Customer Reviews:
Martin Gardner's Annotated Alice is definitive........1996-08-14
Martin Gardner avoids questionable psychoanalyticinterpretations, and instead describes the objects ofCarroll's satire that have been forgotten since the Victorian era. His notes allow us to fully enjoy Lewis Carroll's humor, and to see why Alice was so loved by children then (and by mathematicians now).
Customer Reviews:
Useful for Non-Majors.......2007-01-23
I teach literature to undergraduate students majoring in interdisciplinary arts and sciences, business, computer science, and nursing. Since I can't count on them having had training in writing about literature, I often assign specific sections of this text, or make it recommended reading for students with less confidence in writing about literature.
My students almost universally praise this text, and I think *their* opinions, rather than those of us teachers, are the ones that really count. They find the specific, nuts-and-bolts suggestions useful, and the explanations clear and helpful.
I recommend this text to any student (high school or college) who wants a concise guide to writing about literature, and any teacher or professor whose students usually lack a solid background in literary study.
A Necessary Evil.......2000-06-11
Written for the Intro to Lit university course market, this type of guide is a necessary evil. Barnet works: students can usually find what they need in the index or contents (How to write a good sentence, what makes a good paragraph, etc.). If you have to have one, you could do worse than to choose Barnett
Book Description
"The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been." Echoing the rhythms of Chinese history itself, the monumental tale Three Kingdoms begins. As important for Chinese culture as the Homeric epics have been for the West, this fourteenth-century masterpiece continues to be loved and read throughout China today. Three Kingdoms portrays a fateful moment at the end of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) when the future of the Chinese empire lay in the balance. Fearing attacks by three rebellious states, the emperor sent out an urgent appeal for support. In response, three young men - the aristocratic Liu Xuande, the fugitive Lord Guan, and the pig butcher Zhang Fei - met to swear eternal brotherhood and fealty to their beleaguered country. Their vow set in motion the series of events that ultimately resulted in the collapse of the Han. Writing centuries later, Luo Guanzhong drew on, often-told tales of this turbulent period to fashion a sophisticated narrative of loyalty and treachery, triumph and defeat, that came to epitomize all that was best and worst in the life of his country. Illustrated.
Customer Reviews:
Truly China's greatest novel!.......2007-09-14
When I first read Three Kingdoms it was quite a confusing story, what with all the endless characters that came and went, not to mention the impossibility of pronouncing their names properly!
Nonetheless, I was captivated by the quality of the story, despite the very basic narrative style (being hundreds of years old) and the fairly simple way it must have been translated.
With the amount of trials and tribulations that the reader witnesses in following the extremely incredible characters, it is no wonder that these real people from history mean so much to people today, nearly two thousand years later.
Containing personalities of all kinds, Three Kingdoms offers so much wisdom and excitement, that once you get past the first couple of chapters, you are really drawn into a whole new world.
To follow the struggles of men like Guan Yu, Cao Cao and Zhuge Liang as they fight for peace amongst the absolute chaos, gives hope and solutions to any of the problems one can face in today's world.
Yet there are hundreds of characters who fight by their sides in attempts to reunite China, each having their own story to contribute to this immortal saga. It is truly a credit to Luo Guanzhong the way he managed to interweave so many storys, and yet stay prevalently factual.
If you can get past the confusion and the slight redundancy of the narrative style, Three Kingdoms is a story you have to read within your lifetime, and preferably as soon as possible.
According to DW3K.COM, there is a new version of Three Kingdoms that is to be released soon, designed to be more entertaining and less confusing than the 600 year old original. Apparently it will still contain all of the wisdom from Luo Guanzhong's, but will make a much more accessable and hopefully even more enjoyable way to learn about Three Kingdoms.
In the meantime I can also suggest the other 3 chinese classics, in english known as Dream of the Red Chamber/Dreams of Red Mansions(Romance), Monkey King/Journey to the West (Adventure/Fantasy) and Water Margin/Outlaws of the Marsh (Adventure). Each are incredible stories in their own right, and are in many ways equal or even better than Three Kingdoms/Romance of Three Kingdoms.
Great read, horrible spelling........2007-09-13
Three Kingdoms is one of the most important works of Chinese literature. The story itself if there, but the ridiculous amount of grammatical and spelling errors throughout the 4-volume set can spoil the experience just a bit.
