several weeks. But after the wedding, things start to go awry... the least of these being that on their honeymoon, Eddie meets a woman who might truly be ! the girl of his dreams (Michelle Monaghan, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang). As in There's Something About Mary, writers/directors Bobby and Peter Farrelly push Stiller away from his increasingly schticky "tense guy" persona and draw out his sweeter, more multilayered earnest side. On his end, Stiller provides a human core to what could just be a festival of raunch and absurdity (the movie features aroused donkeys, deviated septum jokes, and digitally-enhanced body hair, among other items of questionable taste). It only takes a quick comparison with Jim Carrey in Me, Myself & Irene or Jack Black in Shallow Hal to see what a surprisingly delicate balance that is. The Heartbreak Kid may not be quite as wildly sublime as There's Something About Mary, but it comes extremely close, with kudos to Akerman for her unrestrained nuttiness. --Bret Fetzer

Blindness (Harvest Book)

  • ISBN13: 9780156007757
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A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and raping women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers-among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears-through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation and a vivid evocation of the horrors of the twentieth century, Blindness has swept the reading public with its powerful portrayal of man's worst appetites and weaknesses-and man's ultimately ex! hilarating spirit. The stunningly powerful novel of man's will to survive against all odds, by the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature.
In an unnamed city in an unnamed country, a man sitting in his car waiting for a traffic light to change is suddenly struck blind. But instead of being plunged into darkness, this man sees everything white, as if he "were caught in a mist or had fallen into a milky sea." A Good Samaritan offers to drive him home (and later steals his car); his wife takes him by taxi to a nearby eye clinic where they are ushered past other patients into the doctor's office. Within a day the man's wife, the taxi driver, the doctor and his patients, and the car thief have all succumbed to blindness. As the epidemic spreads, the government panics and begins quarantining victims in an abandoned mental asylum--guarded by soldiers with orders to shoot anyone who tries to escape. So begins Portuguese author José Saramago's gripping story of! humanity under siege, written with a dearth of paragraphs, li! mited p unctuation, and embedded dialogue minus either quotation marks or attribution. At first this may seem challenging, but the style actually contributes to the narrative's building tension, and to the reader's involvement.

In this community of blind people there is still one set of functioning eyes: the doctor's wife has affected blindness in order to accompany her husband to the asylum. As the number of victims grows and the asylum becomes overcrowded, systems begin to break down: toilets back up, food deliveries become sporadic; there is no medical treatment for the sick and no proper way to bury the dead. Inevitably, social conventions begin to crumble as well, with one group of blind inmates taking control of the dwindling food supply and using it to exploit the others. Through it all, the doctor's wife does her best to protect her little band of blind charges, eventually leading them out of the hospital and back into the horribly changed landscape of the! city.

Blindness is in many ways a horrific novel, detailing as it does the total breakdown in society that follows upon this most unnatural disaster. Saramago takes his characters to the very edge of humanity and then pushes them over the precipice. His people learn to live in inexpressible filth, they commit acts of both unspeakable violence and amazing generosity that would have been unimaginable to them before the tragedy. The very structure of society itself alters to suit the circumstances as once-civilized, urban dwellers become ragged nomads traveling by touch from building to building in search of food. The devil is in the details, and Saramago has imagined for us in all its devastation a hell where those who went blind in the streets can never find their homes again, where people are reduced to eating chickens raw and packs of dogs roam the excrement-covered sidewalks scavenging from corpses.

And yet in the midst of all this horror ! Saramago has written passages of unsurpassed beauty. Upon bei! ng told she is beautiful by three of her charges, women who have never seen her, "the doctor's wife is reduced to tears because of a personal pronoun, an adverb, a verb, an adjective, mere grammatical categories, mere labels, just like the two women, the others, indefinite pronouns, they too are crying, they embrace the woman of the whole sentence, three graces beneath the falling rain." In this one woman Saramago has created an enduring, fully developed character who serves both as the eyes and ears of the reader and as the conscience of the race. And in Blindness he has written a profound, ultimately transcendent meditation on what it means to be human. --Alix Wilber

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