Customer Reviews

The Fifth Sacred Thing

5 star:		(64)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I, too had this book on my shelf for several years before I actually read it. Although it obviously sounded good enough at the time I bought it, I feared that it would be preachy and overbearing. It was nothing of the sort. The characters are complex; flawed at times, saintly at others. The story is compelling, combining plots about the personal growth of the various characters, adventure stories as Bird escapes from prison and Madrone ventures into the southern wilds to help the freedom fighters, and the ultimate show down between the San Franciscans and the Stewards. It is a bit simplistic, perhaps, but that didn't stop me from wishing things in reality were more like they are in Maya and Madrone's world. The attempts to portray this world as one free of any racial or sexual bigotry do get a bit heavy handed at times, but never so much that it interfered with my enjoyment of the story. I would recommend this book to anyone, and in fact immediately after I finished ran out and bought a copy to give as a gift this Christmas.

Starhawk starts out giving us an amazingly Utopian Wiccan vision of the future in San Francisco, a place that while it seems Wicca has "won out," other religions are respected as well. When I am down I read the first chapter of this book to bring me back up again.

Arrayed against this oasis of sanity Starhawk gives us an Evil General bent of invasion and destruction of this wonderful place. If the book has a fault its that most of the "bad guys" remain somewhat cardboard. It seems that Starhawk has concentrated her efforts on that she knows best.

Having said that, the author pulls no punches. While the book starts out Utopian and peaceful the price that is paid for that oasis is anything but. Real people, the good people we care about (and the people who Starhawk seems to concentrate her character abilities on) pay a heavy price to keep and defend their way of life. Its a good reminder that good may triumph over evil only if good works at it real hard.

The Fifth Sacred Thing is a fairy tale with teeth. If you are a fan of Starhawk's non-fiction books then you must read this one to see how she sees her real-life ideas put into practice. I'd also recommend it as a book for Wiccans to give to their friends as a tale of how Wiccan morality can work well.

I love this book. I didn't like it at first, but I decided to give it an hour before I made up my mind. Now I am really glad I stuck with it, because it is one of the richest, most thought-provoking books I have ever read.

One of the greatest questions is - how do people resist the violent advances of others without becoming violent themselves? We can look to others for inspiration - HH the Dalai Lama, Gandhi, MLK - there have been a few who have managed to hold on to their ideals despite the crimes inflicted upon them. But how do we do this ourselves? How do we maintain peace within ourselves?

This book discusses these issues on a societal level, but the wisdom you will gain can be applied on a personal level. You will likely find yourself rethinking how you view numerous things - from illness to monogamy.

And the story is interesting and creative, with characters you will come to care about. This is a fantastic book. Go ahead and give it some time - you will probably love it, too!

I think Starhawk has considerable potential as a writer of fiction, and would love to read, perhaps, a collection of short stories or anthology. "The Fifth Sacred Thing" holds together pretty well as a first novel, but it is an epic story and it meanders frequently. As a "lapsed Pagan" myself I found her Utopic vision of San Francisco entertaining and her Pagan characters reasonably well-drawn. She certainly is more comfortable there, as the other locations and characters are rather sketchy. Witches = good, Stewards = bad.

The Melissa (a bee-witching demi-goddess character) was pushing it a bit far up the curve, even given the basic premise that magic can work in this world - she just seemed over the top to me. My main problem, though, was the violence/non-violence issue. The Council pragmatically decides that if the City is to survive they must use non-violent resistence, peppered with some nifty mind-games tricks. Fair enough, and believable. Yet effectively, they're also manipulating the poor Steward grunts into fighting for them - violence at one remove is still violence.

It's a good read, anyway.

I was initially a little wary of this book -- I was afraid that it might just be cheesy New Age nonsense. But I was wrong. I TOTALLY ENJOYED IT! I didn't want it to end! It describes 2 possible paths US society might take : one of domination and violence, the other of equality and respect. I liked that even in the ideal world there are conflicts of interest and arguments, but people are committed to working through them and talking them out. So nothing's "too" perfect; rather, it is a possible world, truly something that we can believe in and work toward. Wonderful, spirit-moving, thought-provoking work. Heightened my sensory experience of the world and made me appreciate everything around us.

