Beatrix Potter Complete Tales R/I

Book Description

This complete and unabridged collection contains all 23 of Beatrix Potter's Tales in one deluxe volume with all their original illustrations. The stories are arranged in the order in which they were first published so they may be read in their proper sequence. A special section at the end of this volume contains four additional works by Beatrix Potter that were not published during her lifetime. Beautifully reissued with a newly designed slipcase and jacket—a truly stunning gift.

Customer Reviews:

Lovely Book.......2007-10-07

Every home should have this book to read to their children! Adults will love the quality and the beauty of the artwork.

Beatrix Potter Complete Tales review.......2007-10-06

A wonderfull book, especially the introduction to each story makes it fantastic. This is the one collection of Beatrix Potter to own.

Charming!.......2007-09-23

I bought this book after watching the movie abotu the life of Beatrix Potter. The stories are so charming ! my daughter reads a little bit everyday and she just cannot get enough of the illustrations. It is a perfect way of getting some extra vocabulary in on a daily basis.

Love the Beatrix Potter book.......2007-08-28

You know I saw that movie Ms. Potter and learned all about Peter Rabbit and the other characters. I was so enchanted with the movie that I had to buy the book. It was very lovely to see them all bound in one beautiful book with a lovely book sleeve--- Very NICE!! This would make a wonderful gift for a new baby or a special Easter gift.

Bedtime reading turned into morningtime reading, too!.......2007-08-25

I purchased this single book collection of Beatrix Potter stories because our oldest, aged four, loves Peter Rabbit. We had planned to read one story per evening before bed but the great writing style and pictures of Ms. Potter so grabbed our four year old's attention that we ended up reading one at bed, at rising in the morning and before nap time. Even my husband would drop what he was busy with to come and listen to storytime! The adventures and the names Ms Potter came up with are charming and fun to say. One does have to know some Engligh terms and be able to explain those vocabulary on the quick but it sure is fun to hear your child increase his vocabulary with the neighbor kids! We have certainly gotten a hoot out of the appropriate word usage he has picked up from these stories and then will explain to his friends to help "teach" them. We've read through this book many times to our delight.

The Complete Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales

Average customer rating:

HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON
Andersen deserves better
This book is for adults as much as children
Not for kids
Every one should read

The Complete Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales
Hans Christian Andersen , and Lily Owens
Manufacturer: Gramercy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales, Deluxe Edition (Literary Classics (Gramercy Books))
The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales
The Classic Treasury of Aesop's Fables (Children's Illustrated Classics)
Aesop's Fables: A Classic Illustrated Edition (Classics Illustrated)
The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm All-New Third Edition

ASIN: 0517092913
Release Date: 1993-05-10

Book Description

Lilly Owens, ed. Illustrated edition of 159 cherished tales that have enchanted readers for generations. Includes The Ugly Duckling, The Emperor's New Clothes, Snow Queen, all uncut with beautiful illustrations by Arthur Rackham, Hans Richter, et al. 60 B&W illustrations. 816 pages.

Customer Reviews:

HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON.......2007-08-06

MY GRANDKIDS WILL ENJOY THIS AS MUCH AS I DID AS A CHILD WHEN MY MOM READ TO ME. IT HAS ALL HIS WRITINGS.

Andersen deserves better.......2007-03-10

It is just sad that publishers like this one are opportunistic and know that just because Andersen is on the cover the book will sell. The translations are rickety and unreadable. And the quality of the book is disappointing. I immediately resold mine and bought another, far superior, volume. Don't get taken for a ride.

This book is for adults as much as children.......2006-10-27

Hans Chrisitian Andersen's fairy tales are incomparable. They have a level of depth absent in any other collection of fairy tales including the Grimm Brothers, Arabian nights etc...He amalgmates magic and reality and seals them in beautiful poetic expression. You will feel pain and love, rejection and hope, despair and persistence. The characters and images are sad yet impeccable. The tales are vivaciously symbolic of your dreams and reality. My favorite tales are The Red Shoes and The Little Mermaid(which is way different from Disney's version). They are a must-read.

Not for kids.......2006-07-09

I first read HCA when I was about 8 and I remember being baffled at their deviation from the standard "fairy tale" formula. They stayed with me however.
I bought this edition because I wanted to explore more of his work and I am very glad I did. I have finished about 3/4ths of this volulme and the richness, satire, obersvation, depth, humor and relevance of the themes continue to awe me. It's not a book for children but for those adults who want to go on adventures with a master storyteller.

Every one should read.......2006-02-25

This is the perfect gift for a child or adult of any age who enjoys reading.

Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection (Railway Series)

Average customer rating:

An amazing Thomas book
the best
Stories that have aged well
The Perfect Thomas Book
The Original Thomas

Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection (Railway Series)
Wilbert Awdry , and C. Reginald Dalby
Manufacturer: Crescent
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Thomas the Tank Engine Story Collection (Railway Series)
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Thomas The Tank Engine And Friends - The Early Years (3-Disc Set)
Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends - Platinum Collection (Best of Thomas/James/Percy)
A Thomas Treasury (Railway series)

ASIN: 0517187868
Release Date: 1997-09-02

Book Description

Since the publication of the original Thomas the Tank Engine in 1946, millions of children and their parents all over the world have loved this series of bedtime stories about Thomas and his friends. All 26 of the Reverend W. Awdry's classic stories are here in one beautiful gift volume, with an introduction by the author himself. Illustrated in full color.

Customer Reviews:

An amazing Thomas book.......2007-01-18

The condition of this book was as expected. This particular book is an amazing volume of Thomas stories. It has allowed us to meet some engines who we have never met before as well as get the back story on others who we only know a little. I enjoy it at least as much as my sons do.

the best.......2006-05-04

This was my sons' favorite story book at age 3 or 4. The language is advanced, with much more challenging vocabulary than a modern book would use for preschoolers, but it wasn't a problem, so it must be a good thing!

Stories that have aged well.......2005-11-15

Having been exposed to the contemporary "commercial" version of Thomas the Tank Engine in various forms I had low expectations for _The_Complete_Collection_. After reading all the stories over the past two months at bedtime I whole heartedly give this collection 5 stars. These are the original stories by Rev. W. Awdry--not just Thomas stories, but other trains that have been forgotten by the marketplace. The language is the Queen's English and the terminology harks back to a different place and time. Fortunately the stories are robust enough to hold up without translation for my 3-year old.

While there are rude engines, naughty engines, and ample portions of just deserts as noted by another reviewer; I find the stories to be well balanced and if the young listener isn't careful some life lessons may be learned--really useful engines are happy engines. One aspect of these stories that broadens their appeal is "Each story is based on some odd incident which has happened to some engine, somewhere, some time." (quoting the author in the foreword) Many times I found myself laughing, or shaking my head and nodding in agreement with the outcome of the story. There were several stories whose full meaning was lost on my 3-year old, but never-the-less hit a tender spot with daddy. The most requested stories are those that involve Thomas and his familiar cast of friends. In October 2005 Random house published a selection of these Thomas stories that might suit an audience not interested in small steam engines or narrow gage railroads (the additional stories in the collection). For those that have an interest in trains beyond simple children's stories this book will be a pleasure to share with your young railroad enthusiast.

