Book Description
My new friends have begun to suspect I haven’t told them the full story of my life.
“Why did you leave Sierra Leone?”
“Because there is a war.”
“You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?”
“Yes, all the time.”
“Cool.”
I smile a little.
“You should tell us about it sometime.”
“Yes, sometime.”
This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them.
What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived.
In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts.
This is a rare and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty.
Customer Reviews:
Enlightening........2007-10-03
I think this is a wonderful book, so moving and beautifully written that you wonder how a person can manage to lead a "normal" life after experiencing what he has been through. The author tells the story matter-of-factly without whining or complaining about the hand he's been dealt. Because of this, it makes the story even more impressive.
Not just a good read, a book that enlightens is a must-read.
Fantastic book. Recommend for all ages!.......2007-10-02
This book is truly amazing. It is almost unbelievable to read about the lives of people like Ishmael, but it's true, and it's happening today. Yes, in some parts it is certainly hard to read, but it's worth it. It is better to be shocked and scarred by this book than ignorant to it. Ishmael is a wonderfully optimistic person, and I think we can all learn a lot from his courage. In his own words, Ishmael is not an expert on the history of Sierra Lione, but by putting a face and name to this story, you will still learn a lot from him! I recommend this book to anyone and everyone!
Easy to read, hard to digest.......2007-10-02
I read this book on my flight to D.C. a couple of months ago. It was probably the fastest I have ever read a book. It was very easy to understand and painted an incredibly vivid picture in my mind. The content is important and the way Beah wrote his story makes it accessible to all.
Painful but Poignant.......2007-09-27
This book is not for the fainthearted who wants a feel good story; this is tough book to read, however, it is an important book to read as well. So often us here in the west are isolated from the fact that there are tough places to live on this planet, places where people are forced to do unspeakable acts and are exposed to unimaginable acts of violence.
This book takes on the voyage of a young man named Ishmael, who lived in the war torn country of Sierra Leone. His life is completely turned upside down by the civil war in that country. Ishmaels story is first a story of losing his family, than of losing his innocence as he is forced to fight for the Countries Army that's fighting the "rebels". After that the story focuses on his rehabilitation in a place called Freetown and eventually his new life in the United States (although I would like to know more about how he is today).
The most amazing part of this story as an American who simply didn't understand the truth, is that this Ishmael was 12 years old and was killing people, not because he was an animal, but because he was drugged and forced to become one merely to survive. This is a concept that as westerners we look on and go oh that's too bad, but do we really take the time to understand that this happens all the time in the same world we live in? Do we take the time to understand that there is big world out there and for the most part it isn't that safe little havens we take for granted? I challenge anyone who reads this book to be able to look at the world the same again.
A must read.......2007-09-26
This book is very graphic in its detail of events. It will put you right there on the front line and in the eyes of danger. I felt as though I was there experiencing all that he had. Then again I could never imagine experiencing all that he did. Its a touching story that will bring back to reality on the issues that have been going on for ages.
Amazon.com
Jeannette Walls's father always called her "Mountain Goat" and there's perhaps no more apt nickname for a girl who navigated a sheer and towering cliff of childhood both daily and stoically. In The Glass Castle, Walls chronicles her upbringing at the hands of eccentric, nomadic parents--Rose Mary, her frustrated-artist mother, and Rex, her brilliant, alcoholic father. To call the elder Walls's childrearing style laissez faire would be putting it mildly. As Rose Mary and Rex, motivated by whims and paranoia, uprooted their kids time and again, the youngsters (Walls, her brother and two sisters) were left largely to their own devices. But while Rex and Rose Mary firmly believed children learned best from their own mistakes, they themselves never seemed to do so, repeating the same disastrous patterns that eventually landed them on the streets. Walls describes in fascinating detail what it was to be a child in this family, from the embarrassing (wearing shoes held together with safety pins; using markers to color her skin in an effort to camouflage holes in her pants) to the horrific (being told, after a creepy uncle pleasured himself in close proximity, that sexual assault is a crime of perception; and being pimped by her father at a bar). Though Walls has well earned the right to complain, at no point does she play the victim. In fact, Walls' removed, nonjudgmental stance is initially startling, since many of the circumstances she describes could be categorized as abusive (and unquestioningly neglectful). But on the contrary, Walls respects her parents' knack for making hardships feel like adventures, and her love for them--despite their overwhelming self-absorption--resonates from cover to cover. --Brangien Davis
Book Description
Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn't stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an "excitement addict." Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.
Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town -- and the family -- Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.
What is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.
For two decades, Jeannette Walls hid her roots. Now she tells her own story. A regular contributor to MSNBC.com, she lives in New York and Long Island and is married to the writer John Taylor.
TO INQUIRE ABOUT SCHEDULING JEANNETTE WALLS FOR SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS PLEASE CONTACT:
Keppler Speakers
Dustin L. Jones
Associate, College & University Division
703.516.4000 (P)
703.516.4819 (F)
Customer Reviews:
moving.......2007-10-10
moving. it was hard for me to put this book down. one of my favorite reads so far
Rigo's Review.......2007-10-09
Sample test. The book looks like a good one but I need to read it to give an opinion.
Great Story.......2007-10-09
The author tells a great story. She really pulls you in and keeps you captivated from start to finish. It was a quick read
Completely engrossing!.......2007-10-09
I couldn't put the book down. I was in constant amazement over what this family went through and how they survived so seemingly intact...especially Jeannette. It really made me take stock of my own life. Bravo,Jeannette, for your bravery at telling such an open account of your life's trials; I feel I myself am the better for reading about it. Please write another book. Your style and story telling is a joy to read.