Three Kingdoms review by Mombo.......2007-07-20
This book is based on the critical time at the end of the Han Dynasty. It all starts with the Yellow Scarves Rebellion lead by Zhang Jiao and his two brothers, Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang , plung the land into complete chaos. Answering the call of duty, three sworn oath brothers , Liu Bei , Zhang Fei , and Guan Yu , go to fight the menece, along with thousands of others. After that was done , Dong Zhuo , an Imperial General, was controling the Emperor like a puppet. Him and his mighty step son, Lu Bu , take control of the Imperial Court. To Stop these traitors , many great generals, Including Cao Cao , Sun Jian , Liu Bei , and many more with the chosen leader, Yuan Shao, destroy these verman. From these events comes a chain of cause and effect that, basicly , leads to the collapseof the , once great , Han Dynasty . Best book I've ever read, EVER. On a scale of 1 to 10 I'd give it a 15.
OMG! .......2007-02-20
I love history. Now when I read this Novel, I was in heaven. I mena I read about the defeat of Mengde (Cao Cao) at Red Cliffs, I red about the Death of Kongming (Zhuge Liang) with great sadness. I efinately recommend this novel to anyone. Even if they don't like histoy, they should still find theis to be a great read.
How to maximise the enjoyment of this tour de force.......2007-01-29
I first became familiar with the Three Kingdoms period through the video game "Romance VII" (on PS2). Through the game, I was able to understand what each charecter is capable of doing, which illustrated a clear narrative of the basic concepts involved. After playing "Romance VIII" & "Romance X", I more or less understood what the novel had to offer. After playing these games, I decided to go to the main source - the novel. While reading the novel, I started associating the images and scenarios from the games with the text. Although you will know how most events will unfold, the endless names, ranks, locations and procedures, will make sense; which without, you will be bored to death. So to sum things up, I highly recommend you play some of the romance games (in particular "Romance X") so to know how significant some events (like the meeting of the brothers, or the battle with the 'strongest man under heaven') are.
Customer Reviews:
disgusting title.......2007-02-23
I would never purchase nor read a book entitled "This way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen". It upsets me to read the sentence let alone read such a book.
Given that it certainly gets your attention what other purpose except to upset the reader before he opens the first page...the author obviously has issues that he has yet to deal with.
TALES FROM THE DARK SIDE..........2005-11-26
In the annals of holocaust literature, this is one of the more unflinching collection of death camp stories, as it depicts the stark reality of the desperate situation of those ensconced in concentration camps, where the final solution was frantically put into play. The stories are of the unimaginable and the nearly unendurable, replete with the inherent pathos of the situation of the truly desperate. It is shows the desensitization that takes place in order for one to survive the horrors of a death camp. It is an unapologetic dissertation of what camp life was truly like for those for whom surviving was the bottom line. It also shows how the Jewish people were clearly singled out for mass extermination.
The author himself survived two death camps, Auschwitz and Dachau, where he had been imprisoned from 1943 to 1945, as a young man in his early twenties. Born in the Ukraine in 1922 to Polish parents who spent time in Siberian labor camps, the author was no stranger to hardship. Yet, he was little prepared for man's inhumanity to man. His time in the death camps was to form an indelible impression on him, resulting in this collection of stories, which chronicle man's inhumanity to man. It shows how camp culture made all those within its sphere participants in its reign of terror and in the final solution. In the end, having survived the unimaginable, the author committed suicide in 1951, choosing to gas himself to death. The irony inherent in his choice of death is not lost upon the discerning reader.
A remembrance of things past.......2005-06-14
Imre Kertesz, a concentration camp survivor and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature often asks in his work: is there life after Auschwitz? Can one live with the ineffable guilt that accompanies survival against all odds? For Borowski the answer appears to be no. On July 1, 1951, at age 29, Tadeusz Borowski opened a gas valve, put his head in an oven and took his life. There is no small amount of irony in the fact that after escaping the gas of Auschwitz and Dachau Borowski would end his life in this manner.
Borowski was born in Soviet occupied Ukraine to Polish parents. His father was sent to a Soviet work camp, building the White Sea Canal, but was released in an exchange of prisoners with Poland. Upon his father's release, the family settled in Warsaw. Although not Jewish, Borowski was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943 for subversive activities when he was caught surreptitiously printing his own poetry. He spent the rest of the war in Auschwitz and Dachau. The first piece of luck or fate that saved his life was the decision by the Nazis to stop exterminating non-Jewish prisoners two weeks before Borowski's arrival.
The series of stories contained in This Way for the Gas are all written in the voice of one prisoner, Tadeusz. Not unexpectedly the stories appear to be loosely autobiographical. Borowski's writing is not overloaded with emotion. It is descriptive and matter of fact. The day-to-day tone of the writing, writing that describes death and deprivation as normal events adds an emotional impact to the stories.
