Books by Ruth Finnegan

Sinbad the Sailor sets out over the sea to retrieve his fortune with all his remaining goods on board. They alight on a beautiful island - but no it is a huge whale who, awakened by their shouts, tosses Sinbad painfully into the sea. Magically rescued he is befriended by a great king, and his ship, with crew and full cargo wondrously returns. Sinbad returns to his beloved Baghdad, now a rich man - till the next voyage!A tale from the Arabian Nights, a collection of adventures parallel to Homer's Odyssey.Like your grandmother told you.

The classic account by doyen prize-winning anthropologist Ruth Finnegan of the issues, crucial for us all, surrounding oral and written communication as they worked - and still work - out in the romantic islands dotted round the Pacific Ocean.A riveting short book, remarkable equally for its scholarship and its readability. Not to be missed by anyone interested in these fundamental processes of our culture,Read more in Ruth's fabulous Orality and Literacy series - she is an accepted world authority on these far-reaching issues - of interest and importance to each of us. And then about the hidden nature of human communication in the so-often-misunderstood secrets revealed in her 'Communicating' and how we so amazingly overlap with animals and even have much to learn from them (startle your friends - and yourself!)

A little angel, banished from heaven, can only return if he observes and records seven acts of real goodness on earth. Homesick and cold - and not believing that good deeds are possible on earth anyway - he does his best, meeting some unexpected people and actions on the way. But will he ever be able to circumvent the edict banishing him and get back home?

A companion story to Ruth Finnegan's multi-award inspirational novel 'Black Inked Pearl', this time, unusually, told from the perspective of the ever-sounding sea A volume in the unique 'Kate-Pearl' series

What is the role of sound in human like?and of music? What do we use it for and ow does it vary across the world? Where does it come from and above all why should we - as we do - care about it? This series of reflections by the celebrated anthropologist Ruth Finnegan tackles these questions and more in her inimitable friendly and accessible style. An Informative and inspiring book, unique.

Kris et Kate construisent un bateau dans le sable et leur chien Holly gambade autour d'eux. Ils s'aventurent dans une crique, sous le regard de leur me¿re reste¿e sur le rivage.Un doux conte magique admirablement illustre¿ qui incite ä la de¿couverte de l'histoire naturelle.Traduit de l'anglais par Gwendolyne Thio et Jocelyne Chalumeau-Thio

Once upon a time in the long long ago there were two children. One was poor. One was rich. One was very good at sums. The other one was not. But they liked each other a lot. And all the time they were playing together... A fairytale retold by Ruth Finnegan, illustrated by Liz Amini-Holmes.

Kris and Kate build a boat in the sand, then, dreamlike, it becomes a rowing boat. Their dog Holly frisks round them.They venture out into a sea inlet, watched by their mother from the shore. Kate, assuming that girls take the energetic lead, insists on rowing, Kris dreams with fish. After all that excitement they they get hungry and eventually, with Holly, fall asleep! With their mother alarmed on the shore, the boat drifts out to sea. But the birds and the fish that Kris had befriended rally round and pull them back to shore.Their mother lifts them out, still asleep and, Holly beside them, their mother kisses them goodnight as they dream of their next adventure

It is a common notion that Africa has, and indeed ought to have, learned much from the west. This is not wrong; all cultures rightly learn from each other. But less is said of what there is to learn from Africa: from her stories, myths, music, proverbs, insights - and more. Here an acclaimed African scholar steps into the gap by uncovering for us something of the great legacy of African thought and practice in ways that will astonish many. Written with verve and authority and directed above all to students and sixth formers, this book will also delight and often surprise those who know something of Africa as well as those hitherto ignorant.Ruth Finnegan OBE FBA is Emeritus Professor The Open University, Foreign Associate of the Finnish Literature Bureau, and International Fellow of the American Folklore Society. An anthropologist and multi-award author, she has published extensively, chiefly on Africa, musical practice, and English urban life. Recent books include How is Language?, Fiji's Music: Where Did It Come From?, her edited Entrancement: The Consciousness of Dreaming, Music and The World, and two prize-winning Africa-influenced novels Black Inked Pearl and Voyage of Pearl of the Seas.