Incredible -- literally........2007-10-08
I don't believe most of what Walls writes in this uneven and often infuriating book. The timeline simply doesn't work, and she claims to have clear memories of events that (supposedly) happened when she was three or four years old. I do believe that she had abusive and neglectful parents (and yet she all but idolizes her useless and selfish father, who attempts to prostitute her at one point!). I don't believe that she is as forgiving of her monster mother as she purports to be (who could be?). This is a strange premise for a book in any case. The author begins by bragging that she lived on Park Avenue in Manhattan, a well-married socialite (and in every tv interview I saw, she repeated that fact ad infinitum), and then goes on and on and on about how poor and awful her chilhood was. In fact, she *brags* about how bad it was. But I suspect that if someone parsed this novel/memoir and charted it on a timeline, there would be more just-not-great years than there are living-with-parents-from-hell years. We all have our traumas, and anyone who is functioning in the world has learned to overcome them. Most people have the wisdom to keep quiet about it -- unless going public enlightens the world in some way. This book, with its jaunty tone, does nothing to enlighten the reader about poverty or child abuse. It simply nauseates, and makes the reader want to tell Wells to get over herself.
Book Description
Nathaniel Philbrick became an internationally renowned author with his National Book Award- winning In the Heart of the Sea, hailed as “spellbinding” by Time magazine. In Mayflower, Philbrick casts his spell once again, giving us a fresh and extraordinarily vivid account of our most sacred national myth: the voyage of the Mayflower and the settlement of Plymouth Colony. From the Mayflower's arduous Atlantic crossing to the eruption of King Philip's War between colonists and natives decades later, Philbrick reveals in this electrifying history of the Pilgrims a fifty-five-year epic, at once tragic and heroic, that still resonates with us today.
Customer Reviews:
Educational book.......2007-09-26
This is a very informative, accurate writing of our history. More people should read and know the real history of our country.
Not what I expected, but.......2007-09-16
the book was still a captivating piece of literature. I read this directly after reading In the Heart of the Sea by Philbrick, and was expecting the same type of story. That was not the case however. The title is a bit misleading in that one thinks they are going to be reading (or at least I did) a story of the journey. The subtitle should have cued me in. The book is about the struggle between the settlers and the natives more so than it is about the voyage to the new world. All that being said, I still loved the book. I gave the book four stars because I wish there was more about the actual voyage, and I think the title is a little misleading. All in all though, it is a superb piece of literature.
Clear & Interesting narrative of a difficult and complex period.......2007-09-13
There really aren't very many good, recent books about the early years in Massachusetts. This is an exceptional treatment...very engaging and clear. The number of Indian tribes, the various Pilgrims, Puritans, etc. can be a real mess to understand. And of course, there is usually a biased or pointed perspective you have to deal with. Philbrick has genuine regard for the good on both the English side and the various Indian sides and heartfelt disdain for the vicious and stupid acts on both sides that caused this war and ultimately turned it into a 14 month blood bath throughout New England. Makes me want to do some real research here in my New Hampshire home town.
Myth History and Real History.......2007-09-13
Every American teen should read this book. Myth-busting, rich in suggestion and detail, comprehensively researched. The defining text for this country's first sixty years.
Teaches you something not learned in elementary school........2007-09-12
Would have preferred more maps, a Summary timeline of key events and Summary of all key individuals, especially relationships of all the Indian tribes and geographical locations. Occasionally the skipping around between times is a little confusing. But, the index is helpful.
Map of Southern New England and New York during King Philip's War should be brought forward to "Kindling the Flame Chapter," so that the battles could be followed with the map.
Mayflower: September 6, 1620 to November 9, 620 (65 day voyage)
102 members is cut to 50 by spring of 1620)
William Bradford (- 1657) - Leader, Wife falls off the Mayflower upon the arrival.
Christopher Jones - Mayflower Captain returns to England April 5 - May 6 1621
Pastor John Robinson ( - 1625) - Left in England influences Mayflower Compact
Miles Standish ( - 1656) - Strict/Brutal Military Captain for pilgrims, which laid the base of strength for the pilgrims position amongst the Indians
Thomas Weston & the Merchant Adventurers - Investment backers of the mayflower - Finally paid off in 1648. First payment lost to the French
King Philip's War
Josiah Winslow, Plymouth Leader
Mary Rowlandson, he Sovereignty & Goodness of God (Feb 10, 1676)
Captain Samuel Moseley, Massachusetts Bay most ferocious Indian fighter. The only good Indian is a dead Indian
Benjamin Church, Key military leader during the King Philip War, style opposite of Moseley
Treat the enemy like a human being
Learn as much as possible from the enemy
Bring the enemy to your way of thinking
Loyal Indians: Mohegans, Pequots, Niantic (subset of the Narragansetts)
Tri-axis: Nipmuck-Narragansett-Pokanoket
King Philip, Son of Massasoit (Pokanokets) King Philip's War 1675 - 1676
Killed in battle, quartered, head is placed as a fixture at Plymouth for over 2 decades; hand is a showcase through New England
July 1675: Pease Field Fight
Sept 3, 1675: Richard Beers Ambush 21 of 35 killed
Sept 1675: Bloody Brook, Captain Thomas Lathrop 57 of 65 killed, Moseley joins battle and saved by arrival of Major Robert Treat and friendly Mohegans
Dec 1675: Jireh Bull's Garrison 15 killed
Dec 19, 1675: Great Swamp fight Winslow, Church (injured) and Moseley and Pequots and Mohegans against the Narragansetts: Critical battle injuring the Narranansetts. Fort built by the Narrangansetts destroyed. Defensive stance questions the involvement o the Narranansetts in the war.
