Walden: (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau)

Book Description

Originally published in 1854, Walden, or Life in the Woods, is a vivid account of the time that Henry D. Thoreau lived alone in a secluded cabin at Walden Pond. It is one of the most influential and compelling books in American literature.

This new paperback edition--introduced by noted American writer John Updike--celebrates the 150th anniversary of this classic work. Much of Walden's material is derived from Thoreau's journals and contains such engaging pieces as "Reading" and "The Pond in the Winter." Other famous sections involve Thoreau's visits with a Canadian woodcutter and with an Irish family, a trip to Concord, and a description of his bean field. This is the complete and authoritative text of Walden--as close to Thoreau's original intention as all available evidence allows.

For the student and for the general reader, this is the ideal presentation of Thoreau's great document of social criticism and dissent.

Customer Reviews:

The Hobo Philosopher.......2007-09-24

My first copy of this book was indubitably from some other publisher. So I'm not commenting on this particular volume but the content of the work itself.
I have always loved this book but it wasn't until recent years that I realized what a controversial book this was. Thoreau published this book at his own expense and he sold very few copies. Later on he stored most of his unsold copies in an attic. He once claimed to have the largest collection of book published by Henry David Thoreau than anyone alive - and I'm sure he did.
But why didn't people buy this book? Well, for one thing it was critical of "the neighborhood". For another thing it was critical of "the values of his neighbors". For another thing it was critical of the values of his countrymen; it was critical of Capitalism; it was critical of modern life; it was critical of the "consumer mentality"; it was critical of the work ethic; it was critical of buying things; it was critical of "getting ahead" and "accumulating; it was critical of working for a living; it was critical of achieving; it was a critique on the civilization of the day - and it was not positive.
So why did it make me feel good to read it then and why does it have the same effect on me today?
I don't know but whenever I get lonely to go have a talk with an old friend I go to the book shelf and pick up Walden by Henry David Thoreau.

Pertinent and well written.......2007-09-17

Strangely surprising how pertinent many of Thoreau's perceptions, opinions and insights on habits and values are to modern day society and culture. And impressive how vehemently he professes these views in some sections. No sugar coating here. This is raw stuff, presented with language and skill we've lost over the years.

My favorite quote: "One generation abandons the enterprises of another like stranded vessels"

Thoreau is inspired and inspiring.

A lesson for us all.......2007-08-18

Imagine a man, living in the present time, who is fed up with life in our ever-changing electronic world. So, he goes to live in a hut he's re-built out by a gentle pond, reasonably away from civilization. He throws away his cell phone, computer, TV, radio, etc. and lives simply and quietly, observing naature with his eyes and a microscope. He's not a hermit, because he visits and is visited by, friends and neighbors. He examines his life in solitude and writes about the sights and sounds of the woods and the pond.
For two years living alone this way, he comes to know nature and himself intimately and when he returns to civilization, he is refreshed, spiritually, emotionally and mentally.

Now, imagine all this as done 160 years ago when technology consisted of things like the newly invented telegraph (which he disdained), railway system, and others. Thoreau, like many of us today, longed to live simply and in harmony with Nature. The inspiration for hundreds of hippies, eco-freaks, Luddites and anti-technologists, he showed us that we sometimes need to get back to simple and clean living with no one and nothing to intrude on our thoughts.

And by the time you've finished this little gem of a book, the weekend will be over, and it will be time to go back to the ugly, long commute to a place where technology and stress seemingly go hand in hand.

Great classic/ but too expensive here.......2007-07-16

I brought this book because I had a class that required it. I got it within 2 weeks so that wasn't bad but I hadn't realized that I paid more for the book here then I would have had I gone to a local store! The back of the book says it's only $2.50. The lowest price I could find on Amazon was $4. I guess that's why people don't have to pay for shipping when they purchase items that exceed $25! (The free mailing gets paid for (at least in this case), with higher book prices.
BTW I found out that this book is a free e-book via the web. Next time I'll make sure to check that avenue first.

Mr. Thoreau's Work: Walden.......2007-04-22

It looks like I rated it 4 stars. I can't seem to change that. I really meant to rate it a 3.

Fortunately, I read The Annotated Walden, annotated by Phillip Van Doren Stern. Thank goodness I chose it. Without Mr. Van Doren Stern's introduction, side bars, pictures and comments, I think I would have been thoroughly lost.

I have to agree with a few of the reviewers who stated how pompous Thoreau sounds; he does. He tries to act superior,only to have the side bar notations state something different; something that a friend mentioned. For example, he says he "could easily do without the post-office," yet a contemporary, Sanborne, is quoted off to the side of the annotated version as having said about this quote: "Few residents of Concord frequented the Post Office more punctually or read the newspapers more eagerly than Thoreau."

