text:
Don't get scrammed and don't
Worry about your passwords.
Kerberos accounts.
This morning the author of today's haiku noticed an email in his Junk Mail folder that had the following subject line:
Definitely not wanting to get scrammed, the author of today's haiku proceeded to read the email, which including the following note:
"Today many people on the Internet are victims of fruads and scrams. For example, you might be told to click a link and go to web site where you enter personal information; scrammers can then use this personal information for indentity theft. DON'T GET SCRAMMED!!!"
Gadzooks! thought the author of today's haiku. It's bad enough to have people try to steal your identity but now they're apparently trying to take your indentity as well. Is there no decency left in this world?
So how can you avoid getting scrammed? The email suggested that you go to their Web site and enter your personal information, including your credit card numbers. After that, they will "monitor the entire Internet and notify you if anyone tries to use this information or tries to buy something with your credit card." And how much will all this cost? Nothing! The service is entirely free.
And yes, we know what you're thinking: how could a service that monitors the entire Internet be free? Well, as it turns out, this service is sponsored by the US government. See? Nothing to worry about.
Note. We know what you're thinking now, too. On the other hand, based on their inability to reach any other sort of consensus, it's really not all that far-fetched to imagine politicians agreeing to resort to fruads and scrams as a way to solve the current budget crisis.
At any rate, something to think about, eh? Trust us: you do not want to get scrammed.
Which is all the more reason to continue visiting the Lync Server PowerShell blog which, after nearly a year in existence, has yet to scram even a single person! Instead of scramming people, we like to tell you about useful things, like the CsKerberosAccountAssignment cmdlets (Get-CsKerberosAccountAssignment, New-CsKerberosAccountAssignment, Remove-CsKerberosAccountAssignment, and Set-CsKerberosAccountAssignment). And if you'll just send us your credit card numbers, we'll be happy to tell you about this cmdlet.
Nah, just kidding. Although – nah, never mind.
As the name implies, the CsKerberosAcocuntAssignment cmdlets are used to assign Kerberos accounts. What are Kerberos accounts? As you know, in Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 your Web services all ran under a standard user account. Was that a problem? Well, it could be: if the password for that account expired you could lose those Web Services, an issue that was often difficult to diagnose. To help avoid this problem, Lync Server enables you to create a computer account (for a computer that doesn't actually exist) that can serve as the authentication principal for all the computers in a site (or at least all the computers that are running IIS and a Lync Server Web service). Because these accounts use the Kerberos authentication protocol we cleverly refer to them as Kerberos accounts, and have dubbed the new authentication process as "Kerberos web authentication." The punch line? Kerberos web authentication lets you manage all your Lync Server Web servers by using a single account. The password for that one account could still expire, but there's only one account (and one password) you have to worry about, and we even provide a very simple way for you to change that password (Set-CsKerberosAccountPassword).
So how do you implement Kerberos web authentication? Well, the first step is to create a Kerberos account; that's an activity we discussed in haiku 85. (Thank you; it's our favorite haiku, too.) After you have an account, you can then assign it to one or more of your Lync Server sites (one account per site, although the same account can be used in multiple sites). For example:
New-CsKerberosAccountAssignment -UserAccount "litwareinckerberostest" -Identity "site:Redmond"
As you can see, all we've done here is taken an existing account – litwareinckerberostest – and assigned it to the Redmond site. (And yes, the parameter is UserAccount, even though a Kerberos account is actually a computer account. That's just one of those quirky things that make Lync Server PowerShell so lovable.) And then after we make the assignment we call the Enable-CsTopology cmdlet in order to create the required service principal name and effectively seal the deal.
Not bad, huh? Now, suppose you want to assign the same Kerberos account to all your sites. Can you do that? You bet, although it takes a tiny bit more work than you might first expect. That's because the New-CsKerberosAccountAssignment cmdlet won't take pipelined input. That means that a command like this one will fail:
Get-CsSite | New-CsKerberosAccountAssignment -UserAccount "litwareinckerberostest"
But that's fine. Instead of retrieving all our sites and piping them directly to New-CsKerberosAccountAssignment we can pipe that data to the ForEach-Object cmdlet and let ForEach-Object take care of things for us:
Get-CsSite | ForEach-Object {New-CsKerberosAccountAssignment -UserAccount "litwareinckerberostest" –Identity $_.Identity}
Note. Trust us, that is not a scram. It really works.
Needless to say, you can then use Get-CsKerberosAccountAssignment to retrieve information about the assignments already made in your organization, and use Set-CsKerberosAccountAssignment to modify any of those existing assignments (which basically means assigning a different Kerberos account to a site). You can also use the Remove-CsKerberosAccountAssignment cmdlet to delete an assignment:
Remove-CsKerberosAccountAssignment -Identity "site:Redmond"
Or, to delete all the assignments:
Get-CsKerberosAccountAssignment | Remove-CsKerberosAccountAssignment
Note that deleting an assignment doesn't delete the corresponding computer account from Active Directory; all it does is configure things so that your Lync Server Web servers in the specified site no longer use Kerberos web authentication. Instead, they'll use whatever authentication method/user account was configured before you set up Kerberos web authentication.
See? That wasn't so bad, was it? And now if you'll excuse us, we need to run to the bank. After reading about fruads and scrams this morning we came up with a great idea. Banks get robbed all the time, typically by people who walk into a bank and demand that all the money be taken out of the vault and put into a brown paper bag, right? Well, we thought we'd go into the bank and tell them, "Look, we know you get robbed all the time by people who demand that all the money be taken out of the vault and put into a brown paper bag. In order to protect you and your money, why don't you take all the money out of the vault and put it into our brown paper bag. And then, if anyone tries to steal that money, we'll notify you immediately."
Hey, it sounds good to us. We'll let you know how it goes.