March 1676: Clark's Garrison Massacre
March 1676: Pierce's Massacre
April 9, 1676: Canonchet killed, beheaded, quartered and burned, Charismatic leader of the Narragansett with Philip
July 1676: King Philip's death: Church and his men. Caleb Cook and Pocasset named Alderman
Times called for brutal discipline. Fighting against odds of weather, food, Indians and other Europeans.
Similarities to "Praying Indians" & Japanese internment camp
1863 Abraham Lincoln officially established Thanksgiving
Book Description
Bedtime Erotica is a collection of eight explicit short stories that will leave a lasting impression. It starts off with a bang in Telephone Sex: raw, nasty and in-your-face but quickly shifts to the more subtly erotic Double The Trouble, a story of a woman desired equally by her boyfriend and his identical twin. Lexy constantly turns the heat up and down with each story, leaving the reader’s passions simmering until they finally get to Oxford Blue, a beautifully written tale of a mature woman’s seduction by her son’s friend that will make you question your morals. The characters are all different: from the young, shy, virginal to the sassy, sexy, downright outrageous, mature, older woman. They each take a pleasure-filled adventure to satisfy a sexual hunger that craves ultimate fulfilment.
Customer Reviews:
Not what I expected.......2007-07-11
I was dissapointed with this. A little less 'in your face" raunch and a bit more erotica, please.
Refreshingly Real Erotica.......2007-06-02
This is great stuff. Hot stories that are just the right length and what makes it so appealing is that they are about different people from different walks of life and that is what makes it so refreshingly real and erotic. It makes for a more enjoyable read almost as if it is a different writer for each story. Lexy really takes us in to her world; it feels as though we are a fly on the wall watching the action, like reality TV in a book. More than just a voyeurs dream, it is an essential education in relationships. Learning about what men and women really want from each other and what they can give each other to emphasise their pleasure and take their love making to new heights of ecstasy is what it is all about.
I do like the love seat idea and it made me smile because in my minds eye I have made a mental love seat of my own, erotic minds must think alike. I must admit I do like the short story format as compared to the erotic novel and I have read a lot just lately, surprisingly this is my first Lexy Harper, but it won't be the last I'm sure.
I would highly recommend Bedtime Erotica. Another book I would recommend that you have a look at is 100 Percent Erotica by Suzie Van Aartman. Very erotic and very explicit, I had to change my underwear after reading it. Check it out. Both these books could well become all time classics in my opinion.
HOT.......2007-06-02
I bought this book and the authors other book, Bedtime Erotica (for freaks like me), at the same time. I read this one first and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a black, british woman ( I would imagine) writing the book so some of the slang and spelling is different but the book is hot none the less. I do like this one over the other a little bit. Just get both though. You won't be disappointed.
F-ing Brilliant!!!.......2007-05-28
I didn't think I could get into books like this. I read it. I love it. I want more of it.
Erotica At It's Best!.......2007-04-15
From the first story "Telephone Sex" to the last story "Oxford Blue" (both my favorites) Lexy Harper exposes the reader to eight erotic stories that are guaranteed to make your toes curl and much much more!
Written with finesse, these sexual adventures are stimulating, sensual, steamy, and sexy.
At the end of each tale Ms Harper gives us a little insight into what prompt her to write each story.
Right before the start of the first story Ms Harper has a one line dedication that hooked me immediately ... because I love a good f*****g
Story!!!
It was nice to finally read great work by an author from my home town of London England. We British gals are BOLD!!
NOTE:
This book is hot! For those who can't stand the heat...caution!!
Locksie
ARC Book Club Inc.
Star Rating*****5.0
Book Description
Beginning in 1866 and continuing for over a century, more than eight thousand people suspected of having leprosy were forcibly exiled to the Hawaiian island of Molokai -- the longest and deadliest instance of medical segregation in American history. Torn from their homes and families, these men, women, and children were loaded into shipboard cattle stalls and abandoned in a lawless place where brutality held sway. Many did not have leprosy, and many who did were not contagious, yet all were ensnared in a shared nightmare.
Here, for the first time, John Tayman reveals the complete history of the Molokai settlement and its unforgettable inhabitants. It's an epic of ruthless manhunts, thrilling escapes, bizarre medical experiments, and tragic, irreversible error. Carefully researched and masterfully told, The Colony is a searing tale of individual bravery and extraordinary survival, and stands as a testament to the power of faith, compassion, and the human spirit.
Customer Reviews:
"Unclean! Unclean!".......2007-06-05
I suppose that the government officials in Hawaii in the 1860s assumed that they were doing the right thing by isolating lepers on an almost uninhabited island. Compared to the biblical era of rags, bells, and calls of "unclean, unclean!", they may have been somewhat correct. What they didn't realize, however, was the human toll living on that island would take on those people. It's actually amazing that so many surivied for a long time, considering the conditions. Of course, eveyone has heard of Father Damien, but the story doesn't begin, or end, with him.There were those who dedicated their lives to helping these people, and were successful , mostly. It's a grim and harrowing tale that this well-written book tells, but it should always remind us that even the best of intentions don't always turn our the way that we had intended them.
I Plead for Caution.......2007-06-03
I am little more than 100 pages into this book and already I can find more than a dozen cases where I question the author's over-dramatization and/or artistic license. I caution everyone who may read this and--goodness forbid, choose take it as a definative work of "history"--to approach the book with the skepticism it deserves. From the first pages of the preface--where the author quotes Jack London entirely out of context and leads the reader to believe London believed something he did not--to the blinding acceptance of newpaper accounts of the time as entirely factual (when, in fact, newspapers were notoriously biased in the days of the haole-controlled government), this book is already riddle with enough suspect material to make me shy away from it entirely. I'm certain Mr. Tayman did much research, but whether he has distilled it into a factual account is highly suspect to me at this point. It reeks of sensationism and I implore those who choose to read it to keep that in mind. This may indeed be more fiction than substative fact.
