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Flow Down Like Silver: Hypatia of Alexandria
From the dawn of history, countless women have marked their times in extraordinary ways. Women have been warriors, Pharaohs, popes, queens and kings, philosophers, poets, mathematicians, composers, painters, writers, revolutionaries and "witches."
But there was only one HYPATIA.
Brilliant, beautiful, accomplished and free, Hypatia of Alexandria was the last of the great Pagan teachers. Her brutal death at the hands of a Christian mob foretold the death of reason, of questioning, of reverence for nature, of the Goddess herself.
Following her acclaimed novel "The Secret Magdalene," Ki Longfellow now offers a stunning portrait of the life and death of Hypatia of Alexandria.
But there was only one HYPATIA.
Brilliant, beautiful, accomplished and free, Hypatia of Alexandria was the last of the great Pagan teachers. Her brutal death at the hands of a Christian mob foretold the death of reason, of questioning, of reverence for nature, of the Goddess herself.
Following her acclaimed novel "The Secret Magdalene," Ki Longfellow now offers a stunning portrait of the life and death of Hypatia of Alexandria.
310 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 20, 2009
About the author
Ki Longfellow
20 books1,591 followersKi Longfellow, born on Staten Island, New York, to a French-Irish mother and an Iroquois father, grew up in Hawaii and Marin County, California, but ended up living in France and England for many years. She is the widow of a British national treasure, the complete artist Vivian Stanshall.
In England, she created and sailed the Thekla, a 180 foot Baltic Trader, to the port of Bristol where it became the Old Profanity Showboat. It remains there today as a Bristol landmark. On it, she and Vivian wrote and staged a unique musical for the sheer joy of it. "Stinkfoot, a Comic Opera," garnered a host of delighted, if slightly puzzled, national reviews.
Her first book, "China Blues," was the subject of a bidding war. "China Blues," and her second novel, "Chasing Women," introduced Longfellow to Hollywood... a long hard but ultimately fascinating trip. ("China Blues" was reissued by Eio Books in 2012.)
When Vivian died in 1995, Ki stopped writing, living on Standing Room Only Farm in Vermont. Time may not heal, but it tempers. Eventually Ki began writing again, but her subject became the moment at age 19 that informed her life... a direct experience with the Divine. She chose the figure of Mary Magdalene to tell that tale in her novel "The Secret Magdalene." Nancy Savoca, a brilliant independent film maker (winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize with her first film, "True Love") traveled all the way to Vermont to option the book as her next film.
Ki's second book on the Divine Feminine is "Flow Down Like Silver," a novel about the numinous and gifted Hypatia of Alexandria, a tragically ignored historical figure of towering intellect who searched through intellect for what the Magdalene knew in her heart.
In a huge departure from her all she'd written before, Longfellow found herself weaving a tale of supernatural horror called "Houdini Heart." This book was selected by the Horror Writers of America as one of a handful of books to be considered for their 2011 Bram Stoker Award for Best Horror Novel.
In the Spring of 2013 the first three titles of her Sam Russo noir murder mystery series was published by Eio Books: "Shadow Roll," "Good Dog, Bad Dog," and "The Girl in the Next Room." There is a fourth title "Dead on the Rocks" available and there may be more. Or maybe not.
In December, 2013, she released a tale of one woman's attempt to survive lost in the Sonoran Desert: "Walks Away Woman."
She’s at work on the third and last book in her Divine Feminine series. Meant to be one thing, it's become quite another thing. Writers may think they know what they're going to write, but they can be very wrong. This book is "The White Bee".
In late January of 2018 she published the art book, biography, and memoir she'd promised Vivian Stanshall she would one day write for him: "The Illustrated Vivian Stanshall, a Fairytale of Grimm Art".
in the early months of 2018 three more of her books were optioned for Hollywood, one as a high end television mini-series and two as films.
She lives wherever she finds herself. Currently that’s between Somerset, England and Olympia, Washington.
In England, she created and sailed the Thekla, a 180 foot Baltic Trader, to the port of Bristol where it became the Old Profanity Showboat. It remains there today as a Bristol landmark. On it, she and Vivian wrote and staged a unique musical for the sheer joy of it. "Stinkfoot, a Comic Opera," garnered a host of delighted, if slightly puzzled, national reviews.
Her first book, "China Blues," was the subject of a bidding war. "China Blues," and her second novel, "Chasing Women," introduced Longfellow to Hollywood... a long hard but ultimately fascinating trip. ("China Blues" was reissued by Eio Books in 2012.)
When Vivian died in 1995, Ki stopped writing, living on Standing Room Only Farm in Vermont. Time may not heal, but it tempers. Eventually Ki began writing again, but her subject became the moment at age 19 that informed her life... a direct experience with the Divine. She chose the figure of Mary Magdalene to tell that tale in her novel "The Secret Magdalene." Nancy Savoca, a brilliant independent film maker (winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize with her first film, "True Love") traveled all the way to Vermont to option the book as her next film.
Ki's second book on the Divine Feminine is "Flow Down Like Silver," a novel about the numinous and gifted Hypatia of Alexandria, a tragically ignored historical figure of towering intellect who searched through intellect for what the Magdalene knew in her heart.
In a huge departure from her all she'd written before, Longfellow found herself weaving a tale of supernatural horror called "Houdini Heart." This book was selected by the Horror Writers of America as one of a handful of books to be considered for their 2011 Bram Stoker Award for Best Horror Novel.
In the Spring of 2013 the first three titles of her Sam Russo noir murder mystery series was published by Eio Books: "Shadow Roll," "Good Dog, Bad Dog," and "The Girl in the Next Room." There is a fourth title "Dead on the Rocks" available and there may be more. Or maybe not.
In December, 2013, she released a tale of one woman's attempt to survive lost in the Sonoran Desert: "Walks Away Woman."
She’s at work on the third and last book in her Divine Feminine series. Meant to be one thing, it's become quite another thing. Writers may think they know what they're going to write, but they can be very wrong. This book is "The White Bee".
In late January of 2018 she published the art book, biography, and memoir she'd promised Vivian Stanshall she would one day write for him: "The Illustrated Vivian Stanshall, a Fairytale of Grimm Art".
in the early months of 2018 three more of her books were optioned for Hollywood, one as a high end television mini-series and two as films.
She lives wherever she finds herself. Currently that’s between Somerset, England and Olympia, Washington.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 237 reviews
May 8, 2019
4.5 stars
"I am a mathematician, a philosopher, an astronomer. The people believe what they are told. I believe nothing, consider everything."