text:
When You Are Short on Time or Energy (or Both), Just Read to Your Kids
Although most parents know that reading aloud is important, many don't do it. A recent study conducted by the literacy nonprofit Reading Is Fundamental found that only one-third of parents read to their kids every night. But for babies and young children, reading fosters an emotional bond with their caregivers and helps them to develop language skills. Even as your children learn to read on their own, it's important to continue reading aloud to them, since hearing the words strengthens a child's comprehension. And if you can get your kids to consider reading as fun, you can help give them an academic boost. British researchers followed about 6,000 children beginning in 1970 and found that those who read for pleasure scored higher not only in vocabulary and spelling but also in math. "You want your children to read good literature, including nonfiction," says Kathy Barclay, a professor of early childhood and reading at Western Illinois University, in Macomb. But don't panic if your youngster is plowing through a series based on a television show. "There's nothing wrong with whatever superhero your child is hooked on. Quantity makes the big difference," says Barclay.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Leah Remini has confirmed that she has left Scientology. At one point in time, she was thought to be the fourth or fifth highest ranked celebrity in the place, so that is saying something. It all went wrong when she decided to ask David Miscavige where his wife was when Tom Cruise got married to Katie Holmes. That question put Leah on the fast track to five years of thought modification. She says that, combined with the forced separation of families is what finally got her to leave. Here is my one criticism of her for this. During that five years period where she was being out through what she calls misery, she was still publicly a huge supporter of Scientology and had fundraisers and contributed tons of money, and convinced other people to join. What about all those people who she convinced to join who have now given up their life savings and are stuck or might possibly lose their families. She should have bailed right when it happened.


text:
39702, MS Rent to Own Homes
|5 Listings Found
, completely updated and updated h2o heater. Home has renter that could remain, pays $750 rent.
$64,900 - Rent to Own
811 Spruce St Columbus, MS 39702Details »
Perfect for Him AND for Her!! For less than rent, you could own this recently renovated ranch style
$114,900 - Rent to Own
111 Gail Road Columbus, MS 39705Details »
of duplex currently has a commercial lease, other side currently used by owner. Property is located on a 1
$220,000 - Rent to Own
Columbus, MS 39701Details »
storage building on dead end street. Currently rented for $600/month. HUD Renter.
$54,900 - Rent to Own
1512 8th St Columbus, MS 39701Details »
be leased for bow hunting and is loaded with deer! You can live like your in the country while still
$95,000 - Rent to Own
Columbus, MS 39701Details »
RentUntilYouOwn.com is the #1 provider of 39702 Columbus, Mississippi rent to own homes listings.
Our goal is to offer the highest quality results, along with helpful 39702 Columbus resources and support. We understand that finding genuine rent to own homes in 39702 Columbus can be very difficult. Even more challenging is trying to search Columbus, MS listings for free.
After discovering how difficult it was for 39702 Columbus buyers and sellers searching online, RentUntilYouOwn.com has become dedicated to providing users with the most current, accurate, and detailed listings in 39702 Columbus, Mississippi.
If you have any questions or suggestions for improving our site, please contact us here.
Trouble Finding Local Rent to Own Homes Listings?
If the initial results in 39702 Columbus, Mississippi did not provide any listings of interest, or you just want more selections, click any of the blue tabs just above the search results for more.
Thanks for visiting and good luck!