For example, in one scene the prisoner Tadeusz describes a football (soccer) match played by the prisoners. He served as goalkeeper and described his walk to retrieve a ball that was kicked way over the net. As he walks to the ball he sees through the barbed wire fence truckloads of prisoners being herded through the gas chambers. Later in the match he has to retrieve another ball. As he returns to the goal he matter-of-factly estimates that 5,000 prisoners have been gassed between his retrieving the two balls. It is powerful storytelling.
Equally compelling are stories that describe the numerous decisions Tadeusz and his fellow prisoners made every day in order to survive. Taking clothes from the luggage of prisoners destined for the gas in order to trade the clothes for bread. People fight for survival and despite a certain ethical code amongst prisoners (there are some things even the dying won't do) they all know that the steps they take to survive often means that someone else will perish. Borowski does not flinch from subjecting his alter ego and his fellow prisoners to a critical self-examination of these choices. Both Borowski and his narrator survived Auschwitz. But as you can see from these flawlessly executed stories the question of how much of one's humanity remains is a difficult question. The emaciated bodies of the survivors could often be repaired. But the sense of a moral inner flame extinguished by the acts required for survival is not so easily relit. The reader cannot help but wonder whether the lingering impact of those choices in Auschwitz somehow invariably led to the choice he made in July 1951.
Tadeusz Borowski's "This Way for the Gas Ladies and Gentlemen" is a wonderful example of how fiction can portray the horrors of genocide with an emotional clarity that non-fiction sometimes lacks. This book ranks with Varlam Shalamov's Kolyma Tales (the Gulag) as a monumental piece of remembrance presented in the form of short stories, vignettes of life in a place with little mercy and less humanity. They each stand as stark testimony, even though they are works of literature and not history, to the "evil that men do."
Upon finishing "This Way for the Gas Ladies and Gentleman" I found myself wanting to repeat the words "never again" as a refrain. Yet upon reflection one looks at subsequent world events: Bosnia, Cambodia, Chechnya, Sudan, and Rwanda (among others) and asks whether humanity makes the phrase "never again" a futile gesture. It has been said that those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it. Anyone who reads Borowski's testament will long remember the prose that, hopefully, will keep us from forgetting.
L. Fleisig
A lesson to learn.......2004-05-09
Will you enjoy reading this book? The answer is no. But if you were to ask me if you should read this book then I would have to say absolutely. Borowski wrote with an honesty that I found amazing. He gave me a small window to look through and see what my grandparents might have gone through. This book while often shocking and always disturbing allows a little understanding into what life was like inside the death camps. Not for enjoyment but education.
Shocking in its non-chalance.......2003-11-09
Borowski's account of life in Aushcwitz is a classic. The brutality, inhumanity, and gruesome daily life in the hell-on-earth that was the Holocaust is matter-of-factly, even non-chalantly described and recounted in _This Way to the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen_. Little wonder the author put his own head in a gas oven in the years following his experiences. The images are haunting. But what I found to be most disturbing was the simple language Borowski used in retelling his experiences.
Borowski, a Pole, lived separately from the Jews who were daily incenerated. And while his life was unimaginably difficult, by some measure it was better than that of the Jews. A sense of guilt - call it survivors guilt, or regret, or perhaps at its most elemental level, deep and profound sadness - permeates the book, as it should. It is a remarkable read, profound and stunning. Highly recommended.
Average customer rating:
- Great Look behind the scenes. Far better than earlier volumes
- I hate to give this only 4 stars, but too much repitition.
- For Hard Core Tolkien Fans Only!!!
- Vital exploration of Tolkien's work, but for fans only
- Warning-not a novel....but a great resource
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The Return of the Shadow: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part One (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 6)
J.R.R. Tolkien
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Similar Items:
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Treason of Isengard: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Two (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 7)
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The War of the Ring: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Three (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 8)
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Sauron Defeated: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Four (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 9)
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The Peoples of Middle-Earth (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 12)
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The War of the Jewels: The Later Silmarillion, Part Two (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 11)
ASIN: 0395498635 |
Book Description
In this sixth volume of The History of Middle-earth the story reaches The Lord of the Rings. In The Return of the Shadow (an abandoned title for the first volume) Christopher Tolkien describes, with full citation of the earliest notes, outline plans, and narrative drafts, the intricate evolution of The Fellowship of the Ring and the gradual emergence of the conceptions that transformed what J.R.R. Tolkien for long believed would be a far shorter book, 'a sequel to The Hobbit'. The enlargement of Bilbo's 'magic ring' into the supremely potent and dangerous Ruling Ring of the Dark Lord is traced and the precise moment is seen when, in an astonishing and unforeseen leap in the earliest narrative, a Black Rider first rode into the Shire, his significance still unknown. The character of the hobbit called Trotter (afterwards Strider or Aragorn) is developed while his indentity remains an absolute puzzle, and the suspicion only very slowly becomes certainty that he must after all be a Man. The hobbits, Frodo's companions, undergo intricate permutations of name and personality, and other major figures appear in strange modes: a sinister Treebeard, in league with the Enemy, a ferocious and malevolent Farmer Maggot.