The Colony.......2007-05-28
It was well written and easy to follow. A lot of information in the book which I did not know. If there is/are anyone still afraid of leprosy should read it.
audio version of The Colony.......2007-05-11
I RECENTLY BOUGHT THE AUDIO VERSION OF THE COLONY, A NON-FICTION ACCOUNT OF THE HISTORY OF THE LEPER COLONY ON MOLOKA'I. THE BOOK IS TERRIFIC. BUT THE READER IS NOT. HE COMMITS THE CRIME OF MIS-PRONOUNCING ALL OF THE HAWAIIAN PLACE NAMES, FAMILY NAMES, AND WORDS. HE EVEN MISSPRONOUNCES THE ISLAND NAME OF MOLOKA'I!!!!!! THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THIS FAILURE TO GET THE PRONUNCIATIONS CORRECTLY!!!!!!!!I REALIZE THAT THE READING ACTOR'S IGNORANCE IS NOT DIRECTLY THE FAULT OF AMAZON. I WOULD LIKE, HOWEVER, AMAZON TO PASS THIS COMPLAINT TO THE AUDIO RECORDING DEPARTMENT OF THE PUBLISHER, SO THAT IN FUTURE THEY HIRE ACTORS WHO READ WORDS IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE WITH ACCURACY.
A must read!.......2007-04-12
I originally listened to this book on tape because my son spent two months bumming around Hawaii and I wanted to have my 'own' Hawaiian experience. I was so taken by the factual accounts of the brutality and the lives of the Hansen's patients, that I am buying extra copies for my four children - I want each of them to be introduced to a part of American history that hasn't been taught in their classrooms. Wonderfully researched and well written, this book is a must read - especially today, in the face of AIDS.
Amazon.com
In 1966 Jean Rhys reemerged after a long silence with a novel called Wide Sargasso Sea. Rhys had enjoyed minor literary success in the 1920s and '30s with a series of evocative novels featuring women protagonists adrift in Europe, verging on poverty, hoping to be saved by men. By the '40s, however, her work was out of fashion, too sad for a world at war. And Rhys herself was often too sad for the world--she was suicidal, alcoholic, troubled by a vast loneliness. She was also a great writer, despite her powerful self-destructive impulses.
Wide Sargasso Sea is the story of Antoinette Cosway, a Creole heiress who grew up in the West Indies on a decaying plantation. When she comes of age she is married off to an Englishman, and he takes her away from the only place she has known--a house with a garden where "the paths were overgrown and a smell of dead flowers mixed with the fresh living smell. Underneath the tree ferns, tall as forest tree ferns, the light was green. Orchids flourished out of reach or for some reason not to be touched."
The novel is Rhys's answer to Jane Eyre. Charlotte Brontë's book had long haunted her, mostly for the story it did not tell--that of the madwoman in the attic, Rochester's terrible secret. Antoinette is Rhys's imagining of that locked-up woman, who in the end burns up the house and herself. Wide Sargasso Sea follows her voyage into the dark, both from her point of view and Rochester's. It is a voyage charged with soul-destroying lust. "I watched her die many times," observes the new husband. "In my way, not in hers. In sunlight, in shadow, by moonlight, by candlelight. In the long afternoons when the house was empty."
Rhys struggled over the book, enduring rejections and revisions, wrestling to bring this ruined woman out of the ashes. The slim volume was finally published when she was 70 years old. The critical adulation that followed, she said, "has come too late." Jean Rhys died a few years later, but with Wide Sargasso Sea she left behind a great legacy, a work of strange, scary loveliness. There has not been a book like it before or since. Believe me, I've been searching. --Emily White
Book Description
The fortieth anniversary reissue of the best-selling "tour de force" (Walter Allen, New York Times Book Review).
Jean Rhys's reputation was made upon the publication of this passionate and heartbreaking novel, in which she brings into the light one of fiction's most mysterious characters: the madwoman in the attic from Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre.
A sensual and protected young woman, Antoinette Cosway grows upin the lush natural world of the Caribbean. She is sold intomarriage to the coldhearted and prideful Rochester, who succumbsto his need for money and his lust. Yet he will make her pay forher ancestors' sins of slaveholding, excessive drinking, and nihilistic despair by enslaving her as a prisoner in his bleak English home.
In this best-selling novel Rhys portrays a society so driven by hatred, so skewed in its sexual relations, that it can literally drive a woman out of her mind.
Customer Reviews:
The horror... the horror... Wide Sargasso Sea is a searing indictment.......2007-09-14
Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea is a dreamlike feverish novel awash in passion and trauma. Forget for a moment that it's a sequel to "Jane Eyre" or that it is a seminal text in Feminism and Colonialist studies. Simply as a strikingly modern story of trauma and madness it is brilliant. Disorienting, agonizing, nightmarish yet stunningly beautiful; I was forced to read it in dribs and drabs - as the knife edge of Rhys' vision would compel me to come up, panting for air. This book is powerful - yet unforgivingly dark. But, of course, it is much more - it's a modernist masterpiece which brilliantly critiques the human costs of crimes of patriarchy, colonialism, slavery and subjugation. It is a searing indictment at the same time it is a haunting work of art.