The edition I am basing my review on is a 1999 Random House Printing. Unfortunately this title is out of print at the time of this review, but you may still be able to find new or like-new copies through resellers. Should this book be republished, and in my estimation it is well deserving of another print run, I would encourage the publisher to include an index at the end with references to the particular engine and what happened to him. A frequent request is "Let's read the story about James getting pushed down the hill by the trucks", or some other engine and circumstance--it would be useful to have an index.

The Perfect Thomas Book.......2005-10-13

I got this book a long time ago and I must say, this book is a must have for anyone even remotely interested at all in Thomas.

This book includes many of the stories on television, as well as never before seen stories and characters. And the incredible sense of realism in this book is inevitable. If you can read this book and see something incredibly unrealistic, besides the fact that the trains can talk, then you obviously have the wrong book.

Want to know how Skarloey and Rheneas celebrated their 100th birthday? Want to see Henry rescue two broken down diesels? Want to see special trains climbing mountains? If so, grab this book and enjoy. You will recognise many of the stories, ans also find some other tales as well. Many characters you will recognize, some others maybe not. Either way, this book is a 100% must read.

And to the soccer moms that didn't like the book, you obviously have no sense in realism and reality. I know that the book versions are a tad bit darker than the televised tales, but they're much, much better. Just because Duck said "Shut up!" once, or Henry got stuck in a tunnel and refused to come out (didn't you even read the story AFTER that one? where he comes out?) and there's no silly chindish morals doesn't mean that kids shouldn't read this book. If you want your kid to enjoy the real lives of these famous locomotives, please stop squalling and read the book.

Signed,

~Reagan Wolf

P.S. Somebody should publish Christopher's Awdry's books soon. Dang.

The Original Thomas.......2005-09-30

It was a delight to read of the origin of Thomas and all of his tank engine friends. The stories speak for themselves - cherished childhood tales that have stood the test of time.

The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigia Edition

Average customer rating:

Snappy prose!
Short stories of Ernest Hemingway
Mixed
Great Reading. Paper Back Covers Suck...
a comprehensive collection

The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigia Edition
Ernest Hemingway
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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For Whom the Bell Tolls
The Old Man and The Sea
A Moveable Feast
To Have and Have Not
The Sun Also Rises (Scribner Classics)

ASIN: 0684843323

Book Description

THE ONLY COMPLETE COLLECTION BY THE NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR

In this definitive collection of Ernest Hemingway's short stories, readers will delight in the author's most beloved classics such as "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," "Hills Like White Elephants," and "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," and will discover seven new tales published for the first time in this collection. For Hemingway fans The Complete Short Stories is an invaluable treasury.

Customer Reviews:

Snappy prose!.......2007-08-14

It's fantastic to have all these stories in one book. "Hills Like White Elephant's" is still my favorite story, but I also enjoyed some that I had never heard of. I like the short declarative sentences; it makes for an easy read. I love that I can open it up to any story and just start reading. You don't have to start from the beginning and read it to the end. Each story only takes an hour at most to read - some probably twenty minutes if you're an extra fast reader.

Short stories of Ernest Hemingway.......2007-03-25

This book is great!! The stories are organized well and it is a complete collection. I'm really enjoying it!!

Mixed.......2007-03-01

First of all, it is difficult rating; Some stories deserve 4 maybe 5 stars while others only 2.

Finca Vigia is his home in Cuba ("Lookout Farm"). This book contains 21 stories in addition to the "the first forty-nine"; average length is under ten pages. Some are as short as a thought, a page out of a novel, or unfinished. Many of the stories take place in Florida, Cuba, the Midwest, and Spain and are written in first person; some very early in life.

At times the worldly Hemingway just writes about the mundane, while the next story we may be sitting in an arena watching a graphic bull-fight. The reoccurring subject matter: hunting, war, medicine, tragedy, marriage/relationships, death, fishing, sports, and drinking.

Racial epithets are frequent throughout. Many of the stories can be uninteresting, banal (as if making a report) and confusing (overly informative). He then can make the shift to simple everyday dialog, containing amazing and eloquent observations. He introduces native dialect and uses hidden subjects. Can the stories be traced to his personal experiences? His novels are better.

Wish you well
Scott

Great Reading. Paper Back Covers Suck..........2007-02-06

The book is amazing. Buy it.
Nevertheless, I hate these new paperbacks that are extremely soft.

a comprehensive collection.......2006-12-19

It's no mystery Hemingway wrote a ton of material, and while some people say his stories are all kind of the same, I disagree. I haven't read all of his work, but stories like "The Killers" and "Hills Like White Elephants" reach into completely different aspects of human nature. "The Killers" is shocking and alarming when you consider the utter indifference the hitmen in story have towards life - especially at how accurate this portrays the behavior of a sociopathic killer. "Hills like white Elephants," one of his most commonly discussed short stories, shows the natural depravity of our nature, and shows a common kind of inability to handle the consequences of our actions.

Anyway, the point is, even though Hemingway had a distinct style that can seem homogonized at times, he really grew as a writer, and this collection of short stories really demonstrates this.

"The Sun Also Rises" is definitly my favoraite Hemingway story, and most people would agree it was his cleanest/tightest work of writing, but you simply will not get the full sense of who Hemingway was as a writer and the impact he had on literature if you don't tackle his short stories as well. This I'm pretty sure has all of them, or at least vast majority of them. I would say this is one of the more important texts to get, because personally I didn't even get into hemingway untill I read "The Killers" and "The Nick Adam's Stories," and saw for myself how much life Hemingway had a grasp on.

Average customer rating:

31 stories of violent grace, madmen, prejudice, and fierce redemption.
DOWN AT THE INTERSECTION OF PICK-UP TRUCKS AND HOLY WATER
Wonderful Writer
What was that about?
Not what I expected...

The Complete Stories
Flannery O'Connor
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty
The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor
Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose
The Stories of John Cheever
Flannery O'Connor : Collected Works : Wise Blood / A Good Man Is Hard to Find / The Violent Bear It Away / Everything that Rises Must Converge / Essays & Letters (Library of America)

ASIN: 0374515360

Book Description

Winner of the National Book Award

The publication of this extraordinary volume firmly established Flannery O'Connor's monumental contribution to American fiction. There are thirty-one stories here in all, including twelve that do not appear in the only two story collections O'Connor put together in her short lifetime--Everything That Rises Must Converge and A Good Man Is Hard to Find.