Starhawk has created a powerful window to the future that is both hopeful and frightening. Set in a world a few decades ahead of our own, the city of San Francisco has become the last bastian of religious freedom in a radically changed America. I found this book mesmerising. After the first page you will lose yourself in the tapestry of the lives and characters that fight for what they believe and still live in peace and harmony. At times disturbing in it's honest protrayel of a radical political and moral shifting in a not to hard too believe future. The beautiful imagery and weaving of magic and human emotion will leave you entertained and enlightened.I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Over the last few years I've reread this book time and time again and always find it as deeply moving and inspiring as the first time I read it. Periodically, I buy this book for friends and when I do, I come back to this page and read the reviews. The reason this book is so remarkable is that it deals with a human truth so fundamental as to often be missed: You can't change society until you transform human consciousness. No legislation, no religious movement, no self-help group, no philosophy is going to do it. Only each individual human being learning how to be aware, to find their own unique spiritual expression, to practice tolerance of the lifestyles and the spiritual belief systems of others will make a fundamental difference. When each individual person knows the earth is sacred in a personal, experiential and intimate way because they have taken the time to BE with the world, only then will we truly find ways to preserve and protect it. In the San Francisco portrayed in this novel, no child goes unnurtured or uneducated, no one goes hungry, no person is without a home. It's a sad situation when we have to think of this state of affairs as "science fiction." Almost every person who falls between the cracks in our society starts out in life with a family and a community. Perhaps we can't help everyone, but if each person just did what was in front of him or her to do, there would be less suffering in the world. The building of solid community and healthy inter-dependence is another key to this novel. We live isolated lives but, truly, we need each other. We are stronger when we are connected with others. There is a verse in the Bible that says, "A people without a vision perish." This book provides a vision, a starting point that is valuable and practical and useful. Let's keep in mind that the author is a social activist who has been on the front lines and has faced some of the most deeply rooted and troubling issues of our time. I hardly see Starhawk as being an idealist, nor this book just being an idealist's dream.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable book and contains many memorable characters. The storyline reflects Starhawk's religious and spiritual beliefs but remains true to itself without getting preachy. The futuristic setting is fascinating because it isn't set so far in the future that the culture is entirely alien.

I first read The Fifth Sacred Thing when it came out in hardback... it was a well loved copy that was passed from midwife to midwife, and we all added our comments on the flyleafs. Since then I've read and re-read it, gaining more insights each time.

As a former northern Californian, I could easily visualize the landscapes, and the characters seemed so real that I almost expected to run into Madrone on my next trip to San Francisco.

Starhawk weaves a wonderful tale, filled with vivid characters. Its the age old struggle of good vs evil, but with futuristic twists and turns. The challenges of day to day life in a world where resources are wearing thin may be a chilling prediction of the future. We all hold the fate of Mother Earth in our hands, and Starhawk helps us see what the consequences could be.

I was touched by the sense of community displayed and by the intelligent integration of spirituality in every day life. Other reviewers felt that the book was "preachy" -- but I think Starhawk made her point... gracefully and with empathy and compassion.

I read Starhawk's first novel when it was first published (~1993), but had occasion to reread it for current research on the evolution of ecofeminist utopian literature since _Herland_ (Charlotte Perkins Gilman). _The Fifth Sacred Thing_ speaks most clearly to those who live in California, particularly those who live in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is depicted with fine detail in the text. This is, indeed, a utopian society in which the very finest social qualities of character must rise above short-sighted psychological tendencies of human beings. Starhawk insists that we question what we are capable of, how difficult it can be to do the right thing (i.e., what is best for the community rather than what is best for the individual), and to look within ourselves to understand our own strengths and weaknesses. Nevertheless, there is no question what she believes we must all do: Live in right-relationship to Earth/Nature, treat aspects of Nature with full respect and appreciation. The fifth sacred thing is "spirit" and it is this dimension of human beings that Starhawk believes we need to nurture and develop if the future of the Earth is to be healthy and in harmony. Most of the almost 500-page book is a page-turner in which the protagonists are in danger from others and, in some cases, from within. It is fascinating to read this and _Herland_, books which serve as bookends to 20th century ecofeminist utopian thought.