He contradicts himself constantly. He mocks people who don't read, and then says he barely read a few pages of one book in the two years he was at Walden pond. He could be vindictive; lashing out at Flint's Pond (and Mr. Flint) because Flint would not let him build a cabin on his pond. He comes off as a snob, saying most men learn to read only as a necessity; for work, to add up their profits. But *true* readers are hard to come by. "I aspire to be acquainted with wiser men than this Concord soil has produced.."

Yet, he also has some really great words of wisdom. He questions the wisdom in working so hard during the best part of your life (youth) only to spend the fruits of your labor "during the least valuable part of it." Enjoy life while you are young. Why work so hard when the endgame is death? He comments on things that are still true to this day; fashion and our obsession with appearance. Work to provide for yourself, not to overburden yourself and keep yourself in debt.

Someone reviewing this book on Amazon wrote that it was a failed experiment; that he meant to live in the woods as a hermit of sorts and failed miserably to do so. That was never the extent of his experiment. He never says he's going to lead a solitary life. He states he visited the village every day or two. "As I walked in the woods to see birds and squirrels, so I walked in the village to see men and boys."

I find myself having mixed feelings regarding this book. He is so contradictory, but then, so am I. He can be judgemental and then he can be spot-on. It was a difficult book to get through, Again, had I not had the annotated version, I would have been truly lost. He frustrated me at times. I was not reading literature. I was reading someone's diary that often went off-tangent (like this review). Is it Top 100 book worthy? My opinion: no. It was good at times, painful at others. I took 2 months to trudge through it, all the while reading 5 other books just to keep me going. I am glad I read it. I won't do it again though. Sorry, Mr. Thoroeau

Average customer rating:

Interesting but not original
A long-winded disappointment
gripping
The Swarm by Frank Schatzing
Over 1000 pages, WHY?

The Swarm: A Novel
Frank Schatzing
Manufacturer: William Morrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0060813261
Release Date: 2006-05-23

Book Description

For more than two years, one book has taken over Germany's hardcover and paperback bestseller lists, reaching number one in Der Spiegel and setting off a frenzy in bookstores: The Swarm.

Whales begin sinking ships. Toxic, eyeless crabs poison Long Island's water supply. The North Sea shelf collapses, killing thousands in Europe. Around the world, countries are beginning to feel the effects of the ocean's revenge as the seas and their inhabi-tants begin a violent revolution against mankind. In this riveting novel, full of twists, turns, and cliffhangers, a team of scientists discovers a strange, intelligent life force called the Yrr that takes form in marine animals, using them to wreak havoc on humanity for our ecological abuses. Soon a struggle between good and evil is in full swing, with both human and suboceanic forces battling for control of the waters. At stake is the survival of the Earth's fragile ecology -- and ultimately, the survival of the human race itself.

The apocalyptic catastrophes of The Day After Tomorrow meet the watery menace of The Abyss in this gripping, scientifically realistic, and utterly imaginative thriller. With 1.5 million copies sold in Germany -- where it has been on the bestseller list without fail since its debut -- and the author's skillfully executed blend of compelling story, vivid characters, and eerie locales, Frank Schatzing's The Swarm will keep you in tense anticipation until the last suspenseful page is turned.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting but not original.......2007-09-26

The book had an interesting premise, but not too original. The author even cites some of the movies that he borrows from, namely, the Abyss and Contact. I probably would have rated it higher (maybe 4 stars) but the fact that this book was just shy of 900 pages and didn't really deliver annoyed me.

A long-winded disappointment.......2007-09-22

It all starts innocently enough: some missing fishermen, some whales acting strange, some strange worms found in the bottom of the ocean. Of course, things start getting serious, when these aquatic troubles spread around the globe and problems get bigger and bigger. Eventually the survival of the whole human race is threatened.

The premise of this book sounds quite exciting. The problem is, the author has spread all the excitement over 911 pages (at least in the Finnish edition), and there's at least 300 pages too much. He spends some time on his main characters, and I didn't care about a single one of them. There's endless lecturing and preaching. I'm sure a skilled script editor will make a really great movie of this book, but as it is now, there's so much dead weight it took some real effort to make it to the end.

I made it, though, and found the ending ultimately disappointing. I mean, was that why I went through the 900 pages? The book was interesting enough to keep me reading, but in the end, felt like a disappointment. If you can read Finnish, Risto Isomäki's Sarasvatin hiekkaa has a similar theme, but is much superior (at least three times better, with just one third of the pages!). (Review based on the Finnish translation.)

gripping.......2007-09-21

An exciting escape from the office and everything else you want to avoid for awhile...

The Swarm by Frank Schatzing.......2007-09-19

The Swarm is technically not a new book, but was originally published in 2004 in German by Frank Schatzing under the title of Der Schwarm, where it immediately climbed onto the bestseller lists and has stayed there ever since. In 2006 the book was translated and published in Britain and the United States; a paperback edition was released in May, and in August The Swarm will be released in mass market edition. In the style of Kim Stanley Robinson's trilogy starting with Forty Signs of Rain, and Michael Crichton when he was at his best some books ago, and The Day After Tomorrow, this is an eco-thriller set in today's world with a story that while fantastical is not completely out of the realm of possibility. The paperback edition is 900 pages long, but the more you read of it, the more you will want it never to end!