The story in this book ends at the point where J.R.R. Tolkien halted in the story for a long time, as the Company of the Ring, still lacking Legolas and Gimli, stood before the tomb of Balin in the Mines of Moria. The Return of the Shadow is illustrated with reproductions of the first maps and notable pages from the earliest manuscripts.
Customer Reviews:
Great Look behind the scenes. Far better than earlier volumes.......2007-02-20
`The Return of the Shadow' is the first of a four volume series (`The History of the Lord of the Rings') within a series, (volume VI of `The History of Middle Earth') edited by Christopher Tolkien, from the unpublished writings of his father, J. R. R. Tolkien, most famous as the author of `The Hobbit' and `The Lord of the Rings'.
For those who have been slogging through the previous three volumes dealing with fragments from the composition of `The Silmarillion', this volume is a great pleasure, as it deals entirely with early drafts of what becomes the first two-thirds of `The Fellowship of the Ring' (FR), the first volume of the great `The Lord of the Rings' (LotR). It begins at the beginning of FR and ends as the fellowship stand in the mines of Moria over the grave marked `Balin Son of Burin, Lord of Moria' (The dramatic encounter between Gandalf and the Balrog will have to wait until the next volume).
For those of you who may have read `The Lord of the Rings' only once or twice, this and the next three volumes in this series are an enormous treat, as reading this is far more rewarding than a second or third reading of LotR, and will make that second or third reading even more interesting. For those of us who have read LotR for ten or twelve times, and have seen Peter Jackson's films of same more times than I care to count, the interest tends to wane just a bit, as the percentage of entirely new material is small compared to early versions of text which appeared in the final volumes.
What I really looked forward to in these volumes was some insight into my second most favorite character, after Gandalf, and this would be the perpetual Middle Earth hippie, Tom Bombadil and his consort, Goldberry. Unfortunately, this book does not through a lot of light on Bombadil's origins. Thankfully, it also does not violate any of my lengthily speculations on where Bombadil fits into the history of Middle Earth and the cosmology of the world in which Middle Earth is set. The heart of the matter is that Bombadil is one of the very few true natives of Middle Earth. The elves are clearly immigrants from the Far West. Dwarves and men seem to be creations of the Valar, and orcs and trolls are perversions of elves, men, and dwarves made by Melkor or Sauron. He is certainly not one of the Valar, as nothing said about his lack of interest in The Ring would be true of a Valar. Similarly, he is certainly not a wizard, one of Gandalf's clan, the Istari. The fact is, Tolkien senior simply added him in as a `deux ex machina', pinch hitting for Gandalf in a way, to get the wandering hobbits out of two jams with powers far greater than their own, so that they can safely reach Bree and the assistance of Strider. And, it turns out Tolkien simply wanted to include Bombadil and Goldberry since he had written of them in earlier publications!
One thing that does come out is the fact that the minor character, Farmer Maggot is potentially a far more interesting character than may appear on the surface. For example, Tom Bombadil seems to get most of his information about the outside world from Farmer Maggot and there is a suspicion in this narrative that Maggot is not entirely `hobbit' bred. This is not too unusual, as there has always been a suspicion that the three strains of hobbits are a result of a bit on interbreeding with elves and dwarves (but you didn't hear that from me!). One thing about Maggot which tickles my fancy is that his physical description here is a strong image of the Pennsylvania Amish and Mennonite farmers, which fits perfectly into the land around the Brandywine and the cultivation of mushrooms, both features of southeastern Pennsylvania, the home of the very same Pennsylvania Dutch. And yet, editor Christopher seems to make no mention of this obvious connection.
Being a true fanatic, even little things about these books will please me to no end. One thing, among others, which makes me think that Peter Jackson used these books in his writing the screenplay for the movies is the similarity between the picture of Bag End and the surrounding Shire and Bag End as it appeared in FR. I'm also thrilled by the additional original Tolkien maps, as well as the usually excellent index to the volume. I look forward to a composite index covering the whole four volumes of the `History of the Lord of the Rings' series.