O'Connor published her first story, "The Geranium," in 1946, while she was working on her master's degree at the University of Iowa. Arranged chronologically, this collection shows that her last story, "Judgement Day"--sent to her publisher shortly before her death—is a brilliantly rewritten and transfigured version of "The Geranium." Taken together, these stories reveal a lively, penetrating talent that has given us some of the most powerful and disturbing fiction of the twentieth century. Also included is an introduction by O'Connor's longtime editor and friend, Robert Giroux.

Customer Reviews:

31 stories of violent grace, madmen, prejudice, and fierce redemption. .......2007-09-28

Thirty-one stories and 550 pages rest within this collection. Each story has its own merit, but I would like to take a moment to describe the ones that have best remained powerfully glued to my mind.

Revelation - This tale deals with a smug, pious church-goer (of which many of O'Connor's find similarity). The woman is happy she is not black or white-trash, and thinks herself a candidate for the front of heaven's lines. Of course, O'Connor has a tasty ending for her in the story's last pages.

The Lame Shall Enter First - A story about loving when it's too late. The last words of this tale still haunt me.

The River - A young boy wishes to find the kingdom of God but finds tragedy instead. I think O'Connor was attacking how some things are best not taught to children because they will not be able to comprehend them.

The Peeler - A pre-teen searches for cleansing after his first experience with lust.

Wildcat - an old black man's greatest fear ominously grows closer and closer to him with each new night.

The Enduring Chill - the Holy Ghost, depicted as a purifying terror, descends madly upon a reluctant intellect as he waits for death.

A View of the Woods - an old man is not above the things he hates as he turns on the one thing in the world he swears to protect: his ten year-old granddaughter.

A Late Encounter With the Enemy - a Civil War veteran finds that his moment in the sun is actual nothing more than his first day among the devils.

Good Country People - considered a classic by most, this tale deals with the ironies of a devious mind and those who fail to recognize it.

The Comforts of Home - a female nymphomaniac is taken off the street by a kind-hearted old woman. The old woman's son, however, refuses to accept the new house guest and sets a plan in motion that will destroy everything he holds dear.

O'Connor's stories are often filled with fringe-lunatics in the raw pursuit of grace as they battle pious church-mice, the racism of the day, and their own feeble place in the world. She exposes the harsh prejudice of those who claim an outward perfection, and often times the righteous and smug are given over to the very things they claim to be above. O'Connor takes on a literary trip that features corruptive minds, freakish hermaphrodites, hopeless nymphomaniacs lurching for any form of grace, and wild-eyed country folk who doubt both faith as well as admire it from afar.

She spares us nothing and when it's all said and done, what we have witnessed are the rawest forms of grace being sprinkled on those who most would never imagine worthy, while those who seem to have it all together are thrust into their own personal hells. If you are interested in grace for the rugged, vexed, slob and slut, her tales are for you. Enter with an open mind and you will unearth something more intriguing than you can imagine.

DOWN AT THE INTERSECTION OF PICK-UP TRUCKS AND HOLY WATER.......2007-07-29

Todd Sentell is a Georgia native and author of the social satire, Toonamint of Champions

Dear Flannery,

Forty-three years after you died too young, a Georgia historical marker was stuck in the ground across the highway from the end of Andalusia's driveway. On a boiling hot Friday morning in July, in the shadow of the Badcock & More furniture store sign, just before the dedication ceremony started, a suntanned fellow in a red pick-up truck drove past and honked his horn. For an instant, I thought Parker was back.

The mayor of Milledgeville spoke about you in his Milledgeville accent. And then, a priest with an Irish name in a huge white robe from your old church, Sacred Heart, got up in front of everybody and moved his hands around and read some things from out of that book that's not exactly the Bible. He said some things that a few of your fellow Catholics repeated with him and then the priest flicked the historical marker, while it was still covered with an official Georgia historical marker blue cover, with holy water. He flicked his wood water wand six times. I counted. The first time he flicked it at the cover you could see the cover quiver but it never did again. If there was a moment you would have loved the most, other than that redneck in the pick up truck blasting the earnestness out of the hot air, it was that holy water business. I'm not Catholic, but these were some moments I deeply understood anyway, especially since we were across the street from where you made literary history because of those hard, perpendicular intersections you designed in your stories and two novels ... the perfectly timed crashing together of personalities and religion in all its strange forms ... and its haunting aftermath. We were having some near crashing together of religion and personalities right there ... right by a loud highway in a modern time as we quietly stood in the grass that belonged to your marker and a discount furniture store.

After that priest blessed your marker, the fellow who's in charge of the Georgia Historical Society got up there and said he was pretty sure that was the first time in the history of Georgia historical marker dedication ceremonies that one's been flicked with holy water. Everybody laughed and nodded at each other. God ... did I think of you right then. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who got the literary and personal importance ... to you ... of that moment. I saw you smiling down at this one, too: after everyone stopped laughing I wanted to shout out, like Hazel Motes would at discovering a blasphemer ... that the feller who's in charge of the Georgia Historical Society is wearin' a tie covered with the logo ... of the state of South Caroliner!

After the roadside ceremony, we were invited to come across Highway 441--very carefully--for a reception in the main house. Your house and yard were populated with people speaking in only Southern accents and they were talking about how they knew you and when. Or how and when they knew your mother. On your front porch an old woman grabbed my arm and asked me if I was in church Sunday ... that she saw me. I said I wasn't ... I live one hundred miles from here ... but if my evil twin was there then good for him. The lady, tottering on feeble pegs, told me her name but I didn't get it because she spoke in an accent so rich her words came out like syrup. She said she had moved onto the farm when she was fifteen and that you and her were opposites. She said she lived in that building over there. She pointed at it with a crooked finger ... at the old shed where Andalusia's caretakers keep an old donkey named Flossie. I wondered if she was drunk. Who cares. We were all drunk on you. Standing in your bedroom doorway gawking at your crutches, your bed, and your writing table. I'm sure you think that's repulsive--a bunch of people crowded at your door like that. But I'm a respectful hick. I gawk with misty eyes but I don't point.

I'm not going to go on about the condition of the house and the buildings around the property. Just to say they'll be back in better shape soon. There's a man in charge and a foundation has even been developed and the man in charge works hard to preserve you ... your place.

Heading back home up Highway 441 in my truck, I passed a couple of Georgia roadside markers of another kind--those homemade crucifixes people stick into the ground near where a family member was killed in a car or truck or motorcycle accident. You never know. When you see one, and you see a lot of them in the South, all you know is that death happened right there and somebody wants you to by-God know it.

But it's never at that intersection you write about. You always see those crosses on some long, straight stretch of highway or country road. I think of you as I travel my long stretch of road and across fields of living fire, sometimes in a straight line and sometimes real crooked ... as your voice strikes up in my mind ... your voice climbing upward, on key, into a starry field ... and those who love you so much come to that moment of your grace on that road sooner rather than later if we're paying attention and we thank you for it ... battalions of freaks and lunatics shouting and clapping and leaping like frogs and those who have always had a little of everything and the God-given wit to use it right ... we honk our truck horns in your honor ... and shout hallelujah.