It is the present time, the world is pretty much the same place, George Bush is still in office, but there are some very strange things happening in the oceans of our planet. Fishing boats have begun disappearing off the coast of South America, no boats or bodies are ever found. Just off the coast of Vancouver humpback and orca whales that have been entertaining sights for tourists now choose to attack the boats: the humpbacks break them in two, while the orcas move in for the kill. In France, fresh lobsters that are being prepared for dinners at famous restaurants burst open and exude a gelatinous substance; soon people begin dying. Around the world ships of all shapes and sizes mysteriously begin disappearing, as do submarines and other submersibles, never to be heard from again. Eventually a catastrophic event happens that shocks the world: the methane ice supporting the North European continental shelf collapses causing a Tsunami that drowns the west coast of Europe from Norway to Spain, and floods the east coast of Britain from Scotland to London; many people are dead.

The world is in shock, not sure what is happening or what they are going to do. A crack team of scientists is convened in Canada at a secret location to come up with a solution to these catastrophes. They include characters who have already had their lives put at risk: Sigur Johanson, a marine scientist who barely escaped the Tsunami; Karen Weaver, a journalist who specializes in marine stories and was rescued from the Tsunami by Johanson; Leon Anawak, a marine biologist who barely survived the whale attack off Vancouver, as well as many others, involving all agencies of the United States government. They are working against the clock to find out what is going on and to come up with a way to stop this, whatever this is. Meanwhile the land invasion has begun, with millions upon millions of crabs storming the beaches of the east coast again carrying this mysterious jelly substance; people begin dying in the thousands as the water supply is contaminated. New York is doomed, Washington DC is next.

While The Swarm features a sizable cast, as these events take place all over the world, Schatzing keeps everyone clear and identifiable, while the reader is left with wondering who's going to make it and who isn't. With a depth of research that I haven't read since World War Z, the author takes the reader into the minds of many people around their world, seeing through their eyes and their culture, as they try to deal with these terrible events. It is a time to put differences aside, as everyone must work together to come up with a solution before it is too late. As far as the translation goes, Sally-Ann Spencer has done an incredible job of making the book run fluidly, to the point where I forget this book was originally published in German.

The Swarm is the perfect summer read to cool you down in the heat, but it also opens your mind to ideas and possibilities you never thought of, and with a movie adaptation due in a year or two, this will be the book you'll read and not be able to forget.

For more book reviews, and other writings, go to www.alexctelander.com

Over 1000 pages, WHY?.......2007-09-05

This is a good SciFi book. Makes you question the usual thoughts of alien life, but it is way too long. The book would have been way better if it was half the length. Author bogs the reader down in lengthly scientific explanations on everything from the oil industry to lengthy discussions on genetics and biology. Kinda "preachy" too. Good read IF you do not have anything to do for the next month...

Average customer rating:

not crumb's best
Mr. Natural Is a Hoot!
Mr. Natural - Horny Guru or Chairman Mao

Book of Mr. Natural
R. Crumb
Manufacturer: Fantagraphics Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1560971940

Amazon.com

Mr. Natural is a 1960s guru, "th' only knower of th' cosmic mysteries alive at this time." Calling him a "mystic madcap" gives the crass, less-than-compassionate charlatan the benefit of the doubt. He is not particularly wise or helpful; in fact, he's a lecherous, grumbling old geezer who gives advice such as "When you arise in the morning, you should do last night's dirty dishes . . . then you should sing a simple melody (of your own choice) . . . then you should call somebody up (not me) . . . then go to the store . . . buy some asparagus." True to the collection's name and R. Crumb's reputation, the stories are sometimes sexually graphic (especially in the scenes with Devil Girl) and a bit on the violent side. Still, there's an innocent, upbeat quality to this comic reflection of America's most notoriously freewheeling decade.

Customer Reviews:

not crumb's best.......2007-06-01

While I laughed through occasional readings of Mr. Natural in the 60/70s, he was never amoung the Crumb work that I most admired. Indeed, I got little of what he was supposed to be a comment upon, in my reading how the 60s spwaned its own brand of charlatan, old wine in new bottles. Now that I sat down and read through the stoiries in this one, I found it rather callow. Mr. Natural is funny, but the story line is stretched a little too far beyond what it has to offer. Afterall, Crumb had to make a living sellling comics, so his output is not uniformly good. Mr. Natural basically rips people off - using his acolytes for money and other things - and plays the game of the wise guru to Flakey Foont's naivete.

Don't get me wrong, he is one of America's greatest artists and social critics. In my opinion, his best work is elsewhere.