text:
First Mac app posted
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
As are all iPhone developers, I'm downloading Xcode 3.2 beta. Looking forward to developing apps for the device!
This site will be the place where I post programs, code snippets, tips, and thoughts about Mac and iPhone development and whatever else I get interested in.
Watch this space for updates on what projects I'm working on and when they'll be released!


text:
You have no items in your shopping cart.
THE GIST: Minimalism is so hot right now. If you're hopping on the less is more trend, our 2-in-1 Magic Wand is a must-have. The benefits of two styling tool essentials, a curling iron and a straightener, are combined into one chic, compact wand.
– Advanced PTC heater & digital display
PERFECT FOR: Curating an "only the essentials" bathroom vanity. Also, best for fine to normal hair types.
|Model Number: XA0082
|Color: Amethyst
|Accessories:Includes heat-resistant travel bag
|Weight: 0.66 lb


text:
FlyAnglers OnLine
The fraternity of fly fishers
Sponsored by:
And Flyanglers like you!
Thanks Rick. I can hardly wait till Spring and it isn't even Winter yet.
Where you go is less important than how you take the steps.
Fish with a Friend,
Lotech Joe
View Tag Cloud
Forum Rules


text:
The Royal baby is set to be christened on Wednesday October 23, 2013.
Prince George will be christened by The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby in the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace.
— Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) September 27, 2013
PHOTOS: Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge With Kate Middleton and Prince William
Prince George makes his first Royal baby appearance since leaving the hospital last month. See the photos with Mom Kate Middleton & Dad Prince William.Click here to read more
The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge have announced that the christening of Prince George will take place on 23rd October at St. James's Palace.
— Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) September 27, 2013


text:
[Date Index]
[Thread Index]
[Author Index]
Re: Pascal's triangle spacing is off. Need DigitCount?
Thanks, I stumbled upon that after fiddling around for a while. Seems to me it would be a handy option to have in Row[ ], also.
On Sep 3, 2011, at 5:01 PM, Heike Gramberg wrote:
> You could use Grid in combination with ItemSize instead of Row to give all the entries the same width, e.g.
> pascalTrngl2[n_] :=
> Module[{max, sp}, max = Max[Table[Binomial[n, j], {j, 0, n}]];
> sp = Round[N[Log[10, max], 5]];
> Column[Table[Grid[{Table[Binomial[i, j], {j, 0, i}]},
> ItemSize -> sp], {i, 0, n}], Center]]
> pascalTrngl2[10]
> Heike
Chris Young
cy56 at comcast.net


text:
Oh Suki Suki Now
A face as smooth as silk is now at arm's reach. Suki Exfoliating Foaming Cleanser is the grooming man's answer to even and polished looking skin. This award-winning cleanser will unclog pores, exfoliate dead skin cells, and smooth away dryness for flawless skin every time.
Pick it up at Urban Cargo, you'll get that deep clean for $32.95.


text:
Chicken Tetrazzini
Our freezer-friendliest chicken recipe makes one casserole that will serve four tonight, plus a second meal to freeze and pull out when you're in a pinch.
Total Time:
Level: Easy
Serves: 8
- Coarse salt
- ground pepper
- 6 tbsp. butter
- 1 lb. white mushrooms
- ½ c. all-purpose flour
- 3 c. milk
- 1 can reduced-sodium chicken broth
- ¾ c. dry white wine
- 3 c. grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ tsp. dried thyme leaves
- 1 lb. linguine
- 1 rotisserie chicken
- 1 package frozen peas
- Preheat oven to 400. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (for pasta). In a large saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter over high heat. Add mushrooms, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing frequently, until tender and browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, and set aside.
- Make sauce: In same saucepan, melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add flour; cook, whisking, about 1 minute. Whisking constantly, gradually add milk, broth, and wine. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, and add 2 cups Parmesan and thyme. Season with salt and pepper.
- Cook pasta 2 minutes less than package instructions for al dente; drain and return to pot. Add sauce, chicken, peas, and mushrooms. Toss well to combine. Divide between two shallow 2-quart baking dishes; sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. Freeze (see below) or bake until browned, about 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
- To freeze: After placing pasta mixture in baking dishes and sprinkling with Parmesan (step 3), cool to room temperature. Cover tightly with aluminum foil, and freeze up to 3 months.
To bake from frozen: Bake, covered with foil, at 400 degrees, until center is warm, about 2 hours. Uncover, and bake until top is browned, about 20 minutes more. Serve.
To bake from thawed: Thaw overnight in refrigerator. Bake, covered with foil, at 400 degrees, until center is warm, about 30 minutes. Uncover, and bake until top is browned, about 20 minutes.
More recipes like this
More From Recipes