Antoinette grows up poor and isolated at her family's plantation. Her companions are the black laborers and their children who simmer with resentment at the legacy of slavery. Slavery may have been abolished but has been replaced with economic and social subjugation and the resentment is palpable. Mr. Mason disregards this in a classic example of colonialist arrogance - which destroys their lives. Her mother's anger at Mr. Mason leads to her imprisonment as a mad woman. Women are not permitted to express rage. Patriarchy is central because Antoinette/Bertha is chattel. Her marriage to Rochester is effected because she owns land - it's an economic arrangement to gain property for Rochester. Once married, Antoinette/Bertha is stripped of all her claim to property and is completely under her husband's authority. Their marriage is marked by passion but it becomes apparent how culturally Caribbean (black) she is, tainted with scandal. Their relationship flames out spectacularly. When he decides he can't deal with her and chooses to abandon her to be locked as "the madwoman in the attic" she is reduced to, essentially, a prisoner. A woman, in that society, is literally the prisoner of her husband. Both Antoinette and her mother, Bertha are confined as mad - but their pathologies are the simple act of blaming their spouses and acting out their anger. Rebellion is seen as madness - both in the context of rebellion against slavery and rebellion against patriarchy.
As for the literary context - "Wide Sargasso Sea" as sequel to "Jane Eyre". By situating WSS's story within the classic Victorian novel "Jane Eyre", Rhys sets up a host of powerful resonances. Jane Eyre is a tale of redemption; of love's power to redeem. England's brutal social and economic inequities are hurdles to be overcome - but ultimately love overcomes them all in a healing and redemptive way. The fly in the ointment is Bertha, the mad woman in the attic. Her presence complicates the otherwise straightforward romantic narrative and gives it tension and fire. By inverting this tale to tell the story of Antoinette/Bertha, Rhys deepens the misery by shattering "Jane Eyre"s redemptive message. In "Wide Sargosso Sea" love is a tragic by-product of the economic abuses of patriarchy. Love has no redemptive power for Antoinette. It's just more salt in the wound. A lot of the negative reviews here center around resentment at Rhys for besmirching their beloved innocent "world of 'Jane Eyre'". They've missed the point. Inverting and besmirching the innocent world of 'Jane Eyre' is exactly the point. Colonialist England's apparent grace is built on the blood and toil of subjugated peoples. The subjugation extends to English women as well. You are meant to see that and the experience is not meant to be pleasant.
I can't say enough about this book's importance or the brilliant, polished skill with which it is written. Published in 1966 - at the height of the civil rights movement and free speech movement - WSS's issues were dead on the zeitgeist of the moment. You can imagine how the lush, dark, evil imagery of the jungle must have resonated in with an America embroiled in Viet Nam and a rising anti-war moment. It's not a pleasant read, however. The messages are hard, dark ones. There are no happy endings here and as the story unfolds the brutal details big and small are as oppressive as the tropical humidity. This is fine literature, indeed - but also a journey into pain, deprivation, madness and tragedy. It's not a journey to be taken lightly.
confused.......2007-07-04
This story is confusing and keeps shifting from one thing to the other. It wasn't what I expected it to be. I think it should have been better thought out. It doesn't make much sense and is not entertaining.
Has potential, but doesn't succeed.......2007-06-07
You should probably understand that like a lot of the reviewers who have written in here, Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books. Also, I am a stickler for canon, and anything that's off even a little will drive me crazy.
Honestly, it was hard enough for me to get over the basic changes that Rhys made. Changing the character's name is probably the worst offense. An earlier reviewer said that it was probably just because the name "Bertha" didn't sound pretty enough to her 20th century ears, and I completely agree. Second, changing the character's background. Rhys tried to make Bertha (no, I will not call her Antoinetta) into herself, and impose her own views upon her--if you read about Rhys's life, it makes perfect sense. Perhaps you will argue that Jane Eyre was also a carnation of Charlotte Bronte, but Bronte was creating the world, not trying to fit herself in it. Also, in doing this, Rhys had to make Antoinetta half Creole, and completely violate canon by making Mason only her half-brother. In Jane Eyre, Rochester says that Mason will also one day likely become an imbecile like the rest of the family, so his not being related to the psychotic mother makes absolutely no sense.
These are just superficial complaints, however. As you read the rest of the novel, it goes deeper. Some may claim that Rhys was merely trying to draw parallels between Jane and Bertha, but to me it felt like a blatant ripoff and way of cheating through the novel to get to the "good part." Lessee... poor birth and low social status, check. sad childhood, check. Cold and unfeeling school where the character doesn't quite fit in. Check. However, unlike Jane, you never really like Bertha all that much. She doesn't have Jane's pride and fighting spirit. Why should I root for this sad, mopey character who rarely even speaks in complete sentences? I'd say that it was the negative symptoms of schizophrenia beginning to kick in, but I think that would be giving Rhys too much credit (more on the mental illness as portrayed in the book later.)
And then we get to the Rochester part. This, ladies and gentleman, is character assassination at its finest. I am not arguing that Rochester was the greatest guy ever in Jane Eyre, but Rhys's argument that he was whitewashed makes no sense to me. Jane recognizes that Rochester has sinned, and she even reproaches him for how he has treated Bertha. Also, it is implied that Bertha cheated on Rochester--not the other way around. If Rochester did cheat on her, why would it be with another Creole, a group with which he obviously feels no affection? There were plenty of Englishwomen in Jamaica. Also, we're supposed to feel that his locking her in the attic is the worst crime imaginable, but it's hard for me to agree: being locked in the attic is kind compared to what Bertha would have undergone in a 19th century insane asylum.