Mr. Natural Is a Hoot!.......2006-09-15

Man, this takes me back to the Sixties. It is great to have something that makes me laugh out loud every time I open and read it. Being a Crumb creation, this book is not "PC"--and thank goodness! Instead, it is a cartoon fantasy that portrays human beings in all their amusing and maddening reality. A spiritual icon (Mr. Natural) who likes to raid his devotee's refrigerator, get it on with bodacious girls, and who gives cosmic advice at cut rates, is a man for our times.

Mr. Natural - Horny Guru or Chairman Mao.......1998-07-20

It's said that chairman Mao was going to put Mr. Natural on the cover of his little red book along with his quotations but Nixon nixed the deal saying it would reveal too many secrets about America.

Robert Crumb has an uncanny way of telling the absolute truth. Mr. Natural is as natural as we may all be if it were not for the hang-ups that our parents and teachers impose upon us as children. He tells the truth as it really is - and how is that you say? Well one of the most important truths is not to forget whatever it was you were supposed to remember... and if you do... well just make it up!

After all... twas ever thus!

Book Description

Performance by Natasha Richardson
Two cassettes, 3 hours

Dr. Sarah Baldwin races to a Boston hospital with a young woman whose normal labor has suddenly become a matter of life and death. As she struggles to save both mother and baby, she doesn't know that two other women have already died under identical circumstances. And so begins Sarah's own nightmare, as she learns that the prenatal herbal vitamins she prescribed are the only thing these women have in common. Soon Sarah is fighting to save her career, her reputation--her life. For she's certain there must be some unknown factor linking these women, and as she gets closer to the truth, it becomes clear that someone will do anything--even murder--to keep a devastating secret.

Customer Reviews:

Pretty Interesting.......2007-08-20

I came across this book at a used library book sale and purchased it for trading but ended up reading it because of the reviews here. The book held my interest all the way through. I found myself wanting to get back to it in between reading sessions. I found the ending to be a bit anti-climactic and was a bit disappointed with it. I thought because the rest of the book was quite good that the ending would be better.

Good reading.......2007-05-07

A medical thriller, different from what I have been reading but interesting all the same. Well written.

Excellent medical thriller.......2006-09-17

I just discovered Michael Palmer's work, and I'm hurrying to remedy that deficiency. Dr. Palmer writes tightly plotted medical fiction that holds the reader in suspense and keeps them off-balance with new twists and turns. This book kept me reading, because there were few, if any, spots where I could say, "I'll put the book down and read some more later." It's a true page-turner, in every sense of the word.
The emphasis on alternative medicine was something of an initial turn-off for me, since I'm a physician grounded in conventional medicine. However, Dr. Palmer has definitely done his homework, and eventually I found myself quite interested by some of the material he brings out. All that aside, from the standpoint of well-done medical suspense, this book is excellent.

Appalling Medical Practices Upstage Mystery.......2006-05-07

I realized as I read NATURAL CAUSES by Michael Palmer that I had actually read it when it first came out, and I very nearly never read another Michael Palmer book afterwards. I felt the same way while reading the book the second time-- I was unable to get past the Woo-Woo- practices of acupuncture and untested herbalistic medicines administered by the heroine of the book, Dr. Sarah Baldwin.

Yes, Dr. Baldwin saves patients lives using acupuncture and the book makes some outrageous claims regarding the efficacy of acupuncture that are not borne out by the scientific literature. In addition, instead of the standard pre-natal vitamins, Dr. Baldwin gives her patients the option of drinking a special concoction of herbal tea that she used in Thailand. When three cases of a horrible medical condition called DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulapathy) occur during the labor stage of three different women, resulting in the deaths of all of the babies and two of the women, it seems the only thing they have in common is the fact that they have taken the special pre-natal tea prescribed by Dr. Baldwin.

The father of the surviving woman is very wealthy and he files suit against Dr. Baldwin. The CDC gets involved and the CDC rep, Rosa Suarez, says repeatedly that all they need to do is find a case of DIC in a patient that has not taken the herbal tea to get Dr. Baldwin off the hook. That is a bunch of scientific hokum as finding a separate case not related to the tea does not keep the tea from being implicated. It's entirely possible that DIC could have multiple causes.

I also have a huge problem with the fact that even though Dr. Baldwin and her lawyer, Matt Daniels, know it is a conflict of interest for them to get romantically involved, they do so anyway-- Sarah deliberately, using the rationale that she's tired of putting off what she really wants in life- that's an example of the stupidity she continually exhibits in this book. For instance, even though she knows she is being framed and that someone is trying to kill her, she stupidly follows mysterious instructions to run to an isolated room and answer a ringing phone, resulting in her getting clonkled on the head and nearly killed. I have a hard time feeling any sympathy for her at all!