text:
One might think that running a business online and offline will be similar, it will just differ based on how you access your customers and your information, but there is a lot more to it than that.
In an online business it can be hard to build customer loyalty. You have at your fingertips email, and forums of various types, if you are lucky you also have the ability to call your clients, but not all online business have this. If you have an offline business you can see people face to face, talk with them, visit their office and see who they are, shaping your sales pitch to their wants and needs. It is easier to build loyalty with an offline business for this reason. People are more likely to trust you and want to buy from you if they get to meet you in person. There are still ways to build loyalty as an online company, many of which focus on communication, but they can include blogs, supreme customer service, video, forums and social networking.
There are also other tradeoffs as well. In an online business you usually get people who know exactly what they want and need minimal help. They come to the online store because they know they can get that product there. Because of this you put money into targeting people and audiences and have to spend less money talking to every person who comes in. In an offline business you do get walk in traffic . Often times people who don't know what they want, or that they want anything at all. The bonus here is that if your product is good enough, many of them will want it even though they didn't know they wanted it. It can be a little harder to get people into the store, you need to have a great location and you need to have a great product, but you are more likely to get sales from people who don't know what you have, or what they want.
On either side there are trade offs, which means that the best business will use a little from both models and combine them.


text:
October 14, 2011 to October 13, 2012 – http://moolto.ning.com/group/mooltocontests Find the contests advertised on Moolto all in one spot... - For your added convenience, Moolto Contests lists all the contests offered by the various group within our community. - For the groups in… Organized by Maxes Loon | Type: contests
December 17, 2011 at 1am to May 16, 2012 at 11:45pm – Axis Group Plaza Starting Saturday December 17th we are holding a competition where we will be giving away $10000L every month. One lucky shopper at ANY of our stores including Axis Property, Axis Photography and ou… Organized by Skimore Hammerer | Type: monthly, shopping, contest
December 28, 2011 at 6pm to December 27, 2012 at 7pm – Coolhunter SL Hi we are new on the community we are looking for new faces to show in our blog http://coolhuntersl.blogspot.com/ contact us on our profile. Thanks Organized by slcoolhunter | Type: casting
March 18, 2012 to December 21, 2012 – LaVie 145/185/31 Only 'LATEST RELEASES' from The Hottest BRANDS of the GRID ONLY 20 'COPIES' SOLD w 50% OFF Get yours before it's too late!! LaVie 145/185/30 When you TP in LAVIE use the Teleporter to land in front… Organized by Maxes Loon | Type: promotion, discount, deal, bargain, 50%, off
April 1, 2012 to April 15, 2012 – IMA Inc. For the second year now, Styles by Danielle is launching a grid-wide search for the woman who most perfectly represents the style and versatility of our label. We are looking for women who are photo… Organized by IMA Inc, Dani Plassitz | Type: photo, contest
April 3, 2012 at 6pm to April 15, 2012 at 7pm – http://slurl.com/secondlife/Estancia/12/115/24/ MODA Fashion Primetime Team is Hiring Experienced Models To Apply: go to modamodelinschool.com Questions please contact RhiannaLynn Lane Organized by RhiannLynn Lane | Type: casting
April 5, 2012 to April 15, 2012 – http://slurl.com/secondlife/Arab%20Avatar/46/168/3251 ♥********************************** ♥ (¸¸.✰´ ¯¨•.¸¸`✰** (*♥*) **✰´¸¸.•¨¯`✰.¸¸) WIN 1110L$ on the picture CONTEST now ! !!! CONTEST FOR 10 DAYS ONLY !!!! (¸¸.✰´ ¯¨•.¸¸`✰** (*♥*) **✰´¸¸… Organized by ZELZUL Yifu | Type: contest, picture
April 15, 2012 from 12pm to 1pm – MUSICLAND ISLE ~ DAVID CSISZER 12 NOON @ MUSICLAND ISLE~ Organized by Sher Salmson | Type: live, music
April 15, 2012 from 5pm to 6pm – BONETTO CLUB ~ MANDOAA DRAGONASH DEBUTS 5 PM @ BONETTO CLUB~ Organized by Sher Salmson | Type: live, music
April 15, 2012 from 5pm to 6pm – WARUNG BEATS ~DAVID CSISZER 5 PM @ WARUNG BEATS~ Organized by Sher Salmson | Type: live, music
April 15, 2012 from 6pm to 7pm – KEY WEST RESORT AND MARINA ~ACOUSTICENERGY NITELY 6 PM @ KEY WEST RESORT AND MARINA~ Organized by Sher Salmson | Type: live, music
April 15, 2012 at 6pm to May 8, 2012 at 8pm – http://slurl.com/secondlife/Golden%20Dawn/108/41/23 http://ning.it/Id3xPk Click on this link to check out LEVITY MAGAZINE LATEST ISSUE, there's a poetry competition with many prizes for the winner and runner ups!!! Organized by Angelina Lerintzo | Type: poetry, contest