The implication, too, that Rochester is the one who drove Bertha mad makes no sense, psychologically (sorry, I am a psychology student, and I have spent much time analyzing the character of Bertha, as I am particularly interested in psychosis) when one considers Jane Eyre. The general view of schizophrenia is that it requires two "hits": genetic and environmental. You are genetically predisposed, but it takes things in the environment to set it off. Rochester makes indications of having disliked Bertha before her symptoms were completely manifested, but he also claims that he would do things such as attempt to make conversation. Also, from what he told Jane, he was initially infatuated with his wife. It was not until she began to act off-hinged that he became disgusted (remember that Bertha was Jamaican, but also well-off and English: I doubt that she would have committed mannerisms so offensive were they not inspired by pathology.) The childhood that Rhys gives Bertha alone would make her suspectible to the disease. Schizophrenia usually does not manifest itself until the early 20's, so it would make sense that her psychosis would appear to begin after the marriage.
Also, part the reason schizophrenia is so dehabilitating is because of the negative symptoms. Rhys's portrayal of Bertha does not appear to have those negative symptoms; most schizophrenics would be not too passionate, but not passionate enough. Granted, there are always exceptions, but someone who is lacking those negative symptoms would be healthier than someone who has them, and I was always under the impression that Bertha was severely ill. Also, Bertha lacks the language and cognitive problems associated with schizophrenia (it is a language and cognitive-based psychosis.) She speaks in fragments and perhaps her speech is a little disorganized, but there is nothing even close to the level of what an unmedicated schizophrenic would say (granted, then we might not understand the book, but such is the problem with first person--it has to be realistic.) I don't know how much about schizophrenia was known when Rhys wrote this book, but if she'd only done a little research to see how schizophrenics truly behave... Maybe attended therapy sessions or visited an institution?
Basically: I understand what Rhys was trying to do, and I think that if you read it on paper, the novel's idea is good. But in trying to fit it with the world of Jane Eyre, she made her mistake. The girl portrayed in this book does not fit with Bertha, and her husband is certainly not Rochester. Also, the portrayal of a character's descent into madness could have been handled so much better. I didn't really feel that Bertha was psychotic until the last part, which isn't too long before she dies.
Sorry if this review wasn't well-organized. Also, I read the novel a while ago, so I may be a bit rusty on it. Consider the fact too that I am a diehard Jane Eyre fan, and thus may be biased.
Wide Sargasso Sea.......2007-05-10
I love this book. At last, a face and soul for the woman in the attic. How fascinating to accompany her on her descent into madness.
The island imagery was spot on. I can almost feel the wind in my face, smell the pure sweet air and hear the noises in the night.
The only thing wrong with this book is that it was too short.
How the hell did this make the MLA 100?.......2007-04-05
This is not a good book. It is incoherent. It is poorly written. It is silly, pretentious, and, at times, melodramatic. How can this be one of the hundred best novels of the 20th century? Bryce Courtenay's The Power of One is ten times the book that this is. The only positive thing I can say about Wide Sargasso Sea is that it doesn't take very long to read.
Book Description
Bedtime Erotica for Freaks (like me) is written in the same distinctive style that has won Lexy many loyal fans but these stories are for sexual connoisseurs. Don’t let the word ‘Freaks’ put you off – it is simply a description of people who find eroticism in the 'unusual' like Lexy herself. This book starts off with a bang in Vanessa, a woman who lives out all her sexual fantasies and the no-holds-barred action continues until the very last page! Amanda, enslaves the man of her dreams while in disguise. Geraldine, a prostitute, has seen and done it all, she is going through the motions until Tiffany brings the joy back into her jaded existence. Indra ignores the basic rule of her job as a chatline operator and ventures into forbidden territory with a client. Nectar is too much woman for one man, so she has two. Antonia has a voracious sexual appetite that must be fed constantly and Samantha uses her sexual expertise to wreck as many homes as she can. These stories of women who follow their sexual destinies and damn everyone else will entice and titillate.
Customer Reviews:
Waste of money!.......2007-08-14
This book was the most poorly written, poorly edited book I have read in a long time - maybe forever! This author should read a few REAL erotica authors, like Emma Holly and Lora Leigh.
This book was such a disappointment and such a WASTE OF MONEY!. I love erotica. However, this was just trash. I could only read about 1/2 of the book. Then I threw it away! I would never give this book to someone. I would be insulting their intelligence. For those who thought this book was good - do yourself a favor and read some Emma Holly or Lora Leigh and find out what erotic fantasies are really about!
Not thrilled.......2007-07-31
This just isn't a book I could get into. The prose is littered with italics for emphasis and I found that very annoying. Also Harper's personal commentary at the ends of the stories was annoying, too.
This IS erotica, but there's MUCH better stuff out there. I recommend any of the "Best Women's Erotica" books or anything by Pretty Things Press over this drivel.
?.......2007-06-02
The author is definately black and is from the UK. I wasn't quite expecting that, but the book was HOT none the less. Just some of the slang and spelling was different. Bedtime Erotica, also by the same author was a tad bit better, if I had to choose one, I'd pick Bedtime Erotica over this, or just get both like I did. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
review.......2007-06-01
The book was okay, not as good as a Zane novel but okay none the less.
Hot.......2007-04-09
If you are a fan of Erotic literature this is definately a page turner! I enjoyed Amanda's and Indra's stories the best. I would recommend this book. I plan to purchase her book Bedtime Erotic.