I applaud any book that makes me reflect deeply about my own beliefs. I am always open to learning new things and considering the opinions of others - which is why in many ways I could relate to Hypatia of Alexandria as depicted in this story. Besides, she was also a mathematician, and I’ve always had a special place in my heart for numbers (right next to the place I hold just for words and books.) Why is it that until reading Ki Longfellow’s meticulously researched novel, I’ve heard very little about this extraordinary woman? Perhaps it was a lapse in my education combined with the fact that little has been written about her in general. I’m pleased that Longfellow has brought her to life here! Born in fourth century Egypt, daughter of then-renowned mathematician Theon of Alexandria, Hypatia lived during a very turbulent period in that city’s history. Alexandria was a center of culture and education, but also a place where much conflict between the Christians of the Roman Empire, the Jews and the pagans was intensifying. A non-Christian woman with great intellect must have been viewed as quite a threat indeed.
"Intelligence requires first the gift of curiosity. Without curiosity, who would ask questions?... Intelligence is the subtle arrangement of that which might or might not be true, the intuitive selection and the weaving of such selections into a pleasing whole that makes for meaning… As for wisdom, wisdom is simple. The wise are able to recognize, and to accept, that not only is one never intelligent enough, but that when all is said and done, one knows exactly nothing."
Hypatia understood her limits and that of others. She was constantly learning about and questioning everything around her. She did not preach against Christianity – she took into consideration the beliefs of all in order to develop her own philosophy of thought. In Flow Down Like Silver, the story is told from the point of view of several individuals – mainly Hypatia and an Egyptian known as Minkah, one whose life she once saved who in return becomes her lifelong protector (I could be wrong, but as far as I can tell he is purely fictional, although Hypatia had so many devoted followers that he perhaps represents any number of those.) We also occasionally hear from her sister Jone, one who eventually converted to Christianity, as well as Cyril, nephew of the archbishop Theophilus and later an archbishop himself.
I won’t go into many actual plot details, but the book begins with the burning of the library at the Serapeum by a band of impassioned Christians. This was said to house some of the last remaining books from the Great Library of Alexandria. Many scholars attempted to save whatever writings and scrolls they could. Therefore, much of this novel centers on the preservation of those books and on books in general. "Books are like ships carrying worlds within their holds. These are my paper ships. And all need saving." Many other important historical figures of the time are also minor characters and I appreciated learning about these men a bit more – Didymus, the theologian; Synesius of Cyrene, one of her most famous disciples and later bishop of Ptolemais; Orestes, Roman prefect of Alexandria; Augustine of Hippo, later made Saint Augustine; as well as the bishops Theophilus and Cyril. Hypatia’s teachings through her public lectures as well as through her own private reflections are also illustrated, and I found much of her philosophy quite fascinating.
Overall I would say this is an excellent piece of historical fiction for anyone interested in ancient history and philosophy. It’s not a difficult book to read despite the scholarly subject matter – it’s written in a way that one can easily grasp the ideas put forth. Hypatia was brilliant, athletic, courageous and open-minded. Hypatia ranks right up there with Circe if I had an official list of remarkable feminist heroines (I think I should compile one!) I’m giving this one 4.5 stars but rounding down just because some of the prose itself didn’t quite sparkle as much as I would have liked – but the writing is certainly intelligent so well worth it. I can’t wait to read Longfellow’s The Secret Magdalene next.
"To look on the human face or to hold a human hand, to lay one’s head as a bride on another and listen to the beat of their heart, to gaze at the wings of a moth or the petals of the lotus, to behold the shape of a shell or to be transported by the flow of musical notes – if God has spoken, surely this is that language."
"I am a mathematician, a philosopher, an astronomer. The people believe what they are told. I believe nothing, consider everything."
I applaud any book that makes me reflect deeply about my own beliefs. I am always open to learning new things and considering the opinions of others - which is why in many ways I could relate to Hypatia of Alexandria as depicted in this story. Besides, she was also a mathematician, and I’ve always had a special place in my heart for numbers (right next to the place I hold just for words and books.) Why is it that until reading Ki Longfellow’s meticulously researched novel, I’ve heard very little about this extraordinary woman? Perhaps it was a lapse in my education combined with the fact that little has been written about her in general. I’m pleased that Longfellow has brought her to life here! Born in fourth century Egypt, daughter of then-renowned mathematician Theon of Alexandria, Hypatia lived during a very turbulent period in that city’s history. Alexandria was a center of culture and education, but also a place where much conflict between the Christians of the Roman Empire, the Jews and the pagans was intensifying. A non-Christian woman with great intellect must have been viewed as quite a threat indeed.
"Intelligence requires first the gift of curiosity. Without curiosity, who would ask questions?... Intelligence is the subtle arrangement of that which might or might not be true, the intuitive selection and the weaving of such selections into a pleasing whole that makes for meaning… As for wisdom, wisdom is simple. The wise are able to recognize, and to accept, that not only is one never intelligent enough, but that when all is said and done, one knows exactly nothing."
Hypatia understood her limits and that of others. She was constantly learning about and questioning everything around her. She did not preach against Christianity – she took into consideration the beliefs of all in order to develop her own philosophy of thought. In Flow Down Like Silver, the story is told from the point of view of several individuals – mainly Hypatia and an Egyptian known as Minkah, one whose life she once saved who in return becomes her lifelong protector (I could be wrong, but as far as I can tell he is purely fictional, although Hypatia had so many devoted followers that he perhaps represents any number of those.) We also occasionally hear from her sister Jone, one who eventually converted to Christianity, as well as Cyril, nephew of the archbishop Theophilus and later an archbishop himself.
I won’t go into many actual plot details, but the book begins with the burning of the library at the Serapeum by a band of impassioned Christians. This was said to house some of the last remaining books from the Great Library of Alexandria. Many scholars attempted to save whatever writings and scrolls they could. Therefore, much of this novel centers on the preservation of those books and on books in general. "Books are like ships carrying worlds within their holds. These are my paper ships. And all need saving." Many other important historical figures of the time are also minor characters and I appreciated learning about these men a bit more – Didymus, the theologian; Synesius of Cyrene, one of her most famous disciples and later bishop of Ptolemais; Orestes, Roman prefect of Alexandria; Augustine of Hippo, later made Saint Augustine; as well as the bishops Theophilus and Cyril. Hypatia’s teachings through her public lectures as well as through her own private reflections are also illustrated, and I found much of her philosophy quite fascinating.
Overall I would say this is an excellent piece of historical fiction for anyone interested in ancient history and philosophy. It’s not a difficult book to read despite the scholarly subject matter – it’s written in a way that one can easily grasp the ideas put forth. Hypatia was brilliant, athletic, courageous and open-minded. Hypatia ranks right up there with Circe if I had an official list of remarkable feminist heroines (I think I should compile one!) I’m giving this one 4.5 stars but rounding down just because some of the prose itself didn’t quite sparkle as much as I would have liked – but the writing is certainly intelligent so well worth it. I can’t wait to read Longfellow’s The Secret Magdalene next.