There are a couple of things that kept me from giving the book less than 3 stars-- 1. I actually did like the character of Rosa Suarez and her dogged pursuit of the truth. 2. If I take out the Woo-Woo factors and rate the book solely on its merits as a FICTIONAL thriller, it is a good mystery, even if the ending was rather predictable (although I nearly gave it 2 stars just because Dr. Baldwin was just so stupid as a character.)

However (and here I climb back on my soapbox again,) with the wide audience that Michael Palmer has, I hate to see him doing anything that gives credence in any way to medical practices that have not had their effectiveness proven by scientific studies involving double blind studies and scientific review. Fact: the few scientific studies that have been conducted involving acupuncture have shown no difference in the outcome for subjects receiving acupuncture and those who have not. And Fact: women, especially those who are pregnant, should not be ingesting medicines and vitamins that have not been subjected to scientific studies to ensure their efficacy and to make sure they do not harm the mother or baby. It matters not that in this book, Dr. Baldwin's tea is eventually proven to not be a factor in the cases of DIC. Dr. Baldwin's medical practices are examples of unproven alternative medical techniques and poor scientific methodology and Dr. Michael Palmer should not be advocating them.

Couldn't Put it Down.......2005-10-28

I am an OB nurse and really enjoyed this book, found it believable and couldn't wait to turn the page. This is 3rd book of Michael Palmers I have read and this was the best!

Sticky Burr: Adventures in Burrwood Forest

Average customer rating:

This is a fun tale with a cartoon appearance
We're stuck on this book!

Sticky Burr: Adventures in Burrwood Forest

Manufacturer: Candlewick
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0763630543
Release Date: 2007-05-08

Book Description

Meet Sticky Burr, his unshakable friends, and his prickly foes! A beguiling graphic storybook guaranteed to grab young readers.

Welcome to Burrwood Forest, where a village of seed pods leads a busy life gathering food, building stick houses, and having extraordinary adventures. There are good friends like Sticky Burr and Mossy Burr, who stick together, and bad seeds like Scurvy Burr, who likes to irritate them every chance he gets. Watch out for wild dogs and maze trees, loyal insects and escapes on the fly in a gently quirky, delightfully detailed graphic storybook that middle-graders and ambitious younger readers are bound to get stuck on.

Customer Reviews:

This is a fun tale with a cartoon appearance.......2007-07-10

Sticky Burr is a little forest burr who sets off on an adventure to Burrwood Forest - there to be caught in the trunk of the dangerous Maze tree as Burr Village is being attacked by dogs. Can Sticky escape from his own danger in time to save his friends? This is a fun tale with a cartoon appearance and pages of fast-paced adventure; both of which invite kids to read.

We're stuck on this book!.......2007-06-02

My son loves reading this book - and sharing it with any friends and cousins who happen to come along - he loves the comics, pictures and characters, he's a huge fan and keeps checking on the author's website for more news of Sticky Burr - this book is sticking with us all! It is funny and a fun adventure! Great book!

The Truth of Ecology: Nature, Culture, and Literature in America

Average customer rating:

Brilliant, tough, unsentimental: all good for ecocriticism
irreverent but informed
Unfair and irresponsible

The Truth of Ecology: Nature, Culture, and Literature in America
Dana Phillips
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0195137698

Book Description

The Truth of Ecology is a wide-ranging, polemical appraisal of contemporary environmental thought. Focusing on the new field of ecocriticism from a thoroughly interdisciplinary perspective, this book explores topics as diverse as the history of ecology in the United States; the distortions of popular environmental thought; the influence of Critical Theory on radical science studies and radical ecology; the need for greater theoretical sophistication in ecocriticism; the contradictions of contemporary American nature writing; and the possibilities for a less devotional, "wilder" approach to ecocritical and environmental thinking. Taking his cues from Thoreau, Stevens, and Ammons, from Wittgenstein, Barthes and Eco, from Bruno Latour and Michel Serres, from the philosophers Rorty, Hacking, and Dennett, and from the biologists Ernst Mayr and Stephen Jay Gould, author Dana Phillips emphasizes an eclectic but pragmatic approach to a variety of topics. His subject matter includes the doctrine of social construction; the question of what it means to be interdisciplinary; the disparity between scientific and literary versions of realism; the difficulty of resolving the tension between facts and values, or more broadly, between nature and culture; the American obsession with personal experience; and the intellectual challenges posed by natural history. Those challenges range from the near-impossibility of defining ecological concepts with precision to the complications that arise when a birder tries to identify chickadees in poor light on a winter's afternoon in the Poconos.