The greatest impact of this volume comes from the smallest note in the beginning. After all the preparation done on the history of Middle Earth, Tolkien senior still had no notion of what he will find in Bree, who or what was Strider, or any notion of the design of Moria until he actually reached these characters and events in his writing.
I hate to give this only 4 stars, but too much repitition........2006-03-14
I was hoping that this would give like amny differnent versions of these books, but it tends just to show you the evolution and showing you the rewritings of early chapters of the lord and some of them like the council of elrond show you like 6 different versions. Every version a new character will show up, somebody will turn from good to evil, or maybe their words will be given to some one else.
I guess I was just hoping that this would be more like the previous 5 books and give us new stuff like they did of the silmarillion. But it did provide me with enough new info and some pretty exciting evolutions in this.
For Hard Core Tolkien Fans Only!!!.......2005-07-13
I got the book thinking it was part of Tolkien's unfinished sequel to the LOTR "The Return of the Shadow", but the shadow here is Sauron's return to middle earth after the end of the second age.
This is a volume in the previously unpublished letters and papers of J.R.R. Tolkien. In this volume we follow the evolution of the different parts of the LOTR the Fellowship of the Ring over time. From its beginning as a sequel to the Hobbit to the final epic product of mythic proportions.
Its interesting to see all the various drafts of the original chapters and the progression of Bingo Baggins into Frodo and the Hobbit Trotter into the Human King Strider/Aragorn. But this is the main drawback also, how many variations of "A Long Expected Party" can one read without being bored?
For Tolkien enthusiatists and English Majors only.
Vital exploration of Tolkien's work, but for fans only.......2004-05-09
If you're not a Tolkien fan, you need not apply to the sprawling History of Middle Earth series. But if you're interested in seeing how the Professor developed the rich creation of Middle Earth, warts and all, this is a treasure trove of material.
The 12 volumes of the History of Middle Earth take a close look at the creation of Tolkien's greatest achievement - Middle Earth itself - through early drafts, unpublished texts, and dead end writings. For ardent Tolkien readers it is a fascinating look at one of the great literary creations of the 20th Century. For more casual fans, it's text better left unread.
"The Return of the Shadow" marks the first in the four volumes dealing with the history of the writing of "The Lord of the Rings." Like the other volumes in the series, it features unpublished writings by Tolkien, supplemented, explained, footnoted, annotated and expounded upon by his son, Christopher Tolkien.
Here we have the earliest versions of what would later become the most beloved fantasy epic in the world, detailing the extraordinary and convoluted history of the earliest chapters of "The Lord of the Rings." Some readers might be surprised to know just how different a book this was in its earliest stages, and just how much Tolkien was making it up as he went along in those early days.
The wealth of information is fantastic, and Christopher Tolkien goes to great lengths to examine each text, putting them in the context of the larger puzzle of his father's writings. The exploration of how "The Lord of the Rings" came about is fantastic - for those interested. Otherwise, it will bore. This is, after all, a series of unfinished draft chapters and essays on the text. I enjoyed it, but many won't.
Anybody wishing to do a study of Tolkien's craft, into "behind the scenes" writings, or just interested in finding a few snatches of new Middle Earth material (even if in unfinished form, there are some scattered throughout the series) will certainly find what they are looking for here. Christopher Tolkien's work here is appreciated by scores of ardent Tolkien fans.
Those looking for fresh new tales about hobbits and heroes, however, will be disappointed. This isn't new fiction, nor does it even feature finished works. Seek elsewhere if you are looking for more tales in the way of "The Lord of the Rings."
Warning-not a novel....but a great resource.......2003-01-10
Of the thrilling and informative History of Middle-Earth series, this is perhaps the most interesting part. Normal Tolkien fans will get the rare chance to see how the germ of an idea can explode into the most complex cosmology ever created. Although it may seem boring, as it is not a novel per se, it is an insightful analysis of a very beloved book. The Lord of the Rings was initially conceived as a sequel to the Hobbit, growing into something incomparably more vast. We see Bingo in the character of Frodo, the name Frodo applied to another character. Aragorn is named Trotter and the idea emerges that he might be a long lost Hobbit who has had many experiences on the road. Somehow, with many footnotes and comments in the margin, we see the evolution of these ideas into what we know today as LOTR. Fascinating and useful for the Tolkien scholar, the devoted Tolkien reader, or even an aspiring writer.