Todd Sentell is a Georgia native and author of the social satire, Toonamint of Champions

Wonderful Writer.......2007-06-20

I have never before spent all that much time with O'Conner's work. I was pretty damn impressed.

Her observations on race were spot on--not dated in the least. Compared perhaps to certain writers who write of an experience that is only (most often) echoed today. There seems to be a certain timelessness to O'Conner's perception. Similar in ways to Twain, and perhaps to a lesser extent, Faulkner. I wonder if her Catholicism has anything to do with it, and the fact that she was a woman--these markers giving her an insight and subtlety of understanding that Protestant white men wouldn't necessarily have.

It was interesting that both O'Conner and Richard Yates do not shy away from multiple points of view in a short story. Many if not most of the Yates stories shift POV. I have always inclined toward shifting POV, but was warned (scolded) away from it in my first writing workshops. I tend to like the way O'Conner handles shifts, it is more seamless than Yates. In O'Conner's work it is almost imperceptible (I am thinking particularly of "The Artificial Nigger" and the shifts between the grandfather and the boy). Yates tends to use paragraph breaks and will give entire sections of a story to a particular character's POV. O'Conner moves from perspective to perspective through brief paragraphs, shifting within the narrative line of the story without pause.

And I have a soft spot for the gothic. I appreciate O'Conner's use of the physically maimed and the mentally disabled. I like her use of religion. Some of her stories read almost as twisted parables--sort of a Biblical Twilight Zone or Old Testament Alfred Hitchcock.

But for my own work, I paid especially close attention to the intimacy O'Conner creates between her characters. I am thinking at the moment of "Good Country People." She does such a brilliant job of showing the tension, desire, misinterpretation and intimacy between Joy/Hulga and the Bible salesman. O'Conner holds Joy/Hulga's anger and ugliness and even her intellectual aggression in contrast to the unexpected vulnerability she shows the Bible salesman. It does indeed bring life and complexity to her character. And then of course when the Bible salesman reveals his motivation and his true desire, something really remarkable happens--it is as though in these moments I can see the story take a breath.

"Good Country People" is such a good story--there are so many elements of craft, elements that I am working on in my own writing. O'Conner does a spectacular job not only with complexity of character, but also with complexity of circumstance. She creates a situation in which a seemingly immobile Joy/Hulga is poised on the precipice of change. The reader feels as though she really could--or might not--fall in love with the Bible salesman. There are moments of living possibility when anything (or nothing) can happen.

There are many remarkable stories in this collection that demonstrate similar mastery of craft--The Barber, The Life You Save May Be Your Own, Greenleaf, Everything That Rises Must Converge, A Good Man is Hard to Find...

And along with these excellent stories, there are others that do not quite shine, stories that read as slice-of-life vignettes, interesting and pleasant enough to read, but not quite living: Wildcat, The Crop, Turkey, A View of the Wood, Revelation.

I would like to read O'Conner's novels. And I am sure I will reread her short stories. And should I ever have the chance, I would love the opportunity to introduce her work to students.

What was that about?.......2007-06-04

Someone wrote, I read it in 12th grade and didn't `get it', but was blown away. I think that was her point. Catholic existentialism, as I see it. There is a similarity to Walker Percy, although she is in a different league. When I finish a short story, I laugh- what was that about? Yet at the same time, I think I know...

Not what I expected..........2007-05-14

A group of seniors from our church were planning a visit to the author's childhood home. I thought it would be a great idea to purchase this book as a little prize for the trip.
I read a couple of the short stories and found them to be a bit disturbing. Not at all what I expected. I do not need to have a "happy ever after" ending to stories but I read as an escape into anothter world. I did not enjoy visiting the world through Flannery O'Connor's eyes. Sorry.

Beatrix Potter Complete Tales: The 23 Original Peter Rabbit Books; Original & Authorized Edition

Average customer rating:

One of the greatest childrens books
A Beautiful Book
The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter
A staple for every home library
The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter

Beatrix Potter Complete Tales: The 23 Original Peter Rabbit Books; Original & Authorized Edition
Beatrix Potter
Manufacturer: Warne
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh
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Complete Beatrix Potter Collection 2pk

ASIN: 0723236186

Amazon.com

"I cannot draw you a picture of Peter and Benjamin underneath the basket," writes Beatrix Potter in The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, "because it was quite dark, and because the smell of onions was fearful; it made Peter Rabbit and little Benjamin cry." Beatrix Potter's animal stories, the first of which was published in 1902, have been a joy to generations of young readers. This deluxe volume collects all of Beatrix Potter's 23 Peter Rabbit tales and verses together--complete and unabridged--in one book. All the original illustrations, both color and black and white, are included. The stories are arranged in the order in which they were first published to enable them to be read in the proper sequence, from A Tale of Peter Rabbit to The Tale of Little Pig Robinson. Beatrix Potter's tales were often connected with real places, people, or animals, so each story also includes a brief introductory note about its history. For example, "The story of naughty Peter Rabbit in Mr. McGregor's garden first appeared in a picture letter Beatrix Potter wrote to Noel Moore, the young son of her former governess, in 1893." In addition to the original 23 tales, this edition contains two early narrative picture sequences, Three Little Mice and The Rabbit's Christmas Party. And, there are two charming little stories, The Sly Old Cat and The Fox and the Stork, which were originally intended to be worked up into books, but remained unpublished. This beautiful introduction to the world of Beatrix Potter is sure to remain on the family bookshelf for generations to come. (Baby to Preschool)

Book Description

"It spoils people's clothes to squeeze under a gate; the proper way to get in, is to climb down a pear tree," said Little Benjamin Bunny. Hear Peter Rabbit outwit old Mr. McGregor and Squirrel Nutkin come within a tail's length of being an owl's dinner. Listen as a family of mice save the kind tailor of Glouster and how Peter and Benjamin Bunny battle a barn cat. Learn how two bad mice and one fierce rabbit are set on the road to honesty.
Beatrix Potter's amazing universe of animals dressed in human clothing has taught and entertained children for nearly a century. Her love of animals and children is apparent in each of these twenty-one tales.

Customer Reviews:

One of the greatest childrens books.......2007-04-01

This is a must read for little kids. It's fun, entertaining, politically incorrect, well illustrated, teaches good lessons and uses the English language the way it was meant to be. The high-gloss paper is nice.

A Beautiful Book.......2006-11-10

I bought this book for my grandchildren, and couldn't be more pleased. A great introduction to classic children's books. Beautifully illustrated with the original drawings. This is a book to keep and pass down to the next generation.