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant, tough, unsentimental: all good for ecocriticism.......2004-03-14

Phillips has made an outstanding contribution to ecocriticism, and I see it as positive. He makes thoughtful connections to contemporary theory but obliterates cultural studies and the school of social construction, which have denigrated natural science for too long and discouraged humanists from absorbing the realities of biome and genome. Yes, his tone is brusque but not dismissive; he echoes the kind of discussion familiar to philosophers, where logic and reason prevail over sentiment. The claim that he has nothing new to offer is wrong: in the late chapters he calls for a "wild" ecocriticism that is diverse, eclectic, and pragmatic. I see this approach as far more constructive, and instructive, than the dewy-eyed reverence that preoccupies too many nature writers and their critics to date. Fifty years ago, Leslie Fiedler performed the same service for New Criticism, when he called Huck back to the raft. Instead of reacting defensively, I hope ecocritics will realize that a good mind and wit has taken up their cause and urged them to get serious and active: a languid pastoralism will not win attention in the academy or clean house at the Department of Interior.

irreverent but informed.......2004-02-16

The previous review is a bit unfair and so I am moved to add a few words. Yes, if you are drawn to an environmentalism that is underwritten by spiritual or mystical motivations, then you probably will be irritated by Phillips' irreverence. However, there is much to be said for this literate and well-researched book. Phillips has astoundingly wide interests, which include contemporary environmental thought, environmental history, environmental literature, and the history, philosophy, and sociology of science. His book does contain some positive suggestions about how the environmental movement might take a more pragmatic approach and so become more successful. Also, there is some pleasure, and perhaps glory, to be found in the witty and withering barbs that Phillips hurls at his objects of study. The environmental movement is too important to recoil from criticism like this. It can only be strengthened by the intelligent, informed and, sometimes, acerbic voice of Dana Phillips.

Unfair and irresponsible.......2003-12-04

Phillips book is flawed on a fundamental level. As he works through his arugement he not only essentializes and trivializes the work of ecologists and ecocritics alike, he goes at them from a perspective wholly foregin to their own. Phillips seems to be trying to play the role of the disillusioned environmentalist, yearning for a better, more equitable ecocritical paradigm, but in his self professed attempt to "philosophize with a hammer," he comes off instead as trying to completely undercut the ecological values and aesthetics of the Green Left. He takes pot shots at everyone from Muir and Thoreau to Lopez, Dillard and Ammons. Constantly crying foul at their lack of objectivity, Phillips argues that ecocritics should take on more of a scientific approach, and abandon the world of the spiritual, aesthetic and mystical. His attack at, what he considers to be, the cliche of the "ecological epiphany" is particularly barbed, as is his attack of Dillard's sense of the mystery and awe she feels when confronted with the Blue Ridge Mountains (he does quite a number on her "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek"). In the process of dismantaling the ecocritical aesthetic Phillips aligns himself with Joyce Carol Oates in trivializing the "REVERENCE, AWE, PIETY, MYSTICAL ONENESS" that characterize ecocritical responses. In one of his attacks Phillips questions whether "any sense can be made out of" Andrew Pickering's assertion that "the claims that the Earth circles the Sun and that it rests on a stack of turtles were of equal validity." At this point I should have stopped reading, because it should have become clear that Phillips is someone who just doesn't get it. Clearly he is confusing facts with truth, mysticism with positivism, and in asserting that there is some fundemental problem with this statement he is revealing himself is an enemy of the ecocritical project. Clearly ecocriticism, being a young field, is in need of maturing, and admittedly Phillips points out some real problems in its application, but he falls into trap of cutting down the field without sewing new seeds or seeing to the fertility of the ground. Clearly the values that Phillips has brought to the table are so fundamentally different from the ecocritics that he deems to speak of that they can never be reconciled. I will however throw Phillips a bone and point out that he does admit to being unapologetically argumentative, though I'd say dismissive would be more accurate.

Beatrix Potter: Artist, Storyteller and Countrywoman

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Excellent biography, Wonderful photographs and illustrations

Beatrix Potter: Artist, Storyteller and Countrywoman
Judy Taylor
Manufacturer: Warne
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0723233144

Customer Reviews:

Excellent biography, Wonderful photographs and illustrations.......2007-05-23

This is my favorite biography of Beatrix Potter, thoroughly researched and historically accurate, with many wonderful family, home and countrylife photographs (including ones of Beatrix Potter's pet rabbit, dog, and a variety of her other animal pets). The book also contains her many beautiful illustrations, watercolors and copies of some notes and letters as well as portions of her manuscripts. Judy Taylor, an author enchanted with Beatrix Potter stories and art from early childhood, also wrote Beatrix Potter: The Artist and Her World, and two National Trust Guides: Beatrix Potter and Hilltop, and Beatrix Potter and Hawkshead. She's the editor of both Beatrix Potter's Letters: A Selection and Letters To Children from Beatrix Potter.

The Natural (International Collectors Library)

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The Natural (International Collectors Library)
Bernard Malamud
Manufacturer: International Collector's Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Product Description

In The Natural, Bernard Makamud has raised all the passion and craziness and fanaticism of baseball to its ordained place in mythology. This is one of the few American novels that uses popular folk material in the interest of serious fiction, and the reverberations of the book carry far beyond the baseball park. This novel, first published in 1952, has since become an American classic.