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Ancestry and Narrative in Nineteenth-Century British Literature: Blood Relations from Edgeworth to Hardy (Cambridge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture)
Sophie Gilmartin
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0521560942 |
Book Description
This study addresses the question of why ideas of ancestry and kinship were so important in nineteenth-century society, and particularly in the Victorian novel. Sophie Gilmartin discusses what makes people believe that they are part of a certain region, race or nation, and what part is played by superstitious belief, invented traditions and fictions. Gilmartin's study shows that ideas of ancestry and kinship, and the narratives inspired by or invented around them, were of profound significance in the construction of Victorian identity.
Customer Reviews:
Raj Quartet.......2007-04-15
Paul Scott's following is small, but Loyal. He is a fantastic writer. The Raj Quartet by far, is my favourite favourite series of books by him because of its complexity and such extraordinary characters. His charactres are so indepth, so well played out that the reader feels that he or she knows them thouroughly. Its a historical epic, very well written, and its absolutely a must read.
Masterpiece Literature.......2006-12-01
About 25 years ago I got a list of the best 100 books of all time, and found "The Raj Quartet" by Paul Scott listed. I started at the beginning with "The Jewel in the Crown" and got bogged down. Coincidentally, PBS started its Masterpiece Theatre version. I watched a few of the episodes (actually all of them, eventually) and got back to reading. What I discovered was the best set of novels I've ever read, and each one an individual "jewel" as well. A pebble thrown, the towers of silence, and many other images stay with me, as well as the memory of Scott's beautiful writing and well-developed, complex characters, and the scope and importance of the story. If there wasn't so much else to read, I'd reread the whole set--sounds like a good retirement project some day.
An unquestionable masterpiece........2006-02-19
It has been too long since I read this book [probably 15 years ago] for me to offer an erudite and detailed analysis. But I do remember vividly that when I read it that the word "masterpiece" came repeatedly to my mind. In a league with Thackeray's "Vanity Fair" and Naipaul's "A House for Mr. Biswas". Find the time to read it; you won't regret it.
The Art of the Novel.......2003-01-16
The Raj Quartet (comprised of four novels) is in my ultimate top ten of great novels and my favourite work of fiction for the twentieth century. Paul Scott is up there up with Tolstoy and Jane Austen. The Raj Quartet is exquisite to read, every word and every sentence appears to have the perfection that Jane Austen bestowed on her works but on the majestic scale of Tolstoy's War and Peace.
The Raj Quartet is multi-layered, complex, beyond the apparent. Is it about a country? Or is it about two countries? Paul Scott deals with the years of the "great divorce" as it were, but now at the beginning of a new century the continuing implications of the historic British occupation are as fresh as ever, both in India and the UK, one example being the the unforseen post war immigration and lifting of racial barriers between two peoples (I myself am a product of a post war marriage between an Indian father and British mother).
The question of identity is explored. What makes an Indian? (still a relevant question in a subcontinent of such diverse cultures, religions, languages, outlooks, etc). What happens to a group (the Raj British) who are no longer needed in either India or Britain? (I recommend Staying On by Paul Scott which deals with a minor character who does stay on in India.)
Beyond the themes of history, colonialism and imperialism, there is the theme of the universal human experience. Who are we all really? Should we let our nationality and culture define who we are? Or as one character, Sarah Layton, finally have the courage to break free and define our own identity. Sarah at first is apart from "the other", then in one revealing scene (the ride with Ahmed) she subconsciously turns to face "the other" though unsuccessfully and finally in the beautifully written and incredibly sensual scene where she decides to dive into the forbidden (the seduction by Clark, who I see myself as Eros or the Hindu God of Love, Kama) she breaks through into her individuality, her "grace".
a millennial work.......2002-08-17
An outstanding piece of writing and a masterpiece, the Quartet compresses in four novels the essence of individual lives caught in the matrix of history. What is karma and dharma? The novels examine these as best Scott can in trying to articulate his artistic vision of the tragedy of history and of individual lives. History is impersonal and is from a God's-eye view, our own lives are subjective and given differing perspectives and are all that we have to imperfectly cling to. In that personal vantage point is salvation and hell all in one. Check out Scott's "Staying On" as well which is his farewell to the Indian scene and the characters we've come to know. A sliding farewell into oblivion, just as Scott himself fell into his twilight years.
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- Exceptionally Good Collection - Great Reading
- A Soldier's View of the Civil War
- HISTORY IN THE 1ST PERSON........
- Ambrose Bierce: Hero/Genius/Necromancer
- Thoroughly modern, completely enthralling
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Civil War Stories (Dover Thrift Editions)
Ambrose Bierce
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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The Complete Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce
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The Gold-Bug and Other Tales (Dover Thrift Editions)
ASIN: 0486280381 |
Book Description
Sixteen dark and vivid selections by great satirist and short-story writer. "A Horseman in the Sky," "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," "Chickamauga," "A Son of the Gods," "What I Saw of Shiloh," "Four Days in Dixie" and 10 more. Masterly tales offer excellent examples of Bierce's dark pessimism and storytelling power. Note.
