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Rating: 
Summary: The Magus Vindicated
Review: David Ovason's book is a labor of love and great erudition. Nostradamus wrote in several natural languages. His spelling
is not consistent and his dating is arcane. Those who want Ovason's book to be full of hot tips for tomorrow's stock market will be disappointed. However, those seeking a deeper understanding of the MASTERY of Nostradamus must put up with the MYSTERY -- both coming from the same root. The green language is centuries old and Medieval troubadours discovered the ROMA speled backwards meant AMOR... Great Russian-American linguist Roman Jakobson spoke of "internal declension" of words... Note examples of the sort "Only MAD DOGS and Englishmen enjoy the MID DAY sun"... All texts must be understood at several levels, and for a converted Jew writing at a time when one could be burned at the stake for sorcery, Nostradamus was writing for the initiates, who understood the reverence for the printed word
and the price of paper. Nostradamus' writing is not unlike that of Eric Hoffer (the author / creator of the True Believer) where
every word was nursed and not dictated to a secretary... The ability to see the future is, alas, not science and for anyone who has read any number of prophecies from different cultures, some of the most trivial things are mixed with the monumental... Ovason points one in a certain direction and does not spoonfeed.
Nor does he resort to the centuries-old principle of "si non e vero, e ben travato" (even if untrue, well done). The so-called translations and various editions of Nostradamus and even translations of the Bible into Modern English require a great deal of commentary. There are bloopers in the translation of the Scriptures that have have survived for a millenium (love thy neighbor / love the one who is dear to you). Every age has its "editors" and Nostradamus did not escape this curse. Anyone upset with Ovason and tilting the electric fans of positivism should abstain from reading prophecies for, as is known, by definition they come true only after the fact. Pity the person who invents a "Machine" that will churn "101%" genuine prophecy articles. In the world of quantuum physics and parallel realities, all critics who "devastate" Nostradamuses of this world are perhaps victims of the esoteric truths of the sort, "beware of the things you desire, for they have a way coming true." The last 300 years of Cartesian "clarity" and merciless mechanicism are hardly something one should boast about loudly after September 11. The gods of positivism have neither predicted nor protected us from 911, so why pounce on a major Magus like Nostradamus who at least has quite a few PROVEN feats to his credit? (The more philosophically minded may want to look to Martin Bubber's distinction between PROPHECIES and PREDICTIONS and think in terms of Nostradamus being someone who was more than just a XVI century "psyschic"?) To anyone not afraid to let some fresh air into their airtight world, I recommend Ovasson highly. What a book, what a feat!
Rating: 
Summary: down the drain
Review: I don't remember what inspired me to buy this book, but GOD is it boring. The author thinks he is the only one to understand Nostadamus, and proves it by droning on for page after page of mindless drivlle.
Rating:
Summary: Subtle Intellect
Review: The excellent scholarship that lies behind David's work mimics the 16th century's scholar's dedication to clarity and accuracy. This book will not be a clear or easy read for the mass market. However, clarity must not be confused with simplicity. This book is clear to some. Simple, it is not. The green language is, by nature, a code, and thus unreadable without its key. David supplies this key and opens a new door of understanding to those willing to invest a little time in thought. The green language was used because of its unique ability to express the most subtle of intellectual ideas. it was also used to shield these ideas from the calumny of the unlearned masses. Thus, revealing the code will certainly open the author to calumny, the student to enlightenment, and all fools to a field upon which they may practice there art.
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