The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter.......2006-08-25

This was my first purchase from Amazon and I was very pleased with the professional service and the quick delivery of my order

A staple for every home library.......2006-02-25

How wonderful it has been to get reintroduced to all of Potter's sweet characters. My mom had a small board book collection when I was growing up and I forgot all about these stories. There is just something so warm and relaxing about them. My four year old is loving them (they're a bit too long for my two year old's attention span and she usually wanders away after awhile). However you just can't go wrong with this book--it's a classic and definitely timeless. My only suggestion is that sometimes a "complete" edition is the cheaper route to go, but it does make for a heavy book for little ones to tote around or try to flip through. So if you are looking for something to be a more kid friendly you may want to purchase the individual stories separately.

The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter.......2005-10-30

The book I received wasn't the same as the one pictured in the listing. It is the same text but it came in a box as opposed to having a dust cover. Other than that I am happy with my purchase.

Average customer rating:

His Basic Short Story Collection
Kafka's Complete Shorter Works
Kafka had it right
not bad, maybe kind of superfluous
An avid student's perspective

The Complete Stories
Franz Kafka
Manufacturer: Schocken
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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German | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

The Trial
The Castle: A new translation based on the restored text
The Trial
Amerika
The Diaries of Franz Kafka (Schocken Classics Series)

ASIN: 0805210555
Release Date: 1995-11-14

Amazon.com

How many writers get their own adjective? The work of this terminally alienated master narrator of the subconscious demanded a new descriptor; I guess they gave up and just settled on "Kafkaesque." But if you ever wonder what the original Kafkaesque work was, take a look here. The book contains all of Kafka's short and longer stories -- everything but his three novels. Most of these stories weren't even published during the author's lifetime. The widely-anthologized The Metamorphosis is here, wherein Gregor Samsa awakes from uneasy dreams to find himself insectoidally transformed, as are equally lovely pieces like A Hunger Artist, A Country Doctor and A Little Woman.

Book Description

The only available collection that brings together all of Kafka's stories--those published during his lifetime and those released after his death.

Customer Reviews:

His Basic Short Story Collection.......2007-08-18

This is a collection which first appeared about 60 years ago and has been published a number of times with small variations in the selected works.

Franz Kafka (1883 - 1924) was one of the major German-language fiction writers of the 20th century. He was a Jew living in Prague and working for the Worker's Accident Insurance Institute. He wrote in his spare time and was inspired by the problems associated with bureaucratic institutions - such as we read in "The Castle."

I read all of Kafka's work and put together this Listmania list from my notes and experiences. His short novella Metamorphosis is among the best short works ever written. Unfortunately, he did not write and publish much when he was alive. Most of what is available was published after his early death, and some of it is edited (possibly) poorly as in Amerika. His writings vary from novels to one page impressions of life, such as one essay that is about looking out a window. The novels revolve around a young to middle aged protagonist male named "K," who battles the courts and bureaucrats.

At some point while reading his works, I realized that his short stories are just as important as the novels, or even more so, and Metamorphosis is just one of a number of excellent short works involving compulsion and one's view of life. So, the present book is an excellent buy for those who want to learn about Kafka.

Overall, I like "Metamorphosis" for its originality. After reading many of his works I got to the point where I had read enough, because many of his writings are just fragments. Some might want to read all his sort stories in one go, but I did not because of all the fragments. In any case, this collection with a forward by Updike is an excellent buy or read, well worth the time. The following short stores are complete works and not fragments: Hunger Artist, A Country Doctor, A Little Woman, The Penal Colony, and the Judgment. The Penal Colony goes even farther than Metamorphosis; and as such, it is an odd reading experience, having almost a nightmare quality to the story. A few of the others are bizarre as well. In any case, an English reader will always wonder if he completely understands or has fully appreciated the translated German writing.

This is recommended as a basic introduction. It is missing The Stoker but it has his key short works.

Kafka's Complete Shorter Works.......2007-04-11

This book contains almost all of Kafka's literary works, save his full length novels.

Kafka's writing is representative for a large portion of modern literature. Although one can classify his works as dealing with alienation, assimilation, inferiority, and insecurities, they are, on some level, impenetrable by interpretors. His prose is clear and easily readeable; however, the implications of his story remain troubelsome and confounding.

Kafka's writing style betrays expected norms of literature. In the metamorphisis, the protaganist Gregor Samsa awakens from his sleep to find himself changed into a beetle. The story is about the ramifications of the event, and the expected pinnacle, his transformation itself, is barely attended too. Furthermore, Samsa seems to take his transformation in stride. He recognizes the uniqueness of his case, but thoughts of his own insanity, nor the impossibility of the situation are hardly voiced. By giving us the absurd and simultaneously sidelining it, Kafka is able to focus on other issues. Samsa's "otherness" as a beetle, now being an existential given, leads us to explore how being "other" works in relationship to family and other acquantices.

Kafka is a truly marvelous writer, and if his writing seem paranoid and absurd, it adds to their literary quality. His concerns are not so unique as the positions his literary creations often find themselves in, and he provides an interesting voice on the conditions of modernity.

Kafka had it right.......2006-12-13

This is the most authoritative collection of Kafka's immortal short fiction; it includes the most respected translations of each story (mostly by Willa and Edwin Muir), and a fair introduction from John Updike.

Kafka was the greatest writer of short fiction of the modern era. Such stories as 'The Metamorphosis,' 'In the Penal Colony,' 'The Hunger Artist,' and 'The Great Wall of China' encapsulate the tyrannical, dehumanizing regimentation of the modern world. Kafka may be difficult to read, and the allegorical form is not enjoyable for everyone. However, it is impossible to not be drawn into the strange madness of 'The Hunger Artist,' or 'The Country Doctor,' surely two of the most terrifying works of literature of the period.

In many ways, Kafka was a precursor to the sort of self-reflexive artistry that would later be found in Beckett, Sartre, and Brecht; Kafka is always aware that he is working within the literary realm, and he knows that he cannot escape it. Therefore, (brilliantly), he turns it into an advantage, by intoning the mystical, the metaphysical, and the surreal. His characters are often animals, metaphors, or simply moods. This approach has its strengths, but only in the hands of a true master. Fortunately for us, Kafka was just that, in the truest sense: a master of form, and unity of content.

not bad, maybe kind of superfluous.......2006-08-16

I've had this Kafka volume for about six months now and I've enjoyed it thoroughly. The Metamophosis alone warrants high marks, but this collection thankfully includes countless stories from the breadth of Kafka's career, in essence providing context for his most famous work.

I can't corroborate reports of binding issues, mind has lasted perfectly. There's not much one can say about Kafka that has not already been said, really. The avid fan will, however, appreciate the depth of this volume, which, if anything, helps to better elucidate the contents of the Metamorphosis itself, an indispensible story that seems, at times, a bit obfuscated.