text: Its a double stack. If you look carefully you can see were they swell the frame to wedge the double stack mag in there. I hate the double stacks, but if you can handle a glock 21 it shouldnt be much different. However some parts wont interchange with mil spec.


text:
Federal Program Feeds Kids During Summer
The Summer Feed program feeds thousands of kids in low income areas during the summer months.
Created to provide breakfast and lunch for low income families the Summer Feeding program is sponsored by the USDA.
Pitt County opened its first location for meals this year at Belvoir Elementary. Thirteen additional locations will open Monday June 18th.
Pitt County Child Nutrition Director LeAnn Seelman said the locations are placed in areas based on the need. At least 50 percent of the population must be eligible for free or reduced lunch.
Last summer Pitt County served more than 76,000 meals to children. Children must be under the age of 18 but disabled person in a school program can be as old as 21.
Sylvia Hines has brought her grandchildren to the location for three years and said the program is wonderful.
"It's great for parents when the food is low or even when it's not, the kids get a chance to interact with other," Hines said.
Counties may apply for the program with Department of Health and Human Services.
Bertie and Lenoir County also offer the program as well as the City of New Bern.


text:
Mexican Potato Salad
This salad is a go-with-everything summer side that packs bold, Mexican-inspired flavors that any crowd will love.
- Prep:
- Total Time:
- Servings: 6
Photography: Bryan Gardner
Source: Everyday Food, July/August 2013
- Salt and pepper
- 3 pounds (8 to 10) medium red potatoes, scrubbed
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped chipotles in adobo
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 cup cooked corn kernels
In a large pot, bring potatoes to a boil in salted water over high. Reduce to a simmer and cook until tender when pierced with a knife, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and let cool completely. Cut potatoes into 1 1/2-inch pieces.
In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, chipotles, lime juice, and corn. Add potatoes and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper. To store, cover and refrigerate up to 1 day.