Customer Reviews:
Exceptionally Good Collection - Great Reading.......2005-11-06
Ambrose Bierce was not a likeable individual; he was often acerbic, sarcastic, and even mean spirited. Nonetheless, he created remarkably good short stories. This collection shares a common theme, the Civil War, but the individual stories belong to many different genre and will appeal to a wide audience. There is no need to be a Civil War enthusiast to enjoy this collection.
Ambrose Bierce fought in several bloody battles in the west in the Civil War including Shiloh and Chickamauga, is credited with rescuing wounded comrades under fire, and was badly wounded at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. The first story - What I Saw of Shiloh - is a 17-page fascinating, occasionally critical, first person account of his participation.
The next story - Four Days in Dixie - is another first person account, but I simply do not know whether Bierce was being truthful or not. Whether the truth, an exaggeration, or perhaps a fabrication, Four Days in Dixie is entertaining reading.
The remaining fourteen stories are clearly fiction and are characterized by unusual perspectives and unexpected endings. The tales of Ambrose Bierce not only make exciting, entertaining reading, but they are often thought provoking. The endings often come as a surprise, and leave the reader pondering the unusual outcome.
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is a good example. This story spans several genre, is not easily classified, and has an unexpected ending. This remarkable story has been recreated as a screen play and may be familiar to many readers from black and white television reruns of the Twilight Zone series.
This collection is uniformly good and warrants more than one reading. This Dover Thrift Edition is definitely a bargain.
A Soldier's View of the Civil War.......2005-10-18
Ambrose Bierce served during the American Civil War, serving as a cartographer and officer for the Union. In these 16 compelling tales, Bierce conveys the sights and sounds from a soldier's perspective of the war, ranging from being in the heart of battle in "What I Saw of Shiloh" to a young boy lost in the woods in "Chickamauga" to tales of the supernatural and of odd events, including "One of the Missing" -- a chilling tale of a soldier in an abandoned house -- and his famous "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge." Bierce's no-nonsense style puts the reader in the heart of the action, making the reader take an active part in the events. A great collection of stories from one of America's best writers.
HISTORY IN THE 1ST PERSON...............2005-09-04
Bierce writes with the eye of a skeptic and beyond the hurahhs and romantic vision of war. Given his later life the war apparently made an immpression on him which lasted till death.
The carnage, vile bloddy scenes, the death never left him and it was obvious in his writings and life. Good book to see the unvarnished truth!!
Ambrose Bierce: Hero/Genius/Necromancer.......2004-11-11
Ambrose Bierce was a Civil War soldier who participated in many bloody campaigns. And the stories contained herein this title, are the output of his frustration over the violence and senseless destruction of that time.
His trademark wit abounds throughout, which isn't of the Jay Leno "Ha-ha! Look at me! I'm a big-chinned clown!" sort, but rather of the "Look at how terribly cruel people are!" sort. The stark dialog with its terse exchange between characters, transcends the page to imprint upon the mind of the reader, that the world is a harsh foreboding place in which to attempt survival.
My favorite story is 'The Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge'. The descriptive narrative at Bierce's command, utilized to describe the hanging of a rebel spy, left me breathless and checking my neck for bruises.
Ambrose Bierce was a literary genius who never wrote his great novel. No, because such epic proportions were unnecessary. For Ambrose Bierce in short form, could convey all the depth and meaning of the universe, while resorting to only a modicum of grammar. He is the greatest humorist and wit that this country, and thereby the world, has ever produced. I miss him greatly.
This book stands as a vivid reminder, of that which led Bierce to become so wonderfully cynical. And this work should have the same effect upon all who dare read it. At least that is my hope.
Thoroughly modern, completely enthralling.......2002-09-23
You would never think of these stories as having been written in the 19th century, but they were. Ambrose Bierce was a Civil War veteran who seems almost to have tried to exorcise the horrors of the war he lived by writing about it. The result is gripping and utterly believable; the style is immediate, you-are-there, not-one-word-too-many. Not the flowery elaborate style you might have associated with Victorian prose.
The results convey the horrors of war as well as anything written in your lifetime. The story about the little boy who gets lost near his home when it is surrounded by a battle...I don't think I'll ever forget it. I won't spoil if for you but you've got to read it. If you think that 130+-year-old stories have nothing to say to you, give these a try, you will see otherwise.