An avid student's perspective.......2005-12-16

As a student of the German language, I must say that I view this text from a different perspective than most of its other readers. I selected this book merely to give me a broader understanding of Kafka's work in the short time available to me. It is an infinitely useful resource, gracefully translated and sturdily bound. I give it four stars simply because no English translation could possibly compare to the original German texts. For example, the German word "Gesetz" is translated "law" in the foundational parable "Before the Law." Though it is a literally accurate term, it does not capture the sense of the Gesetz as a semi-personal metaphysical absolute concerning the condition of the Universe. ("Gesetz" is something of a German equivalent for the Greek "Logos" with a capital "L".) Such slight aberrations are certainly common as they are an ineluctable consequence of translation; this aside, it is an excellent text that will always sit next to my German edition on the shelf of Modern Literature.

The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Short Stories (2 Vol. Set)

Average customer rating:

The Best Annotated Holmes Collection Available
conan doyle changed police procedure from beating todeduction
BEAUTIFUL! ~~An HONOR to Doyle, and to HOLMES!
Masterful
Excellent production, could have been bound better

The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Short Stories (2 Vol. Set)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Novels (A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Valley of Fear)
The Science of Sherlock Holmes: From Baskerville Hall to the Valley of Fear, the Real Forensics Behind the Great Detective's Greatest Cases
The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes Collection
The Sherlock Holmes Feature Film Collection
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Boxed Set Collection)

ASIN: 0393059162

Book Description

A cause for international celebration—the most important Sherlock Holmes publication in four decades.

This monumental edition promises to be the most important new contribution to Sherlock Holmes literature since William Baring-Gould's 1967 classic work. In this boxed set, Leslie Klinger, a leading world authority, reassembles Arthur Conan Doyle's 56 classic short stories in the order in which they appeared in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century book editions. Inside, readers will find a cornucopia of insights: beginners will benefit from Klinger's insightful biographies of Holmes, Watson, and Conan Doyle; history lovers will revel in the wealth of Victorian literary and cultural details; Sherlockian fanatics will puzzle over tantalizing new theories; art lovers will thrill to the 700-plus illustrations, which make this the most lavishly illustrated edition of the Holmes tales ever produced. The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes illuminates the timeless genius of Arthur Conan Doyle for an entirely new generation of readers. 700+ illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

The Best Annotated Holmes Collection Available.......2007-08-14

Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories are widely available in numerous editions, but this one stands out for three reasons. First, there is a superb introudction of over 60 pages ("The World of Sherlock Holmes"); second, there are numerous original illustrations, photographs of the scenes of the stories, and so on; third, and most important, the annotations--which are extensive--include both real facts about the Victorian world that one needs to know to understand the stories *and* "Sherlockiana".

For example, when, in "the Adventure of the Beryl Coronet", a mysterious nobleman asks a banker for "a trifling sum" of 50,000 pounds, the modern reader might shrug--surely 50,000 pounds *is* indeed a "trifling sum" for a rich nobleman?--until one realizes, as the annotations say, that it would be over $6,000,000 today. The annotators do an excellent job with such factoids: less and some of the stories' references would remain obscure; more and they would become pedantic.

What really sets it apart, however, are the "Sherlockian" annotations, which pretend "A. C. Doyle" was Watson's pen name and that the stories describe real events--and makes up theories to explain apparent contradictions or omissions. For example, in "The Man with the Twisted Lip", Watson's wife calls him "James" (instead of "John"). Why? The obvious answer--Doyle made a slip--is, of course, not allowed by the rules of the Sherlockian "game". The annotators give three pages to summarising the numerous theories Sherlockians offered--from claiming "James" was Watson's middle name, to claims it was her lover's name (thus also "discovering" Waton's middle name, and/or explaining why he seems to have left his wife).

Even if you have no interest at all in such intellectual games, the photographs and illustrations, the historical introduction, and the factual annotations alone more than justify a "five stars" rating. If you *are* interested in Shelockiana, these books are more than that--they're an instant classic, sure to be the "standard edition" of Sherlock fans for years to come.

conan doyle changed police procedure from beating todeduction .......2007-08-10

Conanan Doylechanged police from bribers of low life to rat on others or to beat confessions from poorly educated or low intelligence souls tothose who sought to know the facts.The facts came from evidence of all sorts, witnesses,debris on the scene, or from the area or arena of suspects o those involved. The courts the\n rejected evidence that was tainted.This included statements from tortured or possibly tortured persons that was not corrobrated by tangible evidence. So today we have a system that is closer to trying to get the truth than getting a conviction. This enables those who can manipulate it to beat the justice sytem in the short term. The safety valve is that those who tend to break the law do so again until getting caught.

BEAUTIFUL! ~~An HONOR to Doyle, and to HOLMES!.......2007-07-16

Well, to start, I see that I am the 25th person to review this double volume of these marvelous stories in this wonderful edition.

It is so wonderful to sit down in my big old wing-back chair, especially on a rainy day or evening, and re-read these fabulous stories again, some for perhaps the 6th or 7th time, others the 3rd or 4th. And, the highlight, of course, is to ponder the notations in the margins of these wonderfully crafted and beautifully presented books.

Next time you feel like doing something "Nice" for yourself, why not treat yourself to this beautiful, and so much fun to revisit, set of the Sherlock Holmes Short Stories! You will never regret it...they always seem to be like old forgotten friends each time you come back to them. ~operabruin

(PS: Do not forget the Novels, also part of this edition in their own volume.)

Masterful.......2006-08-18

I cannot add to the kudos bestowed by virtually every review of this 2 volume delight.
A warning: Check the "Adventure of the Priory School" for missing footnotes. The numbers appear in the margins but the (red type) prose is missing! Someone goofed seriously at the printer's shop. This may not be a major catastrophe (perhaps it is an intentional mystery created by the author), but it's like buying a new car with a dimple in the hood: you know it's there (or, in this instance, it isn't there!) If you are affected by this lack of annotation, return the volumes to Amazon, write a letter to the publisher (Norton) and get restitution, by George!

Excellent production, could have been bound better.......2006-07-23

Rather than repeat the reviews of the previous authors, I'd like to make two points related to the production of the book:

The book should have been stitched rather than gummed at the spine. I can almost foresee my grandson many years hence trying to read Grandpa's favorite book that was willed to him, only to have the spine break. A book of enduring value must have a stitched spine. OTOH looks like it has been printed on acid-free paper, which is a good thing.

How I wish there was a CD-ROM edition. The book is unbelievably bulky. That is fine for someone's study or library. If there was a CD-ROM based edition, people short on space, or those who travel on public transport could enjoy the author's work more conveniently (e.g. by reading on their laptop).

Unfortunately Amazon does not ship this book free. But some of its competitors do. It pays to shop around.

Average customer rating:

An odd but interesting assortment
Mockery and Company
Like Bathing In Bubbles And Acid
For Wauvian Worshippers
An assault on England's class structure?