Product Description
Vegas like you've never seen, tales you've never heard -- until now. Sizzing, behind-the-scenes stories about the men, the Mob, movie stars, and missing money that made '50s and '60s Vegas such a hot spot in the Nevada desert. On opening night at the Cal-Neva Lodge, Sinatra's guests included Marilyn Monroe, Joe Kennedy and his son, John F. Kennedy. Also there that weekend were Johnny Roselli and Sam "Momo" Giancana. Uninvited and hiding up in the hills around the casino lodge was an FBI surveillance team with long-range lenses . . . From the chapter Frank Sinatras Cal-Neva Lodge "On Sept 22, 1953, the Riviera Hotel was approved, the name was changed from the Casa Blanca to the Riviera just before this meeting . . . and the list of newly approved owners included Harpo (Arthur) Marx, movie star, comedian; his brother, Gummo (Milton) Marx, comedian" . . . From the chapter Does the Riviera Still Kill Its Executives? The Tropicana partners included Rossellis bosses in Chicago: Sam Giancana, Paul Rica, Camel Humphries, Meyer Lansky, Frank Costello, and Carlos Marcello . . . Fronting for the Chicago Outfit was Ben Jaffe. He owned the giant Fountainbleu Hotel in Miami, and also owned a little insurance company in Indiana . . . From the chapter Frank Costello Builds the Tropicana "In every showroom in Las Vegas, there are certain inviolate rules. Rule Number One the headliners go for 60 minutes. Not 64. Those extra 4 minutes represent 4 minutes of lost revenue on the casino floor . . . Then Deano came out on stage with his signature, "Who are all you people, and what are you doing in my room?" and so started the two and a half hours of the Rat Pack Show!" From the chapter Coffee Shop Stories: Rat Pack and the Sands 21 stories packed with intrigue and mystery, a thoroughly research book, vintage photos.
Customer Reviews:
Great Read.......2007-05-25
The book was excellent. A lot of names were mentioned so one should really read it twice and to get the full impact take some notes as to the persons involved as the accounts have what one might count as flash backs.
For those that want to know what Las Vegas was all about when the Mob & their associates were involved this is a MUST read. Highly recommended.
Entertaining as well as informative.......2007-03-12
I could not put this book down! A lot of nonfiction books have all the allure of required reading in school. This book is written in an almost
conversational style. I learned a lot of things I did not previously know about Las Vegas history. I have loaned it to others, urging them to read it.
If you are interested in Vegas ... You'll love this book!.......2007-03-09
I have lived in Las Vegas since 1992 and this book is very accurate for the period of time that it covers. I've met and talked to a lot of "old-timers" and they have filled me in on the "mob-run" Vegas so I knew some of the info written in the book ... however this book filled in the blanks (so to speak). A GREAT read!!
For Mobster Fans!.......2007-01-10
If you loved the Gofather, Goodfellas, The Untouchables, Sopranos... and so forth. You will love this book. Some parts to drag on but for the most part a great book. Interesting facts about the real mobsters which later were used to make movies like Casino and The Godfather. Also some great storied or I guess "myths" about President Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe.
A must read for you mob fans
Why These Men Gave Their Money.......2006-10-20
The Kefauver Committee is a 1951 flashback on the Las Vegas of the 1940's. The original charge of the committee was to combat crime of any type which crossed state boundaries. What the committee ended up investigating was gambling. One witness was Frank Costello
who raspy voice was imitated by Marlon Brando in The Godfather. "On advice of counsel" Costello took the 5th Amendment 138 times in five days of testimony. Meyer Lansky was subpoenaed as were Joey Adonis and Virginia Hill. Kefauver quizzed Hill about the death of her former boyfriend, Bugsy Siegel. Hill handled the questions easily. Then Kefauver made the mistake of wanting to know why men gave her money for no apparent reason. "Senator, are you sure you want to know why these men gave me money?" Hill asked. The Kefauver Committee hearings were broadcast live on network TV. There was no time delay to censor Hill's response.
What is now the commonly conceived of view of Las Vegas began in 1945 when an attorney by the name of Bautser bought the Folsom Guest Cottages on US 91, which were at that time six miles south of Las Vegas. The buyer was one of Ben (don't call me Bugsy) Siegel's men. The planned project was The Flamingo. Siegel got lumber and pipe for the project from movie studios in Hollywood and Culver City. Marble came from the Mexican black market. Siegel made friends with a US Senator named Pat McCrarran who reprioritized the building needs of southern Nevada so that Siegel get copper fixtures and tiling in time for the Flamingo to open by Christmas 1946. Siegel had a competitive racing service in Vegas run by James Regan. During the Flamingo's grand opening, Regan was shotgun blasted in half.
Siegel had already begun to scare off the movie stars. Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn declined the Flamingo's grand opening. Clark Gable got a cold. Marlene Dietrich sprained her ankle. Gary Cooper said his mother had become very sick. At this time these stars were MGM stars and William Randolph Hearst ran the studio. Hearst hated Siegel because the latter had had a series of one night stands with starlet Marion Davies. Siegel in turn owned the Screen Actors Guild. The opening night of the Flamingo was disastrous. George raft was the only well known loser. Raft said he lost $75,000, but that didn't matter as the house was down $200,000 on just its first night. The next night was worse. Rose Marie (remember her from the Dick Van Dyke Show?) played to fewer than 20 people. Jimmy Durante played to the smallest crowd he had ever seen. New Year's Eve faired a little better with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez. In 65 days the Flamingo closed while losing close to three quarters of a million dollars.
It will be quite a number of pages before Fischer finishes his story. Along the way one will run into Meyer Lansky, Elvis, Joe Kennedy and his son John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Howard Hughes, Marilyn Monroe, Harpo Marx, and on and on. There are more big names than in front of Grumman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Fischer ends his story with Lefty Rosenthal leaving Las Vegas in the early 80's. There was no question that the Sands just had to close. Fischer and his wife take one more trip to Vegas and have to put up with a Jerry Lewis who is way too loud. Buddy Hackett does a show that under 18's can not enter and which has Frank Sinatra rolling on the floor. In the Rat Pack years of the early 60's the sands was "mobbed up." The Sands closed in 1996.