"To look on the human face or to hold a human hand, to lay one’s head as a bride on another and listen to the beat of their heart, to gaze at the wings of a moth or the petals of the lotus, to behold the shape of a shell or to be transported by the flow of musical notes – if God has spoken, surely this is that language."
December 25, 2009
After reading The Secret Magdalene last March, I was completely overwhelmed by the sheer depth of the story she presented to me. Not just the depth of the story, but also the beauty of her language, the solid composition of the book thrilled me. Having read her latest novel, Flow Down Like Silver, Hypatia of Alexandria, I know that The Secret Magdalene was not a one-time high. This lady - I'm referring to the author now - contains gold and I can only hope that she's given the perseverance and the time to share more of her artistic wealth with us.
As in The Secret Magdalene gnosis plays a major role in Flow Down Like Silver, although it is not as much on the surface as in Magdalene. Silver relates the story of the last 24 years of the 4th-5th century scientist Hypatia of Alexandria, as told through the eyes of different characters. We learn how Hypatia has grown up, as if she were a son to her father. Being left with only daughters by his wife, who died in childbirth from the third child, he chooses Hypatia, the middle one, to follow in his footsteps as a teacher of mathematics, philosophy, science, music and so on. Her older sister, Lais, is a mysterious and introvert character. She seems to understand life, its meaning or is content with the fact that it just lacks all meaning. There is something acquiescent about her. She and Hypatia love each other very much, as the latter in the beginning of the book says: "my sister, more precious than the beating of my own heart." (2) Her younger sister, Jone, is not loved by her father. In his eyes she caused the death of his wife and for this he ignores her and with that branding her for life. She is the most tragic of the three sisters. One of the main characters in the book, Minkah the Egyptian summarizes: `Hypatia is all mind, Lais all spirit, Jone all bodily emotion.' (40)
The novel starts in the year 391. In Roman Egypt the `new' religion, christianity, is on the rise. These christians are raiding the libraries of the city and are burning books that in their eyes are superfluous. Throughout the story it becomes painfully clear that the actions of many so-called christians have nothing whatsoever to do with the intentions of the one they claim to follow: Jesus. Lais is the neutral observer, free of judgment or any urge to evangelize her point of view. But the young Hypatia is furious about the way the christians burn books. Then Lais says this: `What they love is not this life (...), but the one that follows. If you were they: poor, ignorant, suffering, without privilege of any earthly kind, might you too not listen to this new faith which promises so much after death?' At this Hypatia marvels: `My sister is theodidactos; God-taught'. (12/13)
This book is filled with allusions to or direct descriptions of alchemy (even the Atalanta Fugiens appears very briefly), Hermes Trismegistus and all that goes up and comes down with gnosis. (The table Hypatia inherits from her mother `made of stone as green as emeralds' might be in fact the Emerald Tablet, that is said to reveal the secret of primordial substance and how life as we know it came into being.) In Magdalene the whole journey towards gnosis, is stronger interwoven into the story. In Silver I find it is more hidden between the lines, although hard to miss for an interested reader. Lais knows gnosis, she intuitively knows THE ALL. Hypatia has to make a long and arduous journey, but at an early age she understands the bliss that surrounds Lais: `I think if I desire anything, I desire this: to know what Lais knows.' (20) Hypatia repeatedly asks herself who she is and what is her contribution to mankind.
Occasionally the reader is confronted with the real background of the Christian faith and its rites and symbols with the cults of Mithras, Isis and Osiris and much more that justifies the question of how original the christian faith is. More than once does Hypatia question her contribution or her being: `I am only what I am, a thing of the mind (...) questioning constantly all it sees and all it hears. I believe nothing, not even what my senses assure me is so, for fear that by holding to one belief I lose the possibility of another.' (93) For Hypatia asking questions is a way of life, a way to constantly checking if her reality is still her home. It is the way of the scientist that is continuously seeking proof of what his senses tell him. After a discussion on religion with a christian she realizes: `One who believes is like a lover; he would hear nothing ill of his beloved.' (97) Or later on: `I ask christians: where are your questions? Where are your great doubters, those who lead us all to discovery?' (157) During a visit to Constantinople, Hypatia shows courage by questioning Atticus, the Bishop of this Byzantine capital. As he rambles on about the low place the woman has, Hypatia speaks up. `(...) to hear the ignorant speak out with authority is a great evil. (...) You repeat what you have heard. You question nothing. You expect no one to question you.' (215)
Again I underlined very much in this books. Sentences that struck me as pure poetry (`a man whose brain would not threaten a cow' (227)), parts that delivered me insight or that rare shock of recognition. As shown above, there is a lot of questioning about the christian faith. One of the things that I for instance have always wondered about is the strong rules that Islam, or Jewry, or Christianity enforce regarding the human body. The many dietary rules, the cloaking of the female body to extremes, circumcision. Ki Longfellow lets Hypatia say it thus: `If God (...) created the world and all that is in the world, how then can anything made by His Hand be impure?' (110) A very just question.
Hypatia has hidden many of the forbidden books, that she saved from the raiding and arsonist christians, in a cave in the desert. After the early death of her beloved sister Lais, her poetry is added to this secret library. Later on Hypatia comes across Gnostic gospels that had lain hidden under an old temple for hundreds of years. This find, with the gospel of Mary Magdalene among them, prompts Hypatia to write her own path to glory: The book of Impossible Truth. Names that we know from Magdalene come forth, like Seth of Damascus. And once again the subjection of women is condemned strongly. `(...) man has come to fear woman's sexual power before which he is helpless, so turns it back on her, making her the one who is helpless.' (232)
At the very end of her life - when it has become clear to her that the end of science and therewith of her part in the world of her time is very near - she hides these books in the same cave. (The Nag Hammadi Scrolls that were found in 1945, are located about 350 miles to the south of Alexandria. Wouldn't it be wonderful to believe that there is still a place somewhere near Alexandria, where in a cave are many jars containing not only Gnostic gospels, but also many of the lost books from the ancient library of Alexandria.) It is a long walk through the cave, and she loses her way. Lost in the utter darkness she realizes that this may very well be the end. It is one of the most impressive parts of the novel, filled with highly insightful phrases. Again Hypatia wonders what the meaning of her life is. `What did it serve? (...) All I have done is learn only to learn this one last true thing. I know nothing.' (281) Even though this truth breaks her heart, she gradually accepts this. She undergoes the alchemical process of death and being reborn. `I am snatched away from me and suddenly I fall out of myself, and then I fall into myself - completely.' (282)
In this scene she finally finds gnosis. It is one of the most beautiful and pieces of prose I've ever read on the core of gnosis, and coming very close to finally catching this what is beyond words in words nevertheless. The reader who knows, can almost feel the transition.