The Complete Stories of Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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Vile Bodies
Decline and Fall
Black Mischief
Put Out More Flags
A Handful of Dust

ASIN: 0316925462

Amazon.com

Mordant, mirthful, and unrelenting in their lampoon of aristocratic mischief, Evelyn Waugh's novels have earned him a permanent place in the literary pantheon. But this cantankerous master--the scion, by the way, of a decidedly middle-class family of publishers and writers--was no less adept when it came to the short form. Indeed, Waugh first broke into print in 1926 with "The Balance: A Yarn of the Good Old Days of Broad Trousers and High Necked Jumpers," an early story that suggests a modernized and misanthropic P.G. Wodehouse. And he continued to write short fiction throughout the rest of his career, all of which has now been collected in the delectable Complete Stories of Evelyn Waugh.

The first few entries in the collection capture a kinder, gentler author, not yet red at the verbal tooth and claw. But by 1932, when he wrote "Love in the Slump," Waugh's eye for the black-comic detail was firmly in place:

It rained heavily on the day of the wedding, and only the last-ditchers among the St. Margaret's crowd turned out to watch the melancholy succession of guests popping out of their dripping cars and plunging up the covered way into the church.... A doctor was summoned to attend the bridegroom's small nephew, who, after attracting considerable attention as a page at the ceremony by his outspoken comments, developed a high temperature and numerous disquieting symptoms of food poisoning.

Waugh's wit only sharpened throughout the succeeding decades, and the very texture of his prose thickened (although it never took on much in the way of modernist adipose tissue). In "Compassion," a 1949 tale that belies the author's vaunted anti-Semitism, a mere glimpse of some Yugoslavian partisans leads to this superabundant sentence: "He passed ragged, swaggering partisans, all young, some scarcely more than children; girls in battle dress, bandaged, bemedalled, girdled with grenades, squat, chaste, cheerful, sexless, barely human, who had grown up in mountain bivouacs, singing patriotic songs, arm-in-arm along the pavements where a few years earlier rheumatics had crept with parasols and light, romantic novels." Nobody can accuse Waugh of squishy sentimentality--remember, romantic prose is strictly for convalescents. Still, The Complete Stories offers an accurate and stupendously entertaining vision of human folly, no less effective for being administered in smaller doses.

Book Description

"As a writer of satiric and comic stories, Evelyn Waugh remains unmatched among modern writers." -New York Times Book Review

For the first time, all of Evelyn Waugh's stories-thirty-nine marvelous works of short fiction spanning his entire career-are brought together in a single volume. The result: a book of brilliant entertainments.

The stories range from delightfully barbed portraits of the British upper classes to a one in which Waugh suggests an alternative ending to his novel A Handful of Dust; from a "missing chapter" in the life of Charles Ryder, the nostalgic hero of Brideshead Revisited, to two long, linked stories, remnants of an abandoned novel that Waugh himself considered "my best writing"; from a plot-packed morality tale that Waugh composed at a very tender age to an epistolary lark in the voice of "a young lady of leisure"; from a hilarious fantasy about newlyweds to a darkly comic tale of scandal in a remote (and imaginary) African outpost.

The Complete Stories of Evelyn Waugh is a dazzling distillation of Waugh's genius-abundant evidence that one of the twentieth century's most admired and enjoyed English novelists was also a master of the short form.

Download Description

Collected for the first time in a single volume: all of the short fiction by one of the 20th century's wittiest and most trenchant observers of the human comedy.

Customer Reviews:

An odd but interesting assortment.......2006-10-03

To lump together the contents of this book as "stories" is a bit misleading. It includes unused or uncompleted fragments from novels, some clever but forgettable quick sketches published in magazines, one or two genuine short stories, and some very unfortunate juvenilia and senilia. Waugh's stories are mostly inferior to his novels, but there are one or two gems here.

The most rewarding discovery for me was two chapters from Work Suspended, a novel Waugh started during the war but never finished. In it he puts aside the broadly satirical point of view of his early novels in favor of the more realistic and subjective style that would find its culmination in Brideshead Revisited and the Sword of Honour trilogy. I can only guess why he didn't finish it -- certainly the difficult circumstances of the war were a primary reason, but the bits included here suggest that he was just on the verge of painting himself into a corner, plotwise. Read it and decide for yourself.

The other delightful surprise is the last story, Basil Seal Rides Again, in which we rejoin the memorably cynical antihero of the early novels for one last escapade on the threshold of old age. If only Waugh had returned to that vein a little earlier, but alas, the rest of the postwar stories seem to reflect only his undisguised bitterness at the (for him) dystopia of the British welfare state.

Those who like A Handful of Dust (which I consider his masterpiece) might want to read the two alternative endings Waugh wrote, The Man Who Liked Dickens (published separately as a short story), and By Special Request, a decidedly inferior version.

There's also Charles Ryder's Schooldays, a sort of prequel to Brideshead Revisited, which seems not to have been published at all until the success of the TV series caused it to be unearthed.

But if you're new to Waugh, don't start with this book. Read one of the early novels first -- I especially recommend Decline and Fall, but Vile Bodies or Black Mischief would also be a good choice.

Mockery and Company.......2006-04-18

Besides the fact that many think he's a woman, Evelyn Waugh is one of those greatly misunderstood writers. With the slapstick humor of P.G. Woodhouse, the subtlety and irony of E.M. Forster, the sarcasm and mockery of Oscar Wilde, the eloquence of English of Henry James, and the social criticism of Swift, Waugh's stories are delightfully filled with attributes all of.

His stories are prevalently snapshots into a marriage or some aristocratic relationship between two either ignorant or vile parties. His characters are not likable, but somehow it's so seductive to go on reading about these awful people. My personal favorite story is about a husband who, worried about his wife's fidelity, buys her a dog named after him to remind him of her while he travels to Africa on business. She, however, begins an affair with another man, only to end it not because of her husband, but because of the dog. This relationship mirrors her marriage, and in turn, she `dumps' the dog for another one. The rejected dog goes on to bite the nose of his former owner. In another story, a newly married couple is accidentally separated on the night of their honeymoon. The husband, somewhat not in the throws of love, decides to visit on old college buddy. This instigates a trail of incidents, all unfortunate, that prevents the couple from uniting for a week. The wife, realizing that she doesn't particularly miss her new husband, decides it might be better not for them to ever meet again.

Sit down for 10 minutes at a time with these unabashed comedies. If you like to smirk, you will love these.

Like Bathing In Bubbles And Acid.......2005-12-20

Meanness to your fellow man is no virtue unless you write fiction, especially the kind perfected by the 20th century's most celebrated malcontent, Evelyn Waugh. Then it can be quite fun, especially when offered small but pungent doses like you get here.

A collection of Waugh's shorter fiction, including several novellas and some pieces written while a child and college student, "The Complete Stories Of Evelyn Waugh" is an entertaining, satisfying demonstration of both the breadth and wit of one of English fiction's finest stylists, not to mention a place to get to know Waugh better after reading his better-known novels like "Handful Of Dust" and "The Loved One."