text:
Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth (1985)
by Naguib Mahfouz
No current Talk conversations about this book.
Based on actual Ancient Egypt events, the book historical-fiction-alises the events surrounding Akhenaten - husband of Nefertiti and father of Tutankhamen - 's rejection of the traditional polytheistic worship in favour of one centred around the sun god Aten. Chapter one introduces the premise of the book where Meriamun, a naïve young man, in search of the truth of the events (which is of course a very naïve and youthful ideal and luckily turns out to be a characterisation of Meriamun rather than Mahfouz), interviews contemporaries of Akhenaten. The first interview (chapter two) is with the high priest who naturally strongly opposed Akhenaten's new worship and gives an extremely biased account with liberal splashes of sexism (powerful women are evil as are men with "feminine" features.) At this point, I was afraid that was the overall tone of the book. But then comes Chapter three and onwards, where every chapter is a rehash of the same events from different perspectives. And the sudden burst of nuance! Of depth of each preceding characterisations! Of the complexity of contradictions! It was all so good, especially for someone with no knowledge of the events and people and completely worth reading again after looking up all the characters such as Ay and Horenbah to get a new perspective on their stories.
On the Nile at full seasonal flood, the narrator, Meriamun, and his father drift past the abandoned city of Akhetaten, Pharoah Akhenaten's once beautiful capital, which he had created after abandoning Thebes. The son asks the father, who is connected at court, to write letters of reference for him so that he might interview those who were involved with the "heretic" king. Mahfouz is admirably swift in establishing the core conflict. Amun is the main God of Egypt, but after Akhenaten's beloved brother dies in the face of Amun's perceived indifference Akhenaten turns to Aten, the sun god. He becomes a zealous monotheist among politically connected polytheists. Not only that, but he prohibits religious pluralism and disperses the priesthoods and assets of the old gods. Now all of Amun's very powerful priests are out on their ears and they are not pleased. When Akhenaten's father dies he ascends to Pharoah and all his new ministers are more than happy to swear alliegiance to Aten. When reports arrive that enemies are attacking the borders, and corruption is overtaking his officials, the new king discounts the news by saying that his "love" has yet to have its effect. "Soon you will see the tree of love heavy with fruit," he says. There is an intimation of homosexuality, perhaps none more stark than that last phrase, but it's beside the point. Akhenaten is a kind of a second millenium BC prophet, in contact with his one god, while all around him the people high and low indulge their polytheistic beliefs. His message of victorious love seems like something from the Summer of Love. It's at such moments that one wonders how close Mahfouz hews to the archaeological record. Multiple first-person narrators tell the story of the "heretic" king. Some love him, some hate him, but all are in one way or another biased. It is the reader's job to sort out the real Akhenaten from all this passionate distortion.
This is a slight, slim work, in more ways than one. Only 168 pages and very spare in style, I read this novella in little more than two hours, but I didn't feel it had much impact--it felt too lightweight to me. Akhenaten has been called the first monotheist--he's a terribly important historical figure and Ancient Egypt is to me a fascinating culture. Naguib Mahfouz for his part is a celebrated author--a Nobel Prize Winner. So I'm surprised I only liked this rather than loved it.
I think it's something in how he frames the tale, for all that it's not all that simple, and does draw you into the questions of what is the truth, it kept me at a distance. It's framed as the first person account of a young Egyptian, Meriamun, who, seeing the haunting ruins of the "city of the heretic" is moved to go among those who can still remember Akhenaten, and ask them to tell their stories. Although from time to time we get his impression of those he interviews, the novel is largely taken up with the different accounts of people as told to him years after the fact. That means I never felt truly immersed in what happens.
That doesn't mean that the approach doesn't have its fascinations. We get the views of those who hated the heretic pharaoh--the high priest of Amun, a neglected wife in his harem, his sister-in-law, and so obviously are they filled with malice, it's easy to dismiss their accounts of Akhenaten as "perverse," "mad" and "weak." It's also easy to accept much of what we're told by those who loved him, particularly since there is no benefit to them now to show any devotion to the dead heretic. They describe him as brilliant, "sweet" and a "noble soul."
Even so, there are aspects of this composite portrait that don't ring true to me, and make me wonder at Mahfouz's intentions. Mahfouz was himself a believing Muslim, one who spoke up for peace. So in painting this portrait of this man who believes in the "one and only God"--a god of "love, peace, and joy" I can imagine he sees in Akhenaten a forerunner of Muhammad.
But this I'm sure of--you can't ban religions other than your own, and have peace. And you can't be a ruler of an empire without force. You can't build an entire new city in a short space as Akhenaten did without forced labor and heavy taxes. I know of too many times in history where regimes have tried to force radical changes on the way of life of millions in the name of high ideals--whether it be Revolutionary France or Mao's "Great Leap Forward," they've all led to plenty of bloodshed. So the picture of this radical yet pacifistic pharaoh doesn't make sense to me. There's a great panoply of portraits of Akhenaten here--and I'm not sure I believe in any of them--something feels left out. Although maybe that's Mahfouz's intention.