The Limba are rice farmers living in the hills of northern Sierra Leone who have, until recently, been somewhat despised by their neighbours. Yet they possess a subtle and fascinating literature, as illustrated by this detailed study of their stories, collected and translated by Dr. Finnegan. Their literary and artistic value emerges clearly when the significance of their 'oral' character is realized. The introductory chapters full consider such points as the importance of the actual delivery, the part played by the story-teller, and the changing forms arising from the originality of individual narrators. The book throws light on the general study of oral composition and performance as well as on the literary spirit of a previously unstudied West African people. Ruth Finnegan OBE, FBA, Emeritus Professor Open University. Her work has mainly been on oral performance, narrative, the ethnography of music, and communicating (including extra-sensory perception). Her publications include Oral Literature in Africa, The Hidden Musicians, Communicating: the Multiple Modes of Human Communication, Why Do We Quote? and, most recently, the novels Black Inked Pearl, Voyage of Pearl of the Seas, and The Helix Pearl. Born in Ireland, she now lives in Old Bletchley, southern England.

This classic study is an introduction to ""oral poetry,"" a broad subject which Ruth Finnegan interprets as ranging from American folksongs, Eskimo lyrics, and modern popular songs to medieval oral literature, the heroic poems of Homer, and recent epic compositions in Asia or the Pacific. The book employs a broad comparative perspective and considers oral poetry from Africa, Asia, and Oceania as well as Europe and America. The results of Finnegan's vast research illuminate and suggest fresh conclusions to many current controversies: the nature of oral tradition and oral composition; the notion of a special oral style; possible connection between types of poetry and types of society; the differences between oral and written communication; and the role of poets in non-literate societies. Drawing on insights from anthropology and literary scholarship, Oral Poetry attempts to create a greater appreciation of the literary aspects of this fascinating form of poetry. Finnegan quotes extensively from a wide variety of sources, mainly in translation. The discussion is presented in non-technical language and will be of interest not only to sociologists and social anthropologists, but also to all those interested in comparative literature and in folk poetry from cultures around the world. The re-issue of this text, widely used in folklore, anthropology, and comparative literature courses, comes at an appropriate juncture in interdisciplinary scholarship, which is witnessing the breakdown of traditional disciplinary boundaries and an increase in the comparative study of oral poetry. For this volume Ruth Finnegan has provided a new foreword relating the text to more recent developments.Ruth Finnegan OBE, FBA, Emeritus Professor Open University. Her work has mainly been on oral performance, narrative, the ethnography of music, and communicating (including extra-sensory perception). Her publications include Oral Literature in Africa, The Hidden Musicians, Communicating: the Multiple Modes of Human Communication, Why Do We Quote? and, most recently, the novels Black Inked Pearl, Voyage of Pearl of the Seas, and The Helix Pearl. Born in Ireland, she now lives in Old Bletchley, southern England.

A short account of the life and writings of the English anthropologist Ruth Finnegan FBA. Part memoir, part reference.

An award-winning unput-downable tale of two children building a boat from a log they find buried in the sand and sailing off to far-off fantastic lands in a stormy sea-driven adventure with their faithful - but accident-prone - dog Holly. There they learn much wisdom from a king who, like God, has many names. After an incredible sacrifice of his dearest dream by the boy (now growing up) they return - another dream - to a family tea with their loved ones. The tale is a prequel and companion to Ruth Finnegans award-winning epic romance Black inked pearl, here adapted for preteens but characterised by (in a simpler form) the same unique dream-like and enchanted style as in the original novel.

RECOMMENDED BY ROWAN WILLIAMS, 104TH ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY WINNER (FRIENDSHIO) BOOK EXCELLENCE An award-winning unput-downable tale of two children building a boat from a log they find buried in the sand and sailing off to far-off fantastic lands in a stormy sea-driven adventure with their faithful - but accident-prone - dog Holly. There they learn much wisdom from a king who, like God, has many names'. After an incredible sacrifice of his dearest dream by the boy (now growing up) they return - another dream - to a family tea with their loved ones. The tale is a prequel and companion to Ruth Finnegan's award-winning epic romance 'Black inked pearl', here adapted for preteens but characterised by (in a simpler form) the same unique dream-like and enchanted style as in the original novel. Five Star Review (Readers' Favorite) Silver Award (Hungry Monster). "It really fizzes" Inspirational Christian fantasy fiction.

From birth she hadn't had a chance. But she was determined to outdo them all. Who would blow her trumpet if she didn't? Selfish, wicket, worst of the lot - only the snake loved her. But would motherhood change things? One of the unique and inspirational Little Angel Books

An enlarged and updated edition of Ruth Finnegan's authoritative and fully evidenced classic., dedicated to the great Africanist scholar and lifelong friend of the Somali people ' Goosh' Andrzejewski.

An undiscovered treasure:the romance of cookery first published in America in 1911. A cross between the ease of quick-cook and the solidity and care of Mrs Beaton, interspersed with delicious period dialogue. As hard to put down as a novel. And who knew the Victorian cooks had such a ranges of dishes AND ingredients? Callender cooking.