Book Description
In the summer of 1860, more than fifty years after the United States legally abolished the international slave trade, 110 men, women, and children from Benin and Nigeria were brought ashore in Alabama under cover of night. They were the last recorded group of Africans deported to the United States as slaves. Timothy Meaher, an established Mobile businessman, sent the slave ship, the Clotilda , to Africa, on a bet that he could "bring a shipful of niggers right into Mobile Bay under the officers' noses." He won the bet. This book reconstructs the lives of the people in West Africa, recounts their capture and passage in the slave pen in Ouidah, and describes their experience of slavery alongside American-born enslaved men and women. After emancipation, the group reunited from various plantations, bought land, and founded their own settlement, known as African Town. They ruled it according to customary African laws, spoke their own regional language and, when giving interviews, insisted that writers use their African names so that their families would know that they were still alive. The last survivor of the Clotilda died in 1935, but African Town is still home to a community of Clotilda descendants. The publication of Dreams of Africa in Alabama marks the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic Read .......2007-08-21
This book is wonderful, excellent. This book is so educational and knowledge filled, without being an academic bore. I don't even know where to start. I will say buy your hard back copy now. This author deserves financial support through the purchase of this book. The story of the Clotilda Africans should be known.
Dreams tell us about the lives and the journey of 110 Africans who were brought from Dahomey, known today as Benin in West Africa. A schooner by the name of Clotilda was built and dispatched from Mobile Bay to the Kingdom. A newspaper article had appeared in the Mobile Press Register that the King of Dahomey was doing a brisk sale in Africans.
Timothy Meaher, a wealthy businessman in Mobile, had commissioned the building of the Clotilda for the journey to Dahomey, even though the transportation of Africans was abolished in 1808. However, Africans were still being brought into the country.
The Africans were primarily spoils of warfare and the raids of villages. They came from various ethnic groups and cultures. However, the core group, were Yorubas. The Yorubas live in what is now Benin and southwest Nigeria. They had names like "Kossola,, Abache, Abile, Omolabi, Kupollee, Kehounco, and Arzuma."
Ms. Slyviane tells us their story primarily through the eyes of the last survivor of the Clotilda Africans, Cudjo Lewis aka Kossola, a Yoruba. He survived all of his children, wife, and shipmates.
This is a fascinating story of African American history, American history, and African history. Cudjo and his shipmates had dreamed and planned to get back to their homeland, but it never happened.
What makes this book so fascinating is that we actually know the slaver, the captain, the ship, and where they came from. Not only that, about 30 of the Africans lived on Meaher's land. So there is first hand information and resources from the slavers, the Africans, and their descendents
A reference book, a novel, a history book - highly educative, encompassingly tender.......2007-08-10
I cannot recommend this book any more feverishly. It is incredibly well researched and written. The author lays down the historical facts in a clear manner and then leaves the characters to entice you into their lives and speak to you. The stories are never sensationalized, if anything, it is this lack of dramatization that enables the stories to unfold naturally.
The book clearly shows how within a relatively short space of time certain aspects of a culture may vanish, but other aspects which form the core of a community's make-up are improvised regardless of the circumstances and continued down the line (the communal spirit of the Africans, reverence to authority, conflict resolution etc). Cudjo's life was the one delved into in the greatest detail and it evolved to be as remarkable as it was melancholic.
After the last of the African deportees dies, I can only imagine the loneliness that would have haunted him - being alone in America, a land that he had lived in for three quarters of his life, but one that was still alien to him, one where no other local born Africans were in his immediate vicinity would surely have quelled his tenacious will and defiant spirit. For him to have lived the rest of his years, not being able to converse in his native tongue or to express his innermost feelings in a manner capable of being immediately understood by his neighbors would surely have been unbearably painful. There is an African proverb that states that "you know who a person really is by the language they cry in". When all he had ever known was gone and he lamented for them in his native tongue, I wonder, did the people around him understand the depth of his despair? After all his personal losses and tragedies in America, he finally relents of his desire to go back to Africa and surmises that he was indeed alone on earth - his family in America was no more and he figured that his family in Africa would also be no more - an unbearable set of circumstances to accept. The author should be commended for unearthing and bringing to life such a great story, but even more importantly, for doing so in as lucid a manner as is possible. My only question is how on earth do we let a story as remarkable as this just dawdle with no attempt to publicise it more. It would be great if we could have a children's book on the story.
A trip to AficaTown in Alabama is in the offing for my family.
Wonderfully researched personal stories.......2007-07-17
Dreams of Africa in Alabama is a beautifully written and meticulous book. It's evident that Ms. Diouf spent a considerable amount of time and detail with her research. The author describes the Alabama slave trade and the events that lead to the maiden voyage of the modified schooner, Clotilda. She devotes two chapters to the lives of the "shipmates" - one prior to their capture and the other chronicling their imprisonment in the barracoons (slave pens) and their subsequent Middle Passage voyage. The remaining chapters recount the lives of the deported Africans during their enslavement and post emancipation.
In 1808 the United States abolished the international slave trade. In order to circumvent the law, many Southerners modified existing ships to camouflage their true intent and evade naval officials. The Clotilda was one such ship. Seeking to make a profit on the sale of Africans, the Meaher brothers and their associates went about the business of arranging a slaving run. Many of the captured Africans were placed into slavery as a result of lost tribal wars and/or suspect alliances between African Kings and European and American merchants.
When the humiliation and brutality of slavery was over, the shipmates endured Jim Crow, disenfranchisement and other forms of maltreatment. In spite of those obstacles, the Africans purchased land just outside of Mobile, Alabama, and became a self-sufficient