BOOK REVIEW - The Bridge

[Mike]

The Bridge by Ellen Jent © 2012 Xlibris ISBN: (Hardcover)
978-1-4691-3716-2 $29.99 (Softcover) 978-1-4691-3715-5 $19.95
(ebook) 978-1-4691-3717-9 181 pages $3.99

Ascencionism is one of those topics which tend to engender very firm
positions. You believe it to be the next great step in planetary
evolution; you think it is all New Age hogwash; you know nothing about
it, and have no desire to learn about it. It suffers from all the
maladies common to newly emergent philosophies including over zealous
converts and jargon which is incomprehensible to many who are on the
outside.

Ms Jent, to her credit, is very clear about her beliefs while not
attempting to “convert” anyone else. This book is about her journey
on her road to accepting ascensionism as reality.

There were a few editing glitches (on page 24, there is a total lack
of spacing between words in the first sentence of the second
paragraph; there are few other instances of the same thing scattered
throughout) and the overall spacing leaves a lot to be desired (the
book would be reduced to about half the length if the line spacing
was reduced to normal). On the other hand, all that white space makes
it easier to read in many ways.

Long-time readers of my reviews will be aware of my low tolerance for
poor writing and editing (especially the misuse of homophones). Far
too many writers rely on spell-checking programs to catch errors and,
unfortunately, it appears that Ms Jent is one of them. Most of the
errors I encountered were instances which computer programs would
pass, but a human editor would (most likely) have caught (Bring back
human editors!).

There is a wealth of data assembled within the pages of this book.
Unfortunately, some of it is presented in a fashion which leave
something to be desired. As an example, when presenting information
regarding the hierarchy of the angels, several of them appear on
multiple lists with no explanation on the crossovers. Granted that
information can be gathered from other sources, a short explanation
would help new-comers understand how, and why, these angels hold
multiple positions.

Another writing problem I encountered was inconsistency when it came
to verb tenses within the same sentence. That, coupled with the
occasional incomplete sentence, was enough to throw me off the rhythm
I had established while reading the book.

I would like to give this book a glowing review, but I really can't do
it. It is a good book and, assuming it goes into a second printing,
if the editing glitches can be ironed out, it will definitely be one I
would recommend for most readers. It is good, but it could be better.

As a portrayal of Ms Jent's position on the subject of ascensionism,
however, it cannot be faulted.