Natural Life: Thoreau's Worldly Transcendentalism

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Thoreau's Path into the Natural World
The Best Critical Study of Thoreau Available, No Question

Natural Life: Thoreau's Worldly Transcendentalism
David M. Robinson
Manufacturer: Cornell University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 080144313X

Book Description

"An essential step in Thoreau's recovery of a `natural life' is to reawaken and expand his awareness of the present moment, not only in the sense of knowing more of the world around him, but of entering into it fully. Admitting in Walden that `I did not read books the first summer; I hoed beans,' he also confesses to moments in which he neglected both of these conflicting duties. . . . In periods of reverie, Thoreau gave himself over to his senses, finding a fulfillment in his own attentive presence at the pond and the surrounding hills."—from Natural Life

Henry David Thoreau's Walden was first published 150 years ago, an event celebrated by many gatherings scheduled for 2004 and marked by the publication of this exceptional book. David M. Robinson tells the story of a mind at work, focusing on Thoreau's idea of "natural life" as both a subject of study and a model for personal growth and ethical purpose. Robinson traces Thoreau's struggle to find a fulfilling vocation and his gradual recovery from his grief over the loss of his brother.

Robinson emphasizes Thoreau's development of the credo of living a "natural life," a phrase drawn from his first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. The depiction of the contemplative life close to nature in Walden exemplifies this credo. But it is also fulfilled through Thoreau's later life as a saunterer in the fields and forests around Concord, devoted to his studies of the natural world and dedicated to a life of principle.

Natural Life takes note of and encourages growing interest in the later phase of Thoreau's career and his engagement with science and natural history. Robinson looks closely at Walden and the essays and natural history projects that followed it, such as "Walking" and "Wild Apples," and the remarkable and little-observed writing on night and moonlight found in Thoreau's journal.

Customer Reviews:

Thoreau's Path into the Natural World.......2004-10-23

I'm finding out, by reading a fair number of scholarly books on Thoreau, how each author has a somewhat different understanding of Thoreau's interests and intentions. Of course, no one would wish to write what someone else had already written, but I also suspect Thoreau was such a unique individual that he can't easily be fitted into our preferred categories.

In this book, the specific emphasis is on Thoreau's most complex and rewarding relationship--his on-going discourse with the natural world itself. It traces Thoreau's disappointment with and estrangement from the world of men, and his simultaneous exploration of and integration practically into the landscape itself. Thoreau's books become a record of this experience as well as a ground-breaking path to such a relationship with nature.

This book is also an extended literary analysis, an in-depth, point-by-point discussion of Thoreau's writings. It is certainly well done for what it is, and should be of great interest to dedicated Thoreauvians, aspiring naturalists and intrepid English majors.

The Best Critical Study of Thoreau Available, No Question.......2004-09-19

I've been reading Thoreau criticism for well over twenty years now, and I have never been as excited about a critical study of Thoreau. Robinson nails what is most important in Thoreau and then convincingly uses that insight to trace the arc of Thoreau's career. An astonishing achievement, indeed. If you have the time or interest to read only one critical study of Thoreau, this is the study you will want to read. An added bonus is the unusually low price, particularly for a critical study by a university press.

Average customer rating:

Worst. Nance. Novel. Ever.
Another technically perfect, edge of the seat thriller
Fast-paced, suspenseful, a page-turner.
One of the rare novels I gave up on...
Entertaining

Saving Cascadia: A Novel
John J. Nance
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0743250516

Download Description

"A few hundred years ago, Cascadia Island didn't even exist. Like the Washington seacoast, it was rock submerged beneath the Pacific. A massive earthquake changed that, exploding the rock upward, making it land -- unstable land, according to seismologist Dr. Doug Lam. Lam has spent years researching the Cascadia Subduction Zone. He published a theory that the unrelieved tectonic strain beneath the idyllic landscape of Cascadia Island could be triggered with modern construction processes -- with catastrophic results. The paper was disregarded, even ridiculed, by his peers and by megawealthy developer Mick Walker, who stands to earn millions from the construction of a luxury resort on Cascadia. The elegant casino, hotel, and convention center will reap millions for him even if the tiny island only lasts for a short time... When a series of earthquakes begins to shake the Northwest Corridor, Doug's worst fears are confirmed. In an attempt to convince Walker to evacuate Cascadia immediately, Doug hurries to join guests arriving for the resort's grand opening. As the tremors wreak havoc across the Northwest coastal area, the military is left with too few resources to assist the people on Cascadia. Convinced that the island will be in ruins within hours, Doug reluctantly calls upon his girlfriend, Jennifer Lindstrom, president of Nightingale Aviation -- a major medical transport helicopter company -- for help. With snow falling, visibility dropping, and winds increasing, Doug embarks on an impossible mission with Jennifer and Nightingale's helicopters to evacuate over three hundred people, while smaller earthquakes continue to herald the approach of a catastrophic tsunami. John J. Nance hurtles readers along a nail-biting quest to rescue hundreds of stranded vacationers and resort staff. Meticulously researched, and with the signature authenticity only a veteran pilot could provide, Saving Cascadia is a hair-raising thriller of awesome magnitude. "

Customer Reviews:

Worst. Nance. Novel. Ever........2006-06-28

Repetitive, bland dialogue and unsympathetic, inconsistent characters are the hallmark of this book. The plotline seemed kind of pointless, and, well, boring.