Not to mention the Dover version is NOT EVEN TWO DOLLARS at the time of this writing. You spent more than the price of this book on your coffee this morning, I'll bet. What have you got to lose? Add it to a Supersaver order, there won't even be a shipping charge. Best pocket change you will ever have spent on a book.
Average customer rating:
- It's been said before, but it's worth saying again.
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Talents & Technicians
Aldridge
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Board book
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ASIN: 0684187892 |
Customer Reviews:
It's been said before, but it's worth saying again........2001-01-07
Professor Aldridge has admittedly taken on some easy targets in this, a no-nonsense demolition of trendy "minimalist" writers and their ilk. Much of what he says about, for example, Bret Easton Ellis' terrible (and aptly titled) "Less Than Zero" is somewhat less than profound. But even so, I happen to find merit in the "cranky old man" school of literary criticism (chaired by Harold Bloom); it's important to have critics like Aldridge, who have a strong sense of the history of literature, who refuse to go along with the wave of mindless enthusiasm that accompanies whatever flavor-of-the-month the mass media hoists upon the rest of us.
I take issue with some of Aldridge's arguments here. Judging from his complaints about the "hermetically sealed" nature of much contemporary literature, it sounds like he belongs to the fiction-as-sociology school of thought. Personally, I do not believe that literature need be a commentary on society, and in fact more than a few "classic" writers have gone their merry way without fretting much about the social and/or political relevance of their books. (I also had a few problems with Aldridge's rather undistinguished prose, and found myself marvelling at all the sentences that ramble on and on without benefit of commas.) But his larger point is quite correct: that these writers seem out of touch with the society they seek to describe. His complaints about the cloistered creative writing industry--which, as Aldridge puts it, regularly produces scribes who seem not to have read any books they haven't written themselves--are essentially right on target. It is also worth pointing out that this refreshingly non-technical book can be easily approached by general readers unfamiliar with academic theory.
Amazon.com
Dracula is one of the few horror books to be honored by inclusion in the Norton Critical Edition series. (The others are Frankenstein, The Turn of the Screw, Heart of Darkness, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and The Metamorphosis.) This 100th-anniversary edition includes not only the complete authoritative text of the novel with illuminating footnotes, but also four contextual essays, five reviews from the time of publication, five articles on dramatic and film variations, and seven selections from literary and academic criticism. Nina Auerbach of the University of Pennsylvania (author of Our Vampires, Ourselves) and horror scholar David J. Skal (author of Hollywood Gothic, The Monster Show, and Screams of Reason) are the editors of the volume. Especially fascinating are excerpts from materials that Bram Stoker consulted in his research for the book, and his working papers over the several years he was composing it. The selection of criticism includes essays on how Dracula deals with female sexuality, gender inversion, homoerotic elements, and Victorian fears of "reverse colonization" by politically turbulent Transylvania.
Customer Reviews:
Dracula rocks .......2007-08-26
Bram Stocker is still a classic read. It was very scary from time to time.
Good Book, Atrocious Editor.......2007-06-20
I love Norton Critical Editions, but the footnotes in this volume are maddening. I'm puzzled that no one seems to have mentioned this. Example, a passage where Dracula appears in disguise and Bram Stoker obviously doesn't mean for the reader to have this bit of information yet. The footnote? "Here we see Dracula in disguise speaking wonderful German." I'm exaggerating, but you get the point. Another example: a passage describing Dracula's map of England (footnote: Here we see that Dracula has circled the city of X, where later in the story he will....and....and....until later....). Finally, there are even footnotes that engage the reader in conversation. Something like: "What do you think Dracula meant by that, curious comment, don't you think?" As with all Norton editions, there are some wonderful footnotes, commentary, etc. included, but still I would choose a different version.
Great critical edition.......2006-11-17
If you want lots of in-depth footnotes and many critical essays, than this is your book.
Simply the Best.......2006-07-10
I've listened to Dracula from Audible.com. I downloaded it last month. It's the best of all the Dracula books I've read. Definitely worth the investment of time. It's incredibly suspenseful, full of well-drawn, unbelievably real characters. I wish the movies could capture the characters as well as the book.
I was surprised at the narrative style, which has no actual "scenes", because it's a collection of journals, letters, newspaper articles, etc. But Bram Stoker does an amazing job of pulling all of it together into one very scary, very exciting read. Don't miss this one.
Still the best.......2005-12-30
This is still the best vamp book around, bar none. I was always upset with Coppola's movie because he used Stoker's name, and made the count into this loving anti-hero. THIS is Dracula. Pure evil.
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