Alan Jacobs – författare

Is reading under threat? No, says Alan Jacobs--but people do need help iand encouragemnt to enjoy it to the full. Jacobs's experience as a lecturer and many-time author suggests that many readers lack confidence; they wonder whether they are reading well, with proper focus and attentiveness, with due discretion and discernment. Many have absorbed the puritanical message that reading is, first and foremost, good for you--the intellectual equivalent of eating your Brussels sprouts. For such people, indeed for all readers, Jacobs offers some simple, powerful, and much needed advice: read at whim, read what gives you delight, and do so without shame, whether it be Stephen King or the King James Version of the Bible. He offers an insightful, accessible, and playfully irreverent guide for aspiring readers. Each chapter focuses on one aspect of approaching literary fiction, poetry, or nonfiction, and the book explores everything from the invention of silent reading, reading responsively, rereading, and reading on electronic devices. Invitingly written, with equal measures of wit and erudition, The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction will appeal to all readers, whether they be novices looking for direction or old hands seeking to recapture the pleasures of reading they first experienced as children.

By early 1943, it had become increasingly clear that the Allies would win the Second World War. Around the same time, it also became increasingly clear to many Christian intellectuals on both sides of the Atlantic that the soon-to-be-victorious nations were not culturally or morally prepared for their success. A war won by technological superiority merely laid the groundwork for a post-war society governed by technocrats. These Christian intellectuals-- Jacques Maritain, T. S. Eliot, C. S. Lewis, W. H. Auden, and Simone Weil, among others--sought both to articulate a sober and reflective critique of their own culture and to outline a plan for the moral and spiritual regeneration of their countries in the post-war world.In this book, Alan Jacobs explores the poems, novels, essays, reviews, and lectures of these five central figures, in which they presented, with great imaginative energy and force, pictures of the very different paths now set before the Western democracies. Working mostly separately and in ignorance of one another's ideas, the five developed a strikingly consistent argument that the only means by which democratic societies could be prepared for their world-wide economic and political dominance was through a renewal of education that was grounded in a Christian understanding of the power and limitations of human beings. The Year of Our Lord 1943 is the first book to weave together the ideas of these five intellectuals and shows why, in a time of unprecedented total war, they all thought it vital to restore Christianity to a leading role in the renewal of the Western democracies.

If the whole of the Christian life is to be governed by the ?law of love??the twofold love of God and one's neighbor?what might it mean to read lovingly? That is the question that drives this unique book. Jacobs pursues this challenging task by alternating largely theoretical, theological chapters?drawing above all on Augustine and Mikhail Bakhtin?

When it was first published in 1947, The Age of Anxiety--W. H. Auden's last, longest, and most ambitious book-length poem--immediately struck a powerful chord, capturing the imagination of the cultural moment that it diagnosed and named. Beginning as a conversation among four strangers in a barroom on New York's Third Avenue, Auden's analysis of Western culture during the Second World War won the Pulitzer Prize and inspired a symphony by Leonard Bernstein as well as a ballet by Jerome Robbins. Yet reviews of the poem were sharply divided, and today, despite its continuing fame, it is unjustly neglected by readers. This volume--the first annotated, critical edition of the poem--introduces this important work to a new generation of readers by putting it in historical and biographical context and elucidating its difficulties. Alan Jacobs's introduction and thorough annotations help today's readers understand and appreciate the full richness of a poem that contains some of Auden's most powerful and beautiful verse, and that still deserves a central place in the canon of twentieth-century poetry.

