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Rating: 
Summary: very useful if you understand its background
Review: Like most of those interested in Gurdjieff and Ouspensky, Nicholl was the type of person who looks toward spiritual "masters" and their systems to do his thinking for him, and as a result some of what he has to say is only derivative, old-fashioned occultish nonsense. If you can wade through the occasional mudhole of that sort of thing (and who among us interested in so-called spiritual literature hasn't had to learn to do so), his humility, common sense and basic decency shine through in every page of these five volumes. It is this that gives him his often penetrating insight into human nature; the fourth way/Christian conceptual system he frames it in is ultimately only a hindrance. While he owes much to The System as a writer, where he succeeds as a mystic he succeeds despite it, not because of it.
Rating: 
Summary: Do your*self* a favor. Get this book now.
Review: Maurice Nicoll, author, studied for years under Jung. In these texts--transcripts of a series of lectures he gave recounting the teachings of G and O--lies a most profound guideline known as "the Work." Passed down for hundreds of years, this current incarnation of Esoteric Christianity melds science with Eastern philosophy, creating a framework for TRULY CHANGING ONESELF and activating HIGHER CENTERS in ones being. Do not buy this if you just want some fluff to read. However if you are willing to put your a** to the grindstone and actually practise what is being taught here, you can expect to TRULY experience a whole new level of understanding of yourself and others, including how multiple "I"s exist within you and how most of your actions are sheerly mechanical REACTIONS to "life." This book opens your internal "eyes" and teaches you how to properly "observe" the invisible inner workings of your imagination and personality, to such an extent that you can actually change them. It teaches you that YOU are not your personality; in fact, personality is TO BE STRUGGLED AGAINST as is imagination, for they often lead us into lying to ourselves and sometimes to others. But don't buy this if you're not open-minded or willing to practise what is said, because this is very complex, text-book like material which requires true study to be of the slightest use." PS--nobody is paying me to write this. I truly believe this. E-mail me if you have any questions.
Rating: 
Summary: Too many words
Review: Probably Mr. Nicoll's love of the written and spoken word kept him from BEING the words. I get the impression that Nicoll, like Orage, were too much in love with talking, and that caused them to lose themselves in their words. Although there is some valuable knowledge in these books, Ouspensky's "In Search" and "The 4th Way" are probably the greatest introductions to this system.
These books can easily distract you from awakening by drowning you in words, so tread carefully.
Rating:
Summary: Serious self help for those aware of a larger existance.
Review: Take a look around. Explore your world with your eyes and ears. Reach out and listen to Bill's State of the Robot Union speech. If that thought is abhorrent to you, you won't appreciate the mastery of Nicoll's work.
Rating:
Summary: very useful if you understand its background
Review: The four stars above are extremely parenthetical, as this is a book suited for a limited audience: those already VERY familiar with the writings of Uspenskii and Gurdjieff. The great expositor of Uspenskii, Nicoll brought on board material not only from Jung but also from the New Testament, where "repentance" is translated from the Greek "metanoia" - "change of thinking".The four pillars of THE WORK are: 1. self-remembering 2. self-observation 3. non-identification 4. non-expression of negativity (If you don't know what these signify, you don't need these volumes. Go read Uspenskii's "4th Way".) The tenets are the same as found in all religons read gnostically: man as we know him, and as we are each of us constituted, lacks a central, permanent, unchangeable "I". This is the basis of Zen, alchemy... all mystical traditions. This curious psychological truth is exactly what constitutes the force of "loving one's enemies" - one is displaying a tour de force of psychological freedom par excellence. THE WORK is a respectable business nowadays. It is perhaps a little dangerous for those lacking a sufficient background in subjects arcane, as the elegant power and demonstrable truth of its tenets easily overwhelm the uninitiated. These commentaries are an excellent exegesis.
Rating:
Summary: Does "I" make you ...., baby?
Review: The four stars above are extremely parenthetical, as this is a book suited for a limited audience: those already VERY familiar with the writings of Uspenskii and Gurdjieff. The great expositor of Uspenskii, Nicoll brought on board material not only from Jung but also from the New Testament, where "repentance" is translated from the Greek "metanoia" - "change of thinking". The four pillars of THE WORK are: 1. self-remembering 2. self-observation 3. non-identification 4. non-expression of negativity (If you don't know what these signify, you don't need these volumes. Go read Uspenskii's "4th Way".) The tenets are the same as found in all religons read gnostically: man as we know him, and as we are each of us constituted, lacks a central, permanent, unchangeable "I". This is the basis of Zen, alchemy... all mystical traditions. This curious psychological truth is exactly what constitutes the force of "loving one's enemies" - one is displaying a tour de force of psychological freedom par excellence. THE WORK is a respectable business nowadays. It is perhaps a little dangerous for those lacking a sufficient background in subjects arcane, as the elegant power and demonstrable truth of its tenets easily overwhelm the uninitiated. These commentaries are an excellent exegesis.