Incredibly beautiful also are the final words of Minkah the Egyptian, when he's on the verge of his death. He is the great love in life of Hypatia and she is his. I'll not repeat them here, for I've quoted more than enough from this superb novel. The best review would be to hand over the book itself and urge the receiver to `please, please, read it'. Ki Longfellow is working on the sequel of The Secret Magdalene. With every book she publishes it becomes more clear to me that she is one of my favourite authors. To all you questioners, searchers and lovers of beauty in words out there: please, please, read Flow down Like Silver, Hypatia of Alexandria!
As in The Secret Magdalene gnosis plays a major role in Flow Down Like Silver, although it is not as much on the surface as in Magdalene. Silver relates the story of the last 24 years of the 4th-5th century scientist Hypatia of Alexandria, as told through the eyes of different characters. We learn how Hypatia has grown up, as if she were a son to her father. Being left with only daughters by his wife, who died in childbirth from the third child, he chooses Hypatia, the middle one, to follow in his footsteps as a teacher of mathematics, philosophy, science, music and so on. Her older sister, Lais, is a mysterious and introvert character. She seems to understand life, its meaning or is content with the fact that it just lacks all meaning. There is something acquiescent about her. She and Hypatia love each other very much, as the latter in the beginning of the book says: "my sister, more precious than the beating of my own heart." (2) Her younger sister, Jone, is not loved by her father. In his eyes she caused the death of his wife and for this he ignores her and with that branding her for life. She is the most tragic of the three sisters. One of the main characters in the book, Minkah the Egyptian summarizes: `Hypatia is all mind, Lais all spirit, Jone all bodily emotion.' (40)
The novel starts in the year 391. In Roman Egypt the `new' religion, christianity, is on the rise. These christians are raiding the libraries of the city and are burning books that in their eyes are superfluous. Throughout the story it becomes painfully clear that the actions of many so-called christians have nothing whatsoever to do with the intentions of the one they claim to follow: Jesus. Lais is the neutral observer, free of judgment or any urge to evangelize her point of view. But the young Hypatia is furious about the way the christians burn books. Then Lais says this: `What they love is not this life (...), but the one that follows. If you were they: poor, ignorant, suffering, without privilege of any earthly kind, might you too not listen to this new faith which promises so much after death?' At this Hypatia marvels: `My sister is theodidactos; God-taught'. (12/13)
This book is filled with allusions to or direct descriptions of alchemy (even the Atalanta Fugiens appears very briefly), Hermes Trismegistus and all that goes up and comes down with gnosis. (The table Hypatia inherits from her mother `made of stone as green as emeralds' might be in fact the Emerald Tablet, that is said to reveal the secret of primordial substance and how life as we know it came into being.) In Magdalene the whole journey towards gnosis, is stronger interwoven into the story. In Silver I find it is more hidden between the lines, although hard to miss for an interested reader. Lais knows gnosis, she intuitively knows THE ALL. Hypatia has to make a long and arduous journey, but at an early age she understands the bliss that surrounds Lais: `I think if I desire anything, I desire this: to know what Lais knows.' (20) Hypatia repeatedly asks herself who she is and what is her contribution to mankind.
Occasionally the reader is confronted with the real background of the Christian faith and its rites and symbols with the cults of Mithras, Isis and Osiris and much more that justifies the question of how original the christian faith is. More than once does Hypatia question her contribution or her being: `I am only what I am, a thing of the mind (...) questioning constantly all it sees and all it hears. I believe nothing, not even what my senses assure me is so, for fear that by holding to one belief I lose the possibility of another.' (93) For Hypatia asking questions is a way of life, a way to constantly checking if her reality is still her home. It is the way of the scientist that is continuously seeking proof of what his senses tell him. After a discussion on religion with a christian she realizes: `One who believes is like a lover; he would hear nothing ill of his beloved.' (97) Or later on: `I ask christians: where are your questions? Where are your great doubters, those who lead us all to discovery?' (157) During a visit to Constantinople, Hypatia shows courage by questioning Atticus, the Bishop of this Byzantine capital. As he rambles on about the low place the woman has, Hypatia speaks up. `(...) to hear the ignorant speak out with authority is a great evil. (...) You repeat what you have heard. You question nothing. You expect no one to question you.' (215)
Again I underlined very much in this books. Sentences that struck me as pure poetry (`a man whose brain would not threaten a cow' (227)), parts that delivered me insight or that rare shock of recognition. As shown above, there is a lot of questioning about the christian faith. One of the things that I for instance have always wondered about is the strong rules that Islam, or Jewry, or Christianity enforce regarding the human body. The many dietary rules, the cloaking of the female body to extremes, circumcision. Ki Longfellow lets Hypatia say it thus: `If God (...) created the world and all that is in the world, how then can anything made by His Hand be impure?' (110) A very just question.
Hypatia has hidden many of the forbidden books, that she saved from the raiding and arsonist christians, in a cave in the desert. After the early death of her beloved sister Lais, her poetry is added to this secret library. Later on Hypatia comes across Gnostic gospels that had lain hidden under an old temple for hundreds of years. This find, with the gospel of Mary Magdalene among them, prompts Hypatia to write her own path to glory: The book of Impossible Truth. Names that we know from Magdalene come forth, like Seth of Damascus. And once again the subjection of women is condemned strongly. `(...) man has come to fear woman's sexual power before which he is helpless, so turns it back on her, making her the one who is helpless.' (232)
At the very end of her life - when it has become clear to her that the end of science and therewith of her part in the world of her time is very near - she hides these books in the same cave. (The Nag Hammadi Scrolls that were found in 1945, are located about 350 miles to the south of Alexandria. Wouldn't it be wonderful to believe that there is still a place somewhere near Alexandria, where in a cave are many jars containing not only Gnostic gospels, but also many of the lost books from the ancient library of Alexandria.) It is a long walk through the cave, and she loses her way. Lost in the utter darkness she realizes that this may very well be the end. It is one of the most impressive parts of the novel, filled with highly insightful phrases. Again Hypatia wonders what the meaning of her life is. `What did it serve? (...) All I have done is learn only to learn this one last true thing. I know nothing.' (281) Even though this truth breaks her heart, she gradually accepts this. She undergoes the alchemical process of death and being reborn. `I am snatched away from me and suddenly I fall out of myself, and then I fall into myself - completely.' (282)
In this scene she finally finds gnosis. It is one of the most beautiful and pieces of prose I've ever read on the core of gnosis, and coming very close to finally catching this what is beyond words in words nevertheless. The reader who knows, can almost feel the transition.
Incredibly beautiful also are the final words of Minkah the Egyptian, when he's on the verge of his death. He is the great love in life of Hypatia and she is his. I'll not repeat them here, for I've quoted more than enough from this superb novel. The best review would be to hand over the book itself and urge the receiver to `please, please, read it'. Ki Longfellow is working on the sequel of The Secret Magdalene. With every book she publishes it becomes more clear to me that she is one of my favourite authors. To all you questioners, searchers and lovers of beauty in words out there: please, please, read Flow down Like Silver, Hypatia of Alexandria!
