A Stone's Throw

by Tony Ordas Tim Rochford and Ross A. Laird

A new book by the author ofThe Grain of Truth, nominated for a Governor General's Award A Stone's Throwbegins as Ross Laird hikes up a remote B.C. mountain with his father. He's in search of a volcanic rock he intends to sculpt in his workshop, and he finds it in an icy river. Packing it home, and then learning how to work the stone, he runs up against challenges that enlighten his hands, his heart, and even his relation to humankind. Stones have...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0771045786
• ISBN13: 9780771045783
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
• Length: 331 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.

Customer Reviews

An echo of the sacred.

This is one of the most beautiful books ever written, in my humble but well-read opinion. I picked it up by chance at the library because something about the cover graphic drew me in, and spent the next several weeks reading it as slowly as I could so as not to miss anything. In order to savour it. Ross A. Laird has a way with words which gave me goosebumps every few paragraphs-- like he had his left hand on some divine drum and its vibrations echoed through his pen as he wrote with the other. It hums with the deep dark stories which are the ancestors of the little dark stories we tell every day, without even realizing what we're telling or why. This is a man who sees the world on a much broader scale of time and space, a man with context, and this is a book which can throw open the windows of your daily life and show you that magic is real and working in the everyday mundanity of creation, in something as simple as a stone from a river. It's a life-changer and it deserves more publicity than it seems to have gotten. Take a chance. It's a few dollars you definitely won't regret.

A Wonderful Exploration

I finished reading Ross A. Laird's A Stone's Throw: The Enduring Nature of Myth in the early hours this morning. It's been a facinating read from cover to cover. Laird presented his own story of craftsmanship woven with myth and history, for history, myth and life are inseparable. I've learned quite a lot about Kem, Jewish, Arab and Islamic mythologies and their interwoven histories. It was facinating to discover many of the facts Mr. Laird presented. One of the most interesting facts presented in the book was that the World Trade Center's design was based very closely upon the Kaaba, one of the most sacred sites to Islamic people. Did the Islamic terrorists realize they were destroying a tribute to their own sacred site? Was that somehow part of their plan, even unconsciously? This book is certainly multi-layered, as it explores many aspects of craftsmanship, family, and history becoming myth. Laird's own family history was as facinating as the older myths he explored. One of his ancestors was accused of being a witch and burned at the stake, while his wife's ancestor had been an inquisitor who accused witches. Parallels and contradictions in all our histories help to define who we are, no matter how we might try to deny it. Give this book a read, for it's undoubtably worth your time! If you have any asparation of being an artist this is doubily valuable. It may be the key to making you discover your own histories.