Rating: 
Summary: ..your choice...
Review: Whatever country you live in, it is the center of your robot universe. When I wrote my first review of these books I had been watching the American President delivering his "State of the Union" speech. I was struck by the robotic drone of it all; to think that robots like these, of whatever political persuasion, can rule the world for their mechanical masters and we are powerless to act, to *do*. I have lived for long periods of time in different cultures, Europe, America, Asia and the hypnotic pulsation of localized forces that freeze the masses has been the one unchanging phenomenon, the great constant. There's one thing about these books though - you won't find many people who really know what all of this means, although it's easy to run into people who whip "bibles" out of their mind/brains. These books are not that, and one needs to be wary of falling into this most ancient trap. What this literature does provide is a delicacy and precision of thought, a unique and precious humanity, an antidote to the poison...
Rating:
Summary: a Work goldmine
Review: Writers who expound the Work are not distinguished by the degree that they are original. They are distinguished by the degree of understanding they demonstrate for the ideas and practices and goals of the Work (universal ideas and practices and goals yet presented in a unique, practical language), and by their skill in communicating their understanding. Nicoll scores a solid 9 or 10 in both categories. For people who really catch-on to the Work Nicoll's Commentaries are really indispensable. It's true that most if not all that is in Nicoll's work can be found in Ouspensky's six main Work books (PSYCHOLOGY OF MAN'S POSSIBLE EVOLUTION, IN SEARCH OF THE MIRACULOUS, FOURTH WAY, CONSCIENCE, A FURTHER RECORD, RECORD OF MEETINGS), yet Nicoll has a different style of presenting it all that compliments Ouspensky's style. If you get to the point in your STUDY of the Work (which is as necessary as DOING the Work) where you have aquired an overall understanding of the language and the processes and goals and means to achieve the goals (a big accomplishment that Nicoll's Commentaries will help you to achieve), and then you move in to a more particular, in-depth study of individual topics then Nicoll's Commentaries will become a well-worn reference. His style of breaking down the language into topics and really going into each separate idea or practice, sometimes in multi-part essays (which would, by the way, be like finding gold if you were to stumble upon these essays in separate pamphlet form in out-of-the-way bookstores, and here they ALL are in this six-volume work...the goldmine itself available and ready to be easily taken for granted...), and his use of analogy and metaphor can really help you to achieve understanding of particular aspects of the Work that maybe you didn't connect with very deeply after meeting with it in one of Ouspensky's books. (I have to say, though, that Ouspensky's books are the purest spring for the ideas and practices and goals of the Work...) Boris Mouravieff's three-volume GNOSIS would be a good third source for these ideas.
Rating:
Summary: a Work goldmine
Review: Writers who expound the Work are not distinguished by the degree that they are original. They are distinguished by the degree of understanding they demonstrate for the ideas and practices and goals of the Work (universal ideas and practices and goals yet presented in a unique, practical language), and by their skill in communicating their understanding. Nicoll scores a solid 9 or 10 in both categories. For people who really catch-on to the Work Nicoll's Commentaries are really indispensable. It's true that most if not all that is in Nicoll's work can be found in Ouspensky's six main Work books (PSYCHOLOGY OF MAN'S POSSIBLE EVOLUTION, IN SEARCH OF THE MIRACULOUS, FOURTH WAY, CONSCIENCE, A FURTHER RECORD, RECORD OF MEETINGS), yet Nicoll has a different style of presenting it all that compliments Ouspensky's style. If you get to the point in your STUDY of the Work (which is as necessary as DOING the Work) where you have aquired an overall understanding of the language and the processes and goals and means to achieve the goals (a big accomplishment that Nicoll's Commentaries will help you to achieve), and then you move in to a more particular, in-depth study of individual topics then Nicoll's Commentaries will become a well-worn reference. His style of breaking down the language into topics and really going into each separate idea or practice, sometimes in multi-part essays (which would, by the way, be like finding gold if you were to stumble upon these essays in separate pamphlet form in out-of-the-way bookstores, and here they ALL are in this six-volume work...the goldmine itself available and ready to be easily taken for granted...), and his use of analogy and metaphor can really help you to achieve understanding of particular aspects of the Work that maybe you didn't connect with very deeply after meeting with it in one of Ouspensky's books. (I have to say, though, that Ouspensky's books are the purest spring for the ideas and practices and goals of the Work...) Boris Mouravieff's three-volume GNOSIS would be a good third source for these ideas.
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