October 29, 2009
More of the rich storytelling and compelling research that Ki Longfellow brought to her previous book, "The Secret Magdalene". Unlike "Magdalene", "Flow Down Like Silver" is told through, not one, but several 1st-person witnesses - Hypatia herself, plus intimates and acquaintances of the legendary mathematician/philosopher during the latter half of her life. This approach tempers a bit of the reader's emotional empathy for the principal character, offering in its place the intimate perceptions of several who came within her sphere of influence. (This parallels our own awareness of the historical Hypatia - we know of her only through references in writings of her contemporaries.) Hypatia is portrayed as a lovely and guileless intellectual with a streak of heroic stubbornness. Her existential example of a life lived with integrity and authenticity provokes equal parts admiration and fear in those who encounter her.
5th century Alexandria becomes as much a character in this tale as any one individual, much as 1st-century Palestine came so alive in The Secret Magdalene. The principal conflict between the tolerant, intellectual, even skeptical, agnosticism represented by Hypatia, and the reactionary intolerance of the disenfranchised yet rising Christian sects offers obvious and troubling parallels with today's world.
The story leaves us with the intriguing possibility (and for me, a fervent hope) that Hypatia's own writings, and perhaps books of the once great Library, are waiting somewhere under the Egyptian desert to one day be recovered.
5th century Alexandria becomes as much a character in this tale as any one individual, much as 1st-century Palestine came so alive in The Secret Magdalene. The principal conflict between the tolerant, intellectual, even skeptical, agnosticism represented by Hypatia, and the reactionary intolerance of the disenfranchised yet rising Christian sects offers obvious and troubling parallels with today's world.
The story leaves us with the intriguing possibility (and for me, a fervent hope) that Hypatia's own writings, and perhaps books of the once great Library, are waiting somewhere under the Egyptian desert to one day be recovered.
July 15, 2018
4 and a half stars, rounded up.
Knowing how much I love classical history, my darling husband suggested we watch "Agora", a fictionalized account of the life of Hypatia of Alexandria, who was once the most famous mathematician of the Roman Empire (poor thing, he had no idea what he was getting into...). That sounded fascinating to me, and the movie was beautifully shot and acted. But then. Then there was a scene when the Library of Alexandria is stormed by fanatics Christians and they burn everything down as Hypatia, her students and her father try to save the books. I stopped the DVD and I cried for almost half an hour. I cried because of the ignorance and fanaticism that bred that violence and destruction. I cried for all the lost knowledge that we will never get back. I cried because sometimes I'm afraid something like this is going to happen again.
I could never bring myself to finish the movie, but I looked for books on Hypatia because I found her story incredibly interesting, inspiring and tragic.
The book opens with the same scene that broke my heart in the movie: people burning books while other people desperately try to save them. It follows the life of Hypatia from that horrific day to her equally horrifying death, at the hand of a mob of mad Christians.
The story is told from the points of view of Hypatia herself, Minkah, a man who followed her father for his own mysterious purpose, and Jone, Hypatia's young sister. Longfellow has given each of them a unique voice and perspective on this tumultuous period of the Roman Empire's history. Alexandria was the unofficial center of the learned-world: people from all over the known world went there for the mathematicians and philosophers. But Christianity was getting a strong traction, and some sects insisted that learning was not as important as believing, and that too much education could ruin faith if it was subversive or "demonic". Through the characters' voices, this opposition between critical thinking and faith is explored, but also how the two can complement each other when there is true curiosity of mind and honesty.
What makes this book so interesting is the richness of the ideas that Hypatia and Minkah brew in their minds as they tell the reader what is going on. The characters are well constructed, and they have amazing thoughts. Hypatia, quite simply, wants to understand everything she comes into contact with. She sees learning as a treasure, and her inquisitive and logical mind can't grasp why people would reject that to preach a way of life based on things she sees to be objectively false. She does not want to judge them, she wants to know how their minds do this trick of following something that can so easily be shown to make no sense. Eventually, her only weapon against this threat to everything she holds dear is to be the most brilliant teacher of the city, in the hopes that some who come to her lecture will start thinking. Minkah's original goal is foiled by this very brilliance, when he begins to fall in love with Hypatia, not because she is beautiful, but because she sees the world so differently from everyone else, and can talk about it so eloquently. Jone's chapters are heartbreaking: her mother died birthing her, and it is made clear right off the bat that her father Theon holds this against her and has no love for her. When she becomes a Christian, it is partly out of faith and partly because she knows it is what will hurt her family the most - and every step she takes afterwards is dictated by this resentment and anger.
I loved the reflection on the idea that faith deprived of thinking becomes bigotry, of intellectual laziness as a slow-acting poison that destroys otherwise good people. And while not Christian myself, I appreciated that the book is clearly taking a stance against fanatics, bigots and power-hungry psychos, and not against Christianity itself. In fact, the Gnostic gospels are frequently mentioned as texts of great interest to pagan philosophers and scientists. Hypatia develops what I would call an almost Zen understanding of the universe after reading some of them, and seeing how some of their ideas complement what astronomy and mathematics taught her about the universe.
I'm always on my guard when I pick up historical fiction about the bad-ass women of history that I admire so much: most writers don't want to write about their accomplishments, they are usually just interested in writing who they fell in love with and slept with. This book does a great job of showing the attraction between Hypatia and Minkah without ever putting it at the center of the plot. It's a thing, sure, but it's not what drives the story forward. There is much more to them than romance.
A very good book, for ancient history buffs, feminists and people who love to think and learn and read. It made me want to dig up all my ancient classics, such as Herodotus, Cicero and Plutarch.
Knowing how much I love classical history, my darling husband suggested we watch "Agora", a fictionalized account of the life of Hypatia of Alexandria, who was once the most famous mathematician of the Roman Empire (poor thing, he had no idea what he was getting into...). That sounded fascinating to me, and the movie was beautifully shot and acted. But then. Then there was a scene when the Library of Alexandria is stormed by fanatics Christians and they burn everything down as Hypatia, her students and her father try to save the books. I stopped the DVD and I cried for almost half an hour. I cried because of the ignorance and fanaticism that bred that violence and destruction. I cried for all the lost knowledge that we will never get back. I cried because sometimes I'm afraid something like this is going to happen again.
I could never bring myself to finish the movie, but I looked for books on Hypatia because I found her story incredibly interesting, inspiring and tragic.
The book opens with the same scene that broke my heart in the movie: people burning books while other people desperately try to save them. It follows the life of Hypatia from that horrific day to her equally horrifying death, at the hand of a mob of mad Christians.
