(Not So) Quarterly Book Reviews #3

The new school term began two months ago, and with it my daily two-hour commuting odyssey in Belgrade's much maligned public transport, en route to my teaching job. It really isn't as bad as most people claim (public transport, that is, not my teaching), although it often occurs to me that it would take me less time to get to London by plane than to the other part of the city by bus. On the other hand, were it not for all the hours I 've spent commuting like that, I don't think I would have read nearly as many books and magazines, including some of these featured below.

HISTORY/RELIGION
Latter Days by Coke Newell, St Martin's Press 2000

"A guided tour through six billion years of Mormonism". I actually liked it, in spite of its rather pretentious subtitle. It narrates the genesis of that religion, its remarkable early history and explains the fundamental beliefs and values of the Latter-day Saint Church.

Needless to say, it is not to be confused with a soppy gay Mormon-themed novel & film bearing the same title.

ECOLOGICAL SPIRITUALITY

The Earth Path by Starhawk, HarperSanFrancisco 2004

Beautfully written, like most of Starhawk's writings, this book is a treasure trove of inspiration, meditations, rituals and practical ideas for all the eco-conscious people out there, not just those sharing the author's neopagan path. Just the sort of stuff Saunterer's loves to endorse.
ARCHAEOLOGY/HISTORY/RELIGION

The Bible Unearthed by Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman, The Free Press 2001
A nice piece of serious and scholarly, yet quite readable, work on biblical archaeology. It's been referred to as "bold" and "revolutionary", questioning established beliefs regarding the origins of the Bible and its historical background. Along with claiming that most of Old Testament content is pure fiction, the authors take a step further and explain why and under what circumstances were the books of the Bible produced, and serving what (political) purpose, making them all the more fascinating.


SOCIAL STUDIES/RELIGION

Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler, Penguin Compass 1986

Almost 600 pages of excellent investigative reporting on "witches, druids, goddess-worshippers and other pagans in America today", written by an NPR correspondent and a practicing pagan herself. It's a genuinely thrilling book, filled with interviews, personal accounts and sociological analyses. It remains the single best A-Z of modern paganism.

Pyramids in Bosnia

One of many, many joys of living in the Balkans: sensational archaeological discoveries (not sure which one of these three words to put under inverted commas).

UNESCO Team to Probe Bosnian "Pyramid"

Reuters

SARAJEVO (June 5) - Bosnia's mystery pyramid will now be probed and inspected by a team of experts from the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

"We shall send a UNESCO expert team to Visoko to determine exactly what it is all about," UNESCO Secretary General Koichiro Matsuura said in an interview published on Monday in Dnevni Avaz newspaper.

Amateur archaeologist Semir Osmanagic has caused a stir with his find, although local and European archaeologists denounce it as nonsense.

Geologist Aly Abd Barakat, an Egyptian researcher sent by Cairo to assist Osmanagic's team last month, has said that the Visocica hill did appear to be a primitive man-made pyramid of uncertain age.

Barakat said huge stone blocks found on the three sides of the hill used the same type of artificial cement used in ancient Egyptian pyramids.

Osmanagic's team is also investigating the Pljesevica hill -- which he calls the Moon Pyramid -- as well as underground tunnels he believes connect three pyramids.

The researchers have also found a sandstone monolith in the underground tunnel with enigmatic symbols engraved on it, which will be sent to Egypt for analysis.

Osmanagic, who studied pyramids in central America for the past 15 years, said that satellite and radar analyses have revealed the perfect geometry of Visocica and precise alignment of its sides with four cardinal points.
It does resemble a pyramid:
Photo: www.superbosna.com