Visions and Lullabies [Paperback]

Gerald L. Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1999

People caught up in the abuses of the modern world find liberation and a new way of life in the ways and wisdom of the past.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Visions and Lullabies is the author's third novel. When not working and spending time with his granddaughters, he spends much of his time communing with the spirit of the wilds and Mother Earth, and with those who live and yearn for a return to the ways and wisdom of the past.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Strange visions and lullabies from out of the past begin to drift across the land, stirring the spirits of the dispossessed and malcontents.

Among them is a middle-aged man, obsessed with the old nomadic way of life. When he is visited by a vision from the past, he leaves his home for the Black Hills and a new life. Having few wilderness skills, he becomes lost and almost dies. He is rescued by a half-breed who lives as a hunter-gatherer, and takes up life with him. The half-breed is a member of a mixed band of renegades who cling to the old ways and wage war, undercover, on the desecration of the modern world.

In a twist of fate, they rescue a nanny and child, fleeing a molester who has the law on his side. While hiding in the wilds and adopting its ways, the bonds of the civilized world loosen, and the spirit of Mother Earth begins to transform the lives of the newcomers. When the law begins to pursue them, they flee deeper into the wilds where the newcomers discover they have become a new people, a people of Mother Earth.

Then the law closes in, forcing them to risk death to remain the people they have become, or surrender to be returned to a world they know they can no longer live in.

Product Details

• Paperback: 298 pages
• Publisher: Western Star Pub (July 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964954443
• ISBN-13: 978-0964954441
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,705,096 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A novel of personal liberation and spirituality, September 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Visions and Lullabies (Paperback)

This novel brought back vivid memories of when I was a young teacher of Native Americans. Although many of my students had yielded to the white way and the modern world, there were many others who clung to the ways of their ancestors, and the hope that they could one day live as their forefathers had. This novel could have been written for them, and for all those who live and dream of those days of real freedom, natural beauty and simplicity that are now locked in the memories of the past. But more than a novel of the glory days and ways of the past, this is a novel of personal liberation and spirituality. It is about people who, while trying to do good, find themselves fugitives hiding in the wilds. With the help of one who lives the old nomadic ways, they find a new way of life. But more than a new way of life, living close to the land brings them in touch with the spirit of Mother Nature who helps them find connection with their true nature, that true nature being that special person that lies hidden in most people. Yielding to this nature, they are liberated from their former sense of identity which was imposed on them by the ways and forces of the modern world they fled from. Then their personal and material needs that once possessed them in the modern world begin to give way to a whole new perspective. They find their lives transformed, and liberation from the greed and lust of the modern world. They begin to see the world and their place and purpose in it with new eyes. When the law begins to close in on them, they realize that the people they once were are no more, and that to surrender to the world they once belonged to would mean the death of the spirit that now lives in them, and their way of life. In a desperate effort to remain the people they have become, they begin an almost hopeless struggle to stay free. The struggle brings heavy losses, but in the end one of the survivors sees a vision that reveals a dawning of a new age, and their place in it. Maybe a gradual return to our origins is what is in store for the coming millenium.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Black Hills Escape, September 11, 2001

By 

John (Venice, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Visions and Lullabies (Paperback)

I found the "Visions and Lullabies" story line different from what I expected, by the title. It reflects the alienation that many feel in the increasingly complex and enthralling world in which we live. I think many of us fantasize about escaping the urban jungle, but, alas, few of us take the steps to actually leave the security of the city for the uncertainty and danger of the wilderness - what little of it there still exists.
Like the hero of the story, if we were to seek a more simple world we would find that others have gone before and that we are not alone.
Sadly, the reaction of the governmental powers that be are quite likely to respond as represented in this fine story. It is well worth the reading.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One author to another, February 13, 2000

By 

Rich Kelley (Columbia, SC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Visions and Lullabies (Paperback)

Excellent insight into the mindset and lifestyle of native Americans. The best book I've read of it's kind.

The characters are intriguing, and the plot is engaging to hold the reader's interest. The rescue is well planned and grabs the reader by surprise.

This novel would make a fine movie. I hope it does.