For the Time Being is a pivotal book in the career of one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century. W. H. Auden had recently moved to America, fallen in love with a young man to whom he considered himself married, rethought his entire poetic and intellectual equipment, and reclaimed the Christian faith of his childhood. Then, in short order, his relationship fell apart and his mother, to whom he was very close, died. In the midst of this period of personal crisis and intellectual remaking, he decided to write a poem about Christmas and to have it set to music by his friend Benjamin Britten. Applying for a Guggenheim grant, Auden explained that he understood the difficulty of writing something vivid and distinctive about that most cliched of subjects, but welcomed the challenge. In the end, the poem proved too long and complex to be set by Britten, but in it we have a remarkably ambitious and poetically rich attempt to see Christmas in double focus: as a moment in the history of the Roman Empire and of Judaism, and as an ever-new and always contemporary event for the believer.For the Time Being is Auden's only explicitly religious long poem, a technical tour de force, and a revelatory window into the poet's personal and intellectual development. This edition provides the most accurate text of the poem, a detailed introduction by Alan Jacobs that explains its themes and sets the poem in its proper contexts, and thorough annotations of its references and allusions.

How The Book of Common Prayer became one of the most influential works in the English languageWhile many of us are familiar with such famous words as “Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here. . .” or “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” we may not know that they originated in The Book of Common Prayer, which first appeared in 1549. Like the words of the King James Bible and Shakespeare, the language of this prayer book has saturated English culture and letters. Here Alan Jacobs tells its story. He shows how The Book of Common Prayer—from its beginnings as a means of social and political control in the England of Henry VIII to its worldwide presence today—became a venerable work whose cadences express the heart of religious life for millions.

Back in print for the first time in decades, Auden’s National Book Award–winning poetry collection, in a critical edition that introduces it to a new generation of readersThe Shield of Achilles, which won the National Book Award in 1956, may well be W. H. Auden’s most important, intricately designed, and unified book of poetry. In addition to its famous title poem, which reimagines Achilles’s shield for the modern age, when war and heroism have changed beyond recognition, the book also includes two sequences—“Bucolics” and “Horae Canonicae”—that Auden believed to be among his most significant work. Featuring an authoritative text and an introduction and notes by Alan Jacobs, this volume brings Auden’s collection back into print for the first time in decades and offers the only critical edition of the work.As Jacobs writes in the introduction, Auden’s collection “is the boldest and most intellectually assured work of his career, an achievement that has not been sufficiently acknowledged.” Describing the book’s formal qualities and careful structure, Jacobs shows why The Shield of Achilles should be seen as one of Auden’s most central poetic statements—a richly imaginative, beautifully envisioned account of what it means to live, as human beings do, simultaneously in nature and in history.

The life and times of Milton’s epic poem about Satan’s revolt against God and humanity’s expulsion from paradiseJohn Milton’s Paradise Lost has secured its place in the pantheon of epic poems, but unlike almost all other works in the pantheon, it is intimately associated with religious doctrine and its implications for how we live our lives. For more than three centuries, it has been a flashpoint for arguments not just about Christianity but also about governance, rebellion and obedience, sexual politics, and what makes poetry great. Alan Jacobs tells the story of Milton’s enduring poem, shedding light on its composition and reception and explaining why it resonates so powerfully with us today.Composed through dictation after Milton went blind in 1652, Paradise Lost centers on an ancient biblical answer to the eternal question of how evil came into the world. It has proved impossible to disentangle the defense or critique of the poem from attitudes toward Christianity itself. Does Christian theology entail monarchy or democracy? Are relations between the sexes thwarted by pompous and tyrannical men or by vain and disobedient women? Jacobs traces how generations of readers have grappled with these and other questions, along the way revealing how Milton’s poem influenced novelists like Mary Shelley and Philip Pullman and has served as the inspiration for paintings, operas, comic books, and video games.An essential companion to Milton’s poetic masterpiece, this book shows why Paradise Lost continues to serve as a mirror reflecting our own complex attitudes about power and authority, justice and revolt, and sin and salvation.

Back in print for the first time in decades, Auden’s National Book Award–winning poetry collection, in a critical edition that introduces it to a new generation of readersThe Shield of Achilles, which won the National Book Award in 1956, may well be W. H. Auden’s most important, intricately designed, and unified book of poetry. In addition to its famous title poem, which reimagines Achilles’s shield for the modern age, when war and heroism have changed beyond recognition, the book also includes two sequences—“Bucolics” and “Horae Canonicae”—that Auden believed to be among his most significant work. Featuring an authoritative text and an introduction and notes by Alan Jacobs, this volume brings Auden’s collection back into print for the first time in decades and offers the only critical edition of the work.As Jacobs writes in the introduction, Auden’s collection “is the boldest and most intellectually assured work of his career, an achievement that has not been sufficiently acknowledged.” Describing the book’s formal qualities and careful structure, Jacobs shows why The Shield of Achilles should be seen as one of Auden’s most central poetic statements—a richly imaginative, beautifully envisioned account of what it means to live, as human beings do, simultaneously in nature and in history.

