Peter Buckley – Page 8 – The Book Blog

The Madness of Prince Hamlet

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“Whether Hamlet is ever mad, or considered mad, is argued over by critics long and hard. No two performances will convey the same impression of the state of Hamlet’s mind after his interview with the Ghost” (York notes,p86). Every critic, of course, has a different opinion. The majority appear to concur he went mad, with most favouring the position he intended to feign madness in order to exact revenge for his father’s death, perhaps without foresight as to the precise means, but rapidly succumbed to genuine madness as events unfolded. It is unclear what level of insight he had at each stage of the tragic process.

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The Thirteenth Tribe: The Khazar Empire and Its Heritage

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The Thirteenth Tribe: The Khazar Empire and Its Heritage (1976) by Arthur Koestler

In this book Arthur Koestler traces the history of the ancient Khazar people, who from around 750 AD, converted to Judaism. They lived in the Caucasian region, modern-day Ukraine, and were related to other Turkish tribes, the Magyars, Huns, and Oghuz. Were they wiped out in the Middle Ages by the Mongol hordes of Gengis Khan sweeping westward at around 1222 AD? There is substantial evidence that the survivors migrated north and west, primarily to Hungary and Poland.

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Real Lace: America’s Irish Rich

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Real Lace by Stephen Birmingham

Published in 1973, this book is getting on a bit, however, as a thoughtful social history of some fascinating families, it deserves to be better known. The generation that emigrated from starving Ireland in the 1800’s often arrived in America alone and penniless, facing slums, more poverty, prejudice and disillusionment, but at least spoke English.

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You Carry the Cure In Your Own Heart

Emotional abuse: What it is, what it does to children, what can be done about it

Emotional abuse of children can lead, in adulthood, to addiction, rage, a severely damaged sense of self and an inability to truly bond with others. But—if it happened to you—there is a way out.

Andrew Vachss is a lawyer with an unusual specialty. His clients are all children—damaged, hurting children who have been sexually assaulted, physically abused, starved, ignored, abandoned and every other lousy thing one human can do to another. People who know what he does always ask: “What is the worst case you ever handled?” When you’re in a business where a baby who dies early may be the most fortunate child in the family, there’s no easy answer. . His answer is that, of all the many forms of child abuse, emotional abuse may be the cruellest and longest-lasting of all.

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Was the English language derived from Hebrew in antiquity?

Quiyafa — The earliest Hebrew text yet discovered Dated to early tenth century BC

The issue here discussed concerns the origin of the English language, the possibility of the usual predominantly Germanic origin being over-stated, and instead, a parallel development of multiple languages influenced by Hebrew.

Firstly, look at the origin of Place-names. The predominance of Hebrew/ Eber/ Abar place-names in the Mediterranean area extends northward to the Iberian Peninsula, for example, the Ebro river. Hibernia was the name by which the classicists called Ireland, and in Irish mythology, Eber, the brother of Don, was one of the founders of the nation.

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The truth about Christmas

Christmas is said to mark the birth of Christ, and it is celebrated by Christians and non-Christians around the world. But this holiday has close ties to an older festival known as the “Birth of the Unconquered Sun.” The impact this pagan tradition had on how Christmas was celebrated is one of the ways in which Christianity became corrupted as it developed after the fourth century.The winter solstice is the time when the Sun reaches its southernmost rising and setting points in the northern hemisphere and the Suns apex at noon is at its lowest point of the year. The days are short and the nights are long.

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Moses in the Hieroglyphs

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Moses in t he Hieroglyphs

This book to me represents an important milestone in understanding Egyptian chronology. I recommend it not because the authors are necessarily correct in every detail, but rather, the unique approach, that is, that ancient Khymric provides the most consistent and straight forward means of decyphering Hieroglyphics..

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Eccentric Lives, Peculiar Notions by John Mitchell

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Eccentric Lives, Peculiar Notions: True Tales of Flat-earthers…

A study of eccentricity, or persons regarded as eccentric, must be one of the neglected areas of Psychology. If we were really objective, we might have to acknowledge many great men and women had more than their fair share of eccentricities..

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The Bridge of San Luis Rey

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The Bridge of San Luis Rey (Penguin Modern Classics) (1927) by Thornton Wilder

To discuss the question ‘Why do bad things happen to good people?’ in so short a story is a feat in itself, but also should bring a wider audience to a question of universal importance. First published in 1927, the book deserves to be better known.

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Out of Africa

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Out of Africa (1937) by Karen Blixen

The book was purposefully written as a picture of Kenya as it was, it is not an autobiography as such. The writing style of the book is clearly influenced by Isak Dinesen’s first language, Danish, and therefore has a magical air that is throughly enjoyable..

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