You don't think of Waugh as a punchy writer, at least I didn't from reading the above novels and especially his "Sword Of Honor" trilogy. When your most successful film adaptation runs 11 hours, a writer isn't expected to shine in short sprints. But all his novels have their sharp dramatic moments, sudden reversals and even shock endings. Waugh was best known for his dialogue and descriptive prose, but "Complete Stories" drives home the point that Waugh could spin a yarn and cap it off with the best of them.

Take perhaps the two best-known stories here, "Bella Fleace Gave A Party" and "Mr. Loveday's Little Outing," both of which showcase Waugh's celebrated misanthropy with stories that are not only keenly realized but carry you along at a brisk pace before dropping you on a dime. You feel for sad Bella, especially, yet Waugh's satirical send-up of social mores leaves a delicious aftertaste, however cruelly presented, because of the cleverness of his invention.

Other stories work that way, too. "Incident In Azania," with its story of a young woman kidnapped in Africa, could be an O. Henry story, namely "The Ransom Of Red Chief." "The Sympathetic Passenger" reminds one of Stephen King, a story of picking up the wrong hitchhiker that is frightening, funny, and gallops along to a quick jolting conclusion.

As a dog lover, my favorite story has to be "On Guard," a gentler tale about a suitor who buys his ladylove a dog named Hector and instructs it to keep any other likely Romeos away until his return from sea, a "commission" the pup takes very seriously. "He understands everything," the woman coos, not realizing how right she is as he barks at and pees on every male who walks through her door.

There's also a couple of forays into science fiction, not to mention a prequel to "Brideshead Revisited," and an alternate ending to "Handful Of Dust" worth reading for those who liked those books at least. Even the less successful works, of which there are a few, are entertaining most of the way through, not to mention illuminating of Waugh's singular mindset, which could look compassionately one moment upon the plight of Jewish refugees in the Balkans and serve up a farcical matrimonial murder the next.

The biggest drawback to this volume is the lack of any secondary material. No introduction, no footnotes, not even headers above each of the stories telling you when they were written or why. It's a sizeable omission, especially for the juvenilia, where spelling mistakes are about the only clue you get as to the author's age.

But there's no better place to get Waugh in his most concentrated form, a perfect companion for a trip to idle away an hour under the sun, pondering life's arbitrary cruelties from multiple vantage points in the company of a cheerful, fascinating cynic.

For Wauvian Worshippers.......2002-05-18

Evelyn Waugh is the author of my favorite book, "Decline and Fall" and I am also extremely positive about most of his other novels. This volume would have been better named the Complete Short Fiction as it is more a study of starts, new endings, periods, etc. and some short stories. This must be part of a Waugh-obsessed person's library, and I consider myself one of that distinction. ... This collection is like a lost treasure map for his familiars. It includes a story which can only be an attempt to subvert a considerable anti-semetic theme in his work. It provides a time and place coincidental with the failure of his marriage that his fictional marriages carry sinister, if comedic overtones. He even wrote self-parody, in the characters that were bloated boors, alchohol reddened old men, undeniably like himself.

Frankly, I can't imagine a world without the old impossibly wicked, toad. ... He was gallingly honest when it came to intolerance for silly, selfish theater of human beings. He skewered irresistably, an African royal celebration desperately trying to seem European. And the book adds to his best known cruelty toward the champagne swilling beautiful young things, lacking in the most basic human instincts, especially towards children, passion for others or ideals. (He was not considered a loving parent, by any means.)
These are great boons to those of us who want more, having been through everything else so often. Waugh's work is shocking and hilarious. I only wish he could return briefly and leave us something on the politically correct. But as that will surely not come to pass, I must say, that this volume is a great footnote, to the god of caustic disdain, to be read in bits and pieces- forever.

An assault on England's class structure?.......2000-12-09

I enjoyed this collection of Waugh's short stories and unfinished work. Cutting, indeed cruel at times, but always interesting, he zeroes in on the upper and upper middle classes of the interwar years. Cruelty can, in fact, be rather fun! I would say that if you haven't read any Waugh, this is a good starting point.

Poirot Investigates: Eleven Complete Mysteries (Mystery Masters Series)

Average customer rating:

fun short stories and David Suchet is great!
This was Poirot at his best, many times!
Not for me, but not bad
Poirot Investigates: Eleven Complete Mysteries
Excellent collection of Chinese folktales

Poirot Investigates: Eleven Complete Mysteries (Mystery Masters Series)
Agatha Christie
Manufacturer: The Audio Partners, Mystery Masters
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

British | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Anthologies | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

British Detectives | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Mystery & Thrillers | Books on CD | Audiobooks | Formats | Books

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Similar Items:

Poirot's Early Cases: 18 Hercule Poirot Mysteries (Mystery Masters Series)
Great American Stories: Ten Unabridged Classics
The Tuesday Club Murders: A Miss Marple Mystery (Miss Marple Mysteries)
The Listerdale Mystery and Eleven Other Stories (Mystery Masters)
Sherlock Holmes: A Baker Street Dozen

ASIN: 1572703210

Book Description

Two things bind this sampler of thrillers: the diminutive Poirot's deductive brilliance and his partner Hastings's obtuseness. The eleven cases here involve film stars, valuable jewels, and abductions as Poirot stylishly uncovers the truth. This is a thrilling short story collection by the master of mystery and the most popular author of all time.

Customer Reviews:

fun short stories and David Suchet is great!.......2007-09-25

This is a fun set of short stories and David Suchet's reading is really wonderful. He does a great Japp (sounds just like the actor on the TV series). His female voices leave a little to be desired, but overall his characterizations are really good.

This was Poirot at his best, many times!.......2007-02-24

I enjoyed all the different stories that were in this book. It is great fun to listen to. My book came in great condition and the seller kept me informed of when it was shipped and when I could expect to receive. Wonderful service.

Not for me, but not bad.......2007-02-15

This is the first book on "tape" I have every tried to listen to. I am from the midwest in America, so the accents are a little hard for me to follow... I haven't made it past the first track... that could be my problem though!

Poirot Investigates: Eleven Complete Mysteries.......2007-01-19

I travel a lot and drive. The great thing about books on CD's (or tapes) are someone else reads to you while you are driving. Great fun.

Excellent collection of Chinese folktales.......2006-04-23

I was pleasantly surprised with this collection of short-story mysteries. I had seen the television versions, but the stories are still a delight! Suchet performs brilliantly, able to play both the English characters as well as the delightfully Belgian Poirot. The best thing about these short mysteries is that if you wish to pit your wits against the Great Detective, they are solvable. Also, unlike some of the other CD collections, the mysteries end on the CD they start on, so you have 2-3 complete mysteries per CD. This is really great if you are using them in your car.

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