If the whole of the Christian life is to be governed by the "law of love"—the twofold love of God and one's neighbor—what might it mean to read lovingly? That is the question that drives this unique book. Through theological reflection interspersed with readings of literary texts (Shakespeare and Cervantes, Nabokov and Nicholson Baker, George Eliot and W. H. Auden and Dickens), Jacobs pursues an elusive quarry: the charitable reader.

Environmental Science: Health Impacts is a textbook that presents environmental science concepts for students or practitioners in public health. The fourteen-chapter presentation assumes that the student will benefit from an introduction or a review of basic science principles and how science relates specifically to assessing, preventing, and solving environmental problems. From that foundation the reader is introduced to the existence of natural hazards and mismanaged wastes that endanger public health. The dangers from pollutants and disease-causing organisms in our water, soil, food, and atmosphere are detailed in the book in an objective way, emphasizing that health impacts results only when the public is exposed to dangerous levels of risk from uncontrolled sources that are released and travel through the environment to unprotected populations. The students learn how government agencies regulate waste management and prepare for emergencies. Finally, a concluding challenge is presented to all in public health from our inordinate growth in world population, which threatens the feasibility of maintaining good public health.

In this lucid and balanced treatise Alan Jacobs reveals the true parameters of Auden's change after the poet's move to America in 1939. By carefully examining poems that represent transitional moments in Auden's thinking, Jacobs identifies the points at which the tectonic plates of the poet's intellect clashed and the buckles and rifts these pressures caused in Auden's body of work.

The selections made in this volume shed light on these esoteric doctrines revealing intimate conversations between Jesus and his Disciples. The Gospel of Mary Magdalene throws new light on his relationship with this favourite disciple. The Gospel of Thomas contains concentrated mini-parables, containing deep inward and symbolic meaning, many of which are not found in the New Testament. The texts chosen are relevant to many of the perplexities of contemporary life and deal with the questions of good and evil, sin and suffering and the path to salvation.

How to Think is a contrarian treatise on why we're not as good at thinking as we assume - but how recovering this lost art can rescue our inner lives from the chaos of modern life.Most of us don't want to think, writes the American essayist Alan Jacobs. Thinking is trouble. It can force us out of familiar, comforting habits, and it can complicate our relationships with like-minded friends. Finally, thinking is slow, and that's a problem when our habits of consuming information (mostly online) leave us lost in the echo chamber of social media, where speed and factionalism trump accuracy and nuance.In this clever, witty book, Jacobs diagnoses the many forces that prevent thought - forces that have only worsened in the age of Twitter, such as "alternative facts," and information overload. He also dispels the many myths we hold about what it means to think well. (For example: it's impossible to "think for yourself.")Drawing on sources as far-flung as the novelist Marilynne Robinson, the basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain, the British philosopher John Stuart Mill and the Christian theologian C.S. Lewis, Jacobs digs into the nuts and bolts of the cognitive process, offering hope that each of us can reclaim our mental lives from the whirlpool of what now passes for public debate.After all, if we can learn to think together, perhaps we can learn to live together.

Although there are major differences in the lifestyles of the numerous Native American nations, they share fundamental beliefs. The spiritual wisdom of these people is based on a love and reverence for Nature, a belief in a Supreme Being and a spirit world that interacts with human activity.Organized in alphabetical order and grouped around the main Native American Nations from Apache to Zuni, including the Sioux, Eskimo, Cherokee and many more, the evocative words that Alan Jacobs has selected from all the major tribes express the love and respect they feel for their environment and our place within it.