The story is told from the points of view of Hypatia herself, Minkah, a man who followed her father for his own mysterious purpose, and Jone, Hypatia's young sister. Longfellow has given each of them a unique voice and perspective on this tumultuous period of the Roman Empire's history. Alexandria was the unofficial center of the learned-world: people from all over the known world went there for the mathematicians and philosophers. But Christianity was getting a strong traction, and some sects insisted that learning was not as important as believing, and that too much education could ruin faith if it was subversive or "demonic". Through the characters' voices, this opposition between critical thinking and faith is explored, but also how the two can complement each other when there is true curiosity of mind and honesty.
What makes this book so interesting is the richness of the ideas that Hypatia and Minkah brew in their minds as they tell the reader what is going on. The characters are well constructed, and they have amazing thoughts. Hypatia, quite simply, wants to understand everything she comes into contact with. She sees learning as a treasure, and her inquisitive and logical mind can't grasp why people would reject that to preach a way of life based on things she sees to be objectively false. She does not want to judge them, she wants to know how their minds do this trick of following something that can so easily be shown to make no sense. Eventually, her only weapon against this threat to everything she holds dear is to be the most brilliant teacher of the city, in the hopes that some who come to her lecture will start thinking. Minkah's original goal is foiled by this very brilliance, when he begins to fall in love with Hypatia, not because she is beautiful, but because she sees the world so differently from everyone else, and can talk about it so eloquently. Jone's chapters are heartbreaking: her mother died birthing her, and it is made clear right off the bat that her father Theon holds this against her and has no love for her. When she becomes a Christian, it is partly out of faith and partly because she knows it is what will hurt her family the most - and every step she takes afterwards is dictated by this resentment and anger.
I loved the reflection on the idea that faith deprived of thinking becomes bigotry, of intellectual laziness as a slow-acting poison that destroys otherwise good people. And while not Christian myself, I appreciated that the book is clearly taking a stance against fanatics, bigots and power-hungry psychos, and not against Christianity itself. In fact, the Gnostic gospels are frequently mentioned as texts of great interest to pagan philosophers and scientists. Hypatia develops what I would call an almost Zen understanding of the universe after reading some of them, and seeing how some of their ideas complement what astronomy and mathematics taught her about the universe.
I'm always on my guard when I pick up historical fiction about the bad-ass women of history that I admire so much: most writers don't want to write about their accomplishments, they are usually just interested in writing who they fell in love with and slept with. This book does a great job of showing the attraction between Hypatia and Minkah without ever putting it at the center of the plot. It's a thing, sure, but it's not what drives the story forward. There is much more to them than romance.
A very good book, for ancient history buffs, feminists and people who love to think and learn and read. It made me want to dig up all my ancient classics, such as Herodotus, Cicero and Plutarch.
June 11, 2010
There's not much out there about Hypatia of Alexandria and what there is isn't world class. Kind of understandable considering what's left of her work and her life. But reading this "novel," got me as close to her as I ever expect to get. This is a wonderful book and though it might differ from the scanty research done by (perhaps) dubious scholars, I get the feeling that the rational and emotional jumps made by Longfellow are more Hypatia than any dry biased account could ever be. I'm also annoyed that anyone uses the Suda as a "source" for this extraordinary woman's life. The Suda was written a long time after Hypatia was killed and in a time whose conventions were nothing like Hypatia's - yet these conventions are applied to her. Celibacy for example. Celibacy in the Western World was a convenience urged by the Catholic Church for its own purposes, none of them laudable. Hypatia was no Christian and would never have been bound by the Christian dislike of the body and nature. Flow Down Like Silver also delves into the alchemical which was surely part of Hypatia's world just as mathematics was. Longfellow's clever assumptions based on common sense and a strong mystical understanding far surpasses the Suda. And then there's her superb storytelling and her delicious writing. Why don't libraries have this book?
September 10, 2009
Ever since I finished The Secret Magdalene, I've been waiting for the second in this writer's trilogy of the Divine Feminine. The Secret Magdalene stunned me. It took me places few books go. So obviously I was one of the first to get this book and to read it, or at least the first to review it here. {author:Ki Longfellow]'s first book was about Mary Magdalene, but not the Magdalene who's been so abused for so long. Flow Down Like Silver takes place 350 years later in the city of Alexandria, Egypt, the very city Longfellow's Magdalene spent her youth in, practicing the ancient Passion of Osiris. There was no Christianity in her day, but by the time Hypatia lived Christianity existed side by side with the old faiths and ancient mystery teachings. In cities all over the Roman world the struggle was on between them for the human soul. Before Christianity all these teachings tolerated each other. But the new faith tolerated nothing but itself. Hypatia of Alexandria was the last and greatest teacher of philosophy and the mystery schools. She was the last and greatest mathematician. She was and lovely and men sought her out from all over the known world for her learning and her beauty. As a "pagan" (which is a Christian term that is not used as a compliment), she was unashamed of her body and used it as she alone decreed. She valued her own mind, never taking anything on "faith." She was almost modern in her sense of self and her freedom from males. But the time was coming when a woman like Hypatia would no longer be tolerated in the new world fashioned by a new faith. This wonderful book makes us see a world and a woman we should never have forgotten. In the last few pages of this truly gripping book, I admit it, I cried. To think there would be nothing like her until 14 centuries later when Newton took up mathematics where Hypatia so abruptly left off.
I knew I would love the writing. Longfellow writes gorgeous lyrical prose. But I'd never heard of Hypatia. Now that I have, I honor her as much as those who once honored her while she lived. And there is a very strong connection here to Mary Magdalene, one that surprised and delighted me. Highly recommended. Another beautiful book. And I loved the cover.
I knew I would love the writing. Longfellow writes gorgeous lyrical prose. But I'd never heard of Hypatia. Now that I have, I honor her as much as those who once honored her while she lived. And there is a very strong connection here to Mary Magdalene, one that surprised and delighted me. Highly recommended. Another beautiful book. And I loved the cover.
September 28, 2009
Hypatia lived sixteen centuries ago. This was a woman who should be better known and much better respected than Cleopatra and certainly Nefertiti. She was a genius and a beauty and the last great teacher of what we call Paganism in all that was left of the Great Library of Alexandria. I grabbed this book as soon as I knew the subject, but I would have read it eaqerly anyway since I was changed by Longfellow's The Secret Magdalene A Novel...more than a read, an experience. And here she's done it again. I don't know if Longfellow is a great writer (though her writing is beautiful) but I do know she writes of the most important things an artist can tackle. Our deep longing for the personal Divine.