One thing that bugged me initially - in the first 20 or so pages of the book - was that he identified a bit character as a San Francisco police "detective," when in fact people so employed in the SFPD are given the title "Inspector," NOT detective. Is it too much to expect a certain attention to detail and accuracy from such a well published author? If he got that detail wrong, how much of the rest of the technical details in the novel are so far off.

Reading this book was a real drag; I think Mr. Nance should stick to airplane disaster novels.

Another technically perfect, edge of the seat thriller.......2006-04-09

With Saving Cascadia, Mr. Nance shows once again his expertise all things technical. He has expanded his world, and his expertise, beyond his avionic specialty, and it is a new and refreshing side to his writing that kept me awake and reading well into the night. In this novel, we move into the world of geological phenomena, and as always, Mr. Nance has written in an incredibly educated and precise manner, with a clarity that even the least 'geologically knowedgable' can easily comprehend.

As a previous occupant of the Northwest Coast, I am well versed in just how devistating it will be when the subduction zone ruptures. All it takes is a walk along the cliffside beaches of Southern Oregon at lowest tide to see the total destruction which was caused by the last great quake along the coast. Once the sand has washed away in a storm, your walk will show you the bases of massive tree trunks, twenty feet or more across, sitting in a deep green clay, eight feet or more below the current cliff tops. These massive trees literally sunk under the seas when the coast ripped and fell away, straight down, into the openings left by the tears in the zone. It is both shocking and humbling to realize the true enormity of these movements and the destruction they have caused, and will again.

Mr. Nance explores not only the technical aspects of why the zone exists, but also how our intense disregard for the earth can, and most likely at some time will, cause the very destruction he posits in this novel. His Dr. Lam character is a man who not only knows deeply the geology of the earth in his location of expertise, but is capable of making the type of intuitive leap which seperates the merely educated and intelligent from the truly brilliant. Mr. Nances second, or possibly first, goal in writing this novel was indeed involved in avionics, his original specialty, as he drew his characters of air rescue, giving the reader a true insight into the dedication of professional air rescue personnel and the dangers they face every day.

The interactions among the characters are realistic. Just because the world seems to be coming to an end doesn't mean that people don't still have the same issues continuing in their lives that they had before. Yes, I had guessed Dr. Lam's personal situation before learning the truth near the end of the novel, and wasn't surprised. A truly honorable man would have acted just as he did. And I was glad that a truly strong and determined, but emotionally damaged woman was able to stand up to the father who caused he so much pain in her life. I was able to deeply relate to both her strength and her pain, and was glad she finally found it within herself to stand up and say "No more", and yet get beyond that pain to forgiveness. And even a spoiled, self centered, horney old multi billionaire can pull his heads out of the sand and start thinking about someone other than himself when faced with the destruction of so many souls, especially when it is caused by his own self agrandizement . . . and when he has to actually see and touch the people he is murdering through his own self centered disregard, not just do it 'long distance' with bombs and chemicals and poverty. Even a true minanthrope would have difficulty overlooking his responsibility in this case.

No, this isn't a solely avionic novel. Mr. Nance continues to grow with every novel - it is to be hoped that his readers will grow right along with him.

Fast-paced, suspenseful, a page-turner........2005-09-25

In my opinion, in Saving Cascadia, John J. Nance has written another excellent thriller. As a professional geologist, I found his research on the Cascadia Subduction Zone to be authentic and believable. As a novelist who writes about some of the same subjects as John, both wildfire and earthquakes, I found Saving Cascadia to be a page turner - the kind you stay up with all night - fast-paced, suspenseful, brilliantly plotted, with realistically flawed characters thrown up against one challenge after another.
Linda Jacobs

One of the rare novels I gave up on..........2005-05-08

The book is 352 pages. Before I reached page 100, I gave up on this one. It seemed padded, awkward, unrealistic in dialogue and characters. I had grabbed it off the library shelf after reading a rave review in a newspaper. I should have checked Amazon first, because the negative (or at least unenthusiastic) critiques here seem to be the truth. I have not read any of the prior books by Nance, but those seemed to be liked better by the reviewers. I'm disappointed, but glad I did not buy the book. Better luck next time, Mr. Nance.

Entertaining.......2005-04-05

I found this novel to be entertaining. It's a nice change that John J. Nance doesn't write yet another air disaster but keeps it on the ground instead. Nance is a very skilled writer with a narrative that puts you in the middle of the story. A fast and sometimes emotional story that kept me entertained.

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