A beautifully designed collection of mystical poems to soothe, inspire and rejuvenate the soul. With a body of work spanning the centuries, from the Vedas to St Teresa of Avila, Rumi and Rilke, and arranged by transcendent themes, this book will connect readers with nature, with the stillness within themselves and with the Divine. When your soul hungers for peace, knowledge or comfort there is no answer as profound as poetry. In a world that is increasingly noisy and disconnected from the Divine, this wonderfully inspiring collection of poems for the soul from mystics of all traditions encourages readers to listen to their own hearts, marvel at the wonder of nature and explore profound truths of life, death, eternity and God. With its elegant design and comprehensive selection of poets, the volume is ideal for gifting. Themed chapters allow readers to choose topics to explore, including: DIVINITY - what is the nature of God or the One? TRANSCENDENCE - what deep truths can we find in our spiritual quest? LOVE - how can we give and cherish most profoundly? DEVOTION - how should we explore and affirm our faith? PEACE - how can we find stillness amidst turmoil and loss? NATURE - what lessons can we learn from creation? SPIRIT - what is sacred about the individual self? From the Bhagavad Gita, the Vedas and the Song of Solomon to the Divine Comedy and the Rubaiyat of Mar Khayyam, readers will find all the great mystical writers, including Attar, Ansari, St Francis of Assisi, Lao Tzu, John Donne, John Bunyan, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Elizabeth Barratt Browning, Christine Rossetti and Walt Whitman, as well as many fine but lesser-known spiritual writers. A book to give as a thoughtful gift, and also one to treasure.

Omitted from the Bible and discovered only in 1945 in Nag Hammadi in Egypt, the Gnostic Gospels are a source of fascination, intrigue and inspiration for many spiritual seekers. Now, Alan Jacob's bestselling selection of these sacred texts, including the Gospels of Mary Magdalene, Philip, Thomas and Judas, and introduced by the Reverend Dr. Vrej Nersessian, curator of the Christian Middle East section at the British Library, is presented in a glorious gift edition, beautifully illustrated with medieval paintings, images of archaeological artefacts and gnostic symbols.Unearth the ancient sayings and enlightened teachings of the Gnostic Gospels, dated from the 2nd to the 4th century AD, to truly envision the origins and history of Christianity itself.Explore these 14 key texts, chosen out of the 54 discovered for their curious and poignant relevance today, dealing with questions of good and evil, sin and suffering and the path to salvation.Discover the light these esoteric doctrines shed on intimate conversations between Jesus and his Disciples, and learn from the Gospel of Mary Magdalene more about his relationship with this favourite disciple.Learn from concentrated mini-parables in The Gospel of Thomas, containing deep inward and symbolic meaning, many of which are not found in the New Testament.Artfully woven together by author and senior priest at the Armenian Apostolic Church, Reverend Dr. Vrej Nersessian, and by poet and author Alan Jacobs, The Illustrated Gnostic Gospels is an enticing must-have for those wanting to experience a deeper and more intimate relationship with Christianity.

The "Upanishads" are the sacred writings of Hinduism. They are perhaps the greatest of all the books in the history of world religions. Their origins predate recorded history, being revealed to the Rishis of the Vedic civilization some 5000 to 10,000 years ago. Many see them as the kernel of the mystical, philosophical truths that are the basis of the Higher World religion of Hinduism, their cradle, of which Buddhism is a successor and Judaism is an offshoot. With Islam and Christianity being offshoots of Judaism, this makes them the foundational documents for understanding and practising religion today. Much of the original text of the "Upanishads" is archaic and occasionally corrupted, but it does convey a moral and ethical thrust that is abundantly clear. Alan Jacobs uses modern free verse to convey the essential meaning and part of the original text. He omits Sanskrit words as far as possible and the commentary provided is contemporary rather than ancient.

The "Bhagavad Gita" is a sacred scripture of epic dimensions and is the key sacred text of Hinduism. It means the "song of God" and is often called the "Song Celestial". Alan Jacobs uses contemporary free verse based on innovative metaphors to provide a clear meaning for today's readers. It is mandala poetry - each verse being a mandala for meditation.