January 1, 2011
There's not much out there about Hypatia of Alexandria and what there is isn't world class. Kind of understandable considering what's left of her work and her life. But reading this "novel," got me as close to her as I ever expect to get. This is a wonderful book and though it might differ from the scanty research done by dubious scholars, I get the feeling that the rational and emotional jumps made by Longfellow are more Hypatia than any dry biased account could ever be. I'm also annoyed that anyone uses the Suda as a "source" for this extraordinary woman's life. The Suda was written a long time after Hypatia was killed and in a time whose conventions were nothing like Hypatia's - yet these conventions are applied to her. Celibacy for example. Celibacy in the Western World was a convenience urged by the Catholic Church for its own purposes, none of them laudable. Hypatia was no Christian and would never have been bound by the Christian dislike of the body and nature. Flow Down Like Silver also delves into the alchemical which was surely part of Hypatia's world just as mathematics was. Longfellow's clever assumptions based on common sense and a strong mystical understanding far surpasses the Suda. And then there's her superb storytelling her delicious writing. Why don't libraries have this book?
October 1, 2009
Another wonderful book from Longfellow who wrote The Secret Magdalene A Novel. This one is set in the 4th and 5th century in Alexandria Egypt when Christianity is the state religion of Rome. But all over the Empire Hellenists still teach and ancient religions still compete for the minds of the people. Hypatia of Alexandria was one of the last of the great early mathematicians and hilosophers with complete access to what still remained of the Great Library of Alexandria. This is a fast racy tale of courage and ultimate tragedy, but with the same underlying profundity of Longfellow's Magdalene. The story is not as well known, in fact it's barely known at all. But it should be and I, for one, am so pleased that Longfellow in particular took it on. It's a huge story deserving of a huge audience and has everything a reader of historical fiction could want. As for those who love good writing and philosophy beautifully told, this is here too.
August 7, 2010
I saw the movie Agora and even though it wasn't quite the best movie I've seen, I became fascinated by the lead character, Hypatia of Alexandria. So I went looking for a book about her and this is what I found. Finding this book alone was worth sitting through the overlong Agora. I don't know my history but it seems the writer does, and the way she presents it is so alive. The book's vitality crackles. The city, the huge conflict as the Christian church seeks to dominate all minds, the disintigration of Rome (at least the Rome of the west), and the last of the free and tolerant early mystery teachings...exemplified by a magnificent woman called Hypatia. I was engrossed from first page to last. This is one of my keepers. Now to find anything else Longfellow has written.
February 28, 2011
I'm a bit of a history buff and there are some writers who can really deliver. This writer is my latest discovery. The world in which she sets her characters blazes under the sun of the last gasp of Egypt, the characters themselves quiver with conflicted life. I've heard of Hypatia, so much so that she'd become one of my heroes. And I've been frustrated that she isn't as well known as Joan of Arc. But the Church has conspired to bury her, and they've done a pretty good job of it. But if this book were to get out, to get read, a great many women would find the very female they're looking for to hold up as a shining example, to inspire them, to be in awe of and emulate. Hypatia was a real one-off in a time of grinding change and the suppression of everything she valued. And we should value. Men and Women. Freedom of thought, of belief, of questioning, of learning. A genius, a free woman, a beauty. Longfellow paints her portrait as well as anyone could. I treasure this book.
September 11, 2010
This is the second in Longfellow's trilogy of gnosis. This time she's chosen an extraordinary woman's whose history is sketchy at best but who she has given the role of a seeker rather than, as with Mary Magdalene (The Secret Magdalene: A Novel, a finder. Spiritual quests are at the bottom of these first two "historic" novels and I love them for two reasons. First, that the subject is treated in a novelists way rather than as some sort of "self-help" book is just up my street. And secondly, I think Longfellow may just be a great American writer. I don't know if we think that way anymore but I do know we laud writers I can't abide. But that's just me, no doubt. Academics and Oprah know better. This book takes us into the heart and mind of a woman who stands so far above her fellow man she would and is called a genius. But in Longfellow's hands she's still very very human and as heroic as any man in any field. The writing is superb. The understanding of her topic makes me suspect Longfellow really knows what she's talking about. Big favorite.
December 13, 2009
Just read the latest review on amazon. I agree. This writer is fast becoming my favorite writer.
September 12, 2009
Loved her first book, [The Secret Magdalene:], love this one. On a roll!
September 30, 2009
Just finished this since I adored The Secret Magdalene and it's another of her unique portraits of an amazing woman.
September 23, 2009
This one didn't cost me so pain much as I read it or give me so much joy. I suppose that could be because the first book I read of hers was The Secret Magdalene A Novel and as a dissastified Christian looking for more, MORE is what I got from that first book. This one was written in Longfellow's fluid prose and had her touch. Some whole sections were so beautiful I thought I was reading prose poetry which I guess I was. I refer to where she sails out into the sea alone to live or to die. Or anytime Hypatia's sister Lais talked or did anything at all. Or the whole last chapter which I shall never forget. I don't know Hypatia so I have no idea if this is accurate or a flight-of-fancy and I admit I don't care. If I want to read a biography, I don't read a novel. This was a novel and the lack of the one star is because although I was there all the way, I wasn't totally gripped. Maybe it's not fair to compare one book to another? Like in music. Some songs an artist writes speaks to you because of your own life. And some songs don't touch you quite as much. Am I giving this book a bad review? Not at all. No. I loved it. But I was never lost in it as I was lost in her story of Mary Magdalene and Jesus. I hear there's a movie being made based on The Secret Magdalene. I'm there.
December 26, 2009
A fan from the first few pages of The Secret Magdalene A Novel and now a bigger fan than before. FLow Down Like Silver takes place mostly in Alexandria just as that great free-thinking cosmopolitan city is feeling the first full effects of the new religion of Christianity. Hypatia, brilliant and famous, stands above it all shining out as the voice of generosity and reason. But times are growing darker. Just as I did with The Secret Magdalene I had to buy another copy of the book so I could highlight all the passages I loved or caused me to shiver with recognition or insight. What a writer and what books!
February 6, 2010
Flow Down Like Silver is a story set in ancient Alexandria when the Mediterranean world was at a cross-roads between traditional beliefs and philosophies, and the newly dominant Christian faith. The star of this remarkable novel is Hypatia, among the most accomplished and fascinating women in history. Her story, told by another of my favorite authors, Ki Longfellow, captivated and intrigued me. I did not know much about early Christianity or the Roman world of this period, before reading this book, so I learned a lot. It was great to be absorbed in a page turner, and come away feeling like I had learned something as well.
October 17, 2009
When you love a book as much as I loved The Secret Magdalene, it's a hard act to follow. This book was so far above the common fodder that I should give it 5 stars but I can't because it didn't reach inside and rip my heart out. Although? Almost, at the end. It's not fair comparing one book to another, like the Academy Awards. Hypatia of Alexandria was a brilliant woman and this has all the flashes of brilliance I expect now from this writer. But it reads a little like an editor got hold of it and cut the philosophy and the mathematics. I'd like to know.