This a wonderful (if a little short) tale of the reign of Akhenaten, told by those closest to him to a scribe in search of the truth. It shines the light on a period about which we know many isolated facts, but the whole truth remains a mystery. It's also a pointed reminder that "the truth" is never black and white, but dependent on our own perspectives and prejudices.
This is the first book by Naguib Mahfouz that I've read. His prose is elegantly simple and effective, and the translation (thankfully) does it justice. Highly recommended if you have any interest in Egypt's history.
I liked and didn't like this book. Maybe something got lost in translation, but I don't think that's the only reason I found it a bit flat.
I like the format: interview all the main players, and some minor ones, who surrounded the "heretic" Pharaoh Akhenaten during his rule and downfall. Each tells the story from his or her viewpoint, and soon the reader realizes that almost every narrator is colouring the story to make him or herself look good. You begin to read subsequent narrations sceptically, and start trying to piece together the "real" story. This is Mahfouz's intention: to let the reader decide whose version is "right."
This "tailoring" of the story is most clear in the stories of the political players -- characters like the High Priest of Amun, or Horemhab, or Ay. If the reader knows that both Ay and Horemhab (or Horemheb) became Pharaohs in their turn after Tutankhamun died, the eyebrows are raised pretty high at these men's protestation of devotion to Akhenaten, and their claims that they only abandoned him to save his life and save the kingdom.
Meanwhile, the ones who don't seem to tailor their story are the fervent believers. Toto, a priest of Amun who infiltrated Akhenaten's court, couldn't care less how he comes across; he's just so sure of his own righteousness that he barrels along, spewing hatred with every breath. Meri-Ra, who had been high priest of Akhenaten's god, still believes in that god. This is potentially dangerous, so one suspects that he, too, is being honest. The reader feels that these two, at least, might give some clue to the "real" story, if only their accounts can be reconciled.
The blurb on the book claims that "Akhenaten emerges as a charismatic enigma," but in fact it is Nefertiti whose role is most intriguing. Every narrator has an opinion about her, positive or negative, and opinions about her faith or lack of it, her fidelity or lack of it, and so on. Every narrator acknowledges that she was very politically astute, but everything else is left open. More and more, the reader looks forward to the final interview, with Nefertiti herself.
And here's where I had the problem. Meri-Ra, Akhenaten's hight priest, tells the interviewer, "You did not start this journey for no reason." I expected that not only would there be some climax of informtion during the interview with Nefertiti, but that we would learn something pertinent about the interviewer himself. I actually suspected we might find out that he was Moses (even though the timeline would have been somewhat off).
Yet nothing happened. Nefertiti, like all the others, told her story, made herself look good, and didn't resolve anything or bring up any intriguing twist to make the reader rethink anything. So the entire book was narration. stop. narration. stop. narration. stop. final stop. The exercise was interesting, to watch so many people describe the same events so differently. But in the end, it just dropped flat.
References to this work on external resources.
Wikipedia in English (1)
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0385499094, Paperback)From the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature and author of the Cairo trilogy, comes Akhenaten, a fascinating work of fiction about the most infamous pharaoh of ancient Egypt.
In this beguiling new novel, originally published in 1985 and now appearing for the first time in the United States, Mahfouz tells with extraordinary insight the story of the "heretic pharaoh," or "sun king,"--and the first known monotheistic ruler--whose iconoclastic and controversial reign during the 18th Dynasty (1540-1307 B.C.) has uncanny resonance with modern sensibilities. Narrating the novel is a young man with a passion for the truth, who questions the pharaoh's contemporaries after his horrible death--including Akhenaten's closest friends, his most bitter enemies, and finally his enigmatic wife, Nefertiti--in an effort to discover what really happened in those strange, dark days at Akhenaten's court. As our narrator and each of the subjects he interviews contribute their version of Akhenaten, "the truth" becomes increasingly evanescent. Akhenaten encompasses all of the contradictions his subjects see in him: at once cruel and empathic, feminine and barbaric, mad and divinely inspired, his character, as Mahfouz imagines him, is eerily modern, and fascinatingly ethereal. An ambitious and exceptionally lucid and accessible book, Akhenaten is a work only Mahfouz could render so elegantly, so irresistibly.
(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 12 Mar 2015 18:23:35 -0400)
Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz tells with remarkable insight the story of the "heretic" pharaoh whose iconoclastic and controversial career has much resonance with modern sensibilities. Years after the king's death, a young man with a passion for the truth questions the pharaoh's contemporaries in an effort to discover how he really died.… (more)
Amazon Kindle (0 editions)
Audible (0 editions)
CD Audiobook (0 editions)
Project Gutenberg (0 editions)
Google Books — Loading...
Popular covers
Is this you?
Become a LibraryThing Author.