April 22, 2011
As an amateur astronomer and mathematician, I went looking for this book, or any book about Hypatia. There aren't many which is understandable because unlike our big female historical heroes: Cleopatra, Elizabeth the First, and so forth, there's little we know about this woman thanks to her total eradication by the early Christian church. So both novelists as well as scholars have to piece together a human being out of very little indeed. And every one of them has their bias. A bit like: who was Shakespeare? Blood gets shed over that question. Anyway, having already read and loved Longfellow's The Secret Magdalene, I was prepared for a piecing together like no other. And this is what I got. A unique viewpoint and an immersion into a fascinating Hypatia and a fascinating world. Longfellow has an amazing ability to synthesize what she knows and what she surmises. She also is a first rate novelist. Killer combo.
I've read somewhere (a mathematics site?) that there isn't enough pure math here. Being somewhat well versed in math myself, I know two things: there is no pure math,, and if there were, it would not have existed in Hypatia's time. Historians like to think she was one of the first of the moderns, but first what? Mathematics on its highest level is a language spoken by very few and has NO practical application. I'm not talking the kind of math that allows an engineer to design an airplane or a building. I'm talking about mathematical problems that exist only for and of themselves. Hypatia's mathematics had enormous practical application, even if that application was alchemy.
Great book. And one must remember she was also a philosopher. Longfellow's grasp of philosophy still impresses me.
I've read somewhere (a mathematics site?) that there isn't enough pure math here. Being somewhat well versed in math myself, I know two things: there is no pure math,, and if there were, it would not have existed in Hypatia's time. Historians like to think she was one of the first of the moderns, but first what? Mathematics on its highest level is a language spoken by very few and has NO practical application. I'm not talking the kind of math that allows an engineer to design an airplane or a building. I'm talking about mathematical problems that exist only for and of themselves. Hypatia's mathematics had enormous practical application, even if that application was alchemy.
Great book. And one must remember she was also a philosopher. Longfellow's grasp of philosophy still impresses me.
December 16, 2011
I loved Flow Down Like Silver. I became a big fan of Ki Longfellow years ago when I read her first novel, China Blues. Then I read Chasing Women, which I also thoroughly enjoyed.
Then nothing, until the Secret Magdalene, a complete departure in style and content, but it blew my mind. What history, what story, what philosophy, what a Jesus, what an adventure.
I was so impressed with The Secret Magdalene, I had to buy her next book, Flow Down Down Like Silver: Hypatia of Alexandria.
This is another in her "divine feminine" trilogy, as she calls it. Hypatia is a historical figure, I even saw her picture on a poster of "great women of science" on sale at the Los Angeles Library gift shop. This book tells the story of an amazing woman, at an amazing time in history, when Christianity was struggling to dominate the Western world, and the Christians themselves were at each other's throats, killing each other, killing the Jews, killing pagans, burning books, and destroying history and knowledge.
Hypatia stands in the midst of all this madness teaching mathematics and philosophy and trying to remain serenely apart from all the insanity, while at the same time on a quest for spiritual knowledge and understanding. But in the end she cannot escape the madness, it envelopes her, and her world.
But that is only part of the story. The cast of characters and the subplots enrich this book so that you get both a history lesson (Longfellow's research is always historically accurate, just look at the selected bibliography at the end of the Secret Magdalene), but also a sweeping story, full of fascinating characters.
Another home run by Longfellow as far as I am concerned.
Then nothing, until the Secret Magdalene, a complete departure in style and content, but it blew my mind. What history, what story, what philosophy, what a Jesus, what an adventure.
I was so impressed with The Secret Magdalene, I had to buy her next book, Flow Down Down Like Silver: Hypatia of Alexandria.
This is another in her "divine feminine" trilogy, as she calls it. Hypatia is a historical figure, I even saw her picture on a poster of "great women of science" on sale at the Los Angeles Library gift shop. This book tells the story of an amazing woman, at an amazing time in history, when Christianity was struggling to dominate the Western world, and the Christians themselves were at each other's throats, killing each other, killing the Jews, killing pagans, burning books, and destroying history and knowledge.
Hypatia stands in the midst of all this madness teaching mathematics and philosophy and trying to remain serenely apart from all the insanity, while at the same time on a quest for spiritual knowledge and understanding. But in the end she cannot escape the madness, it envelopes her, and her world.
But that is only part of the story. The cast of characters and the subplots enrich this book so that you get both a history lesson (Longfellow's research is always historically accurate, just look at the selected bibliography at the end of the Secret Magdalene), but also a sweeping story, full of fascinating characters.
Another home run by Longfellow as far as I am concerned.
October 30, 2009
If I was a writer I would write a wonderful review, I love this book so much. I do not understand people now or then. Why go out to hurt someone just because they don't feel or think like you do? It made no difference what you did or did not believe in...someone was out to get you. Why can't we be like little children and love everyone and everything? I don't know the answer. As brilliant as Hypatia was she didn't either. I love the characters and how they seem to intertwine together. To make it short and sweet I LOVE THIS BOOK.
July 5, 2010
After reading The Secret Magdalene I was a little afraid that this book could be as astonishing. Well it is. Again, I don't care if the story is true (although I suspect it was close enough), what I care about is what this writer is saying in her books. Deep truths told in marvelous heart-breaking stories.
December 24, 2009
I waited and waited for this one after The Secret Magdalene A Novel and I was NOT disappointed!
January 24, 2010
How can I still be shocked when brilliance is silenced by ignorance? A heartbreaking book.
February 5, 2010
I read this in two nights and howled at the end. Hypatia is now one of the my greatest heroines.
July 26, 2010
The film AGORA isn't a patch on this book about Hypatia. Read this one to get so much closer.
September 25, 2012
So I have read this writer's other book The Secret Magdalene which is a great book. It is an important book. It brought me to this second book in which the writer comes at the idea of Consciousness in another way, through the mind of one of the most brilliant human beings who ever lived. No, it is not a man. It is a woman! And why do we not know this woman? Because men do not want us to know this woman, or any woman, could be like this. So they and their churches long ago threw her away like they would throw away anything that did not suit their world. In Hypatia's time, the church was growing fat on the minds and the hearts of the simple sad people who did not understand who they were. The poor people turned, as do they not always? to other men for the answers they could have found in their own hearts. But these answers would not satisfy those who require power and riches. Hypatia, because she lived in a man's world (do we not now?) had to be silenced. She was a philosopher, a mathematician, a cosmologist, an astronomer, a writer, an alchemist in the purest sense, a rider of horses, a sailor of boats, a wanderer, a teacher, what could she not do? She knew more, she was so much bigger, she shone so much brighter. They wanted to darken her light and they did. It broke my heart. What a writer this writer is to show us this woman in strong words that say so much. She says she will write one more book to go with these two wonders. I wait patiently in my little house.
March 30, 2010
Don't know what to say. This was an amazing book and maybe as good or better than [The Secret Magdalene:]. I champ at the bit for the third in this series.
June 22, 2010
Stunning. Just saw Agora about Hypatia. This is SO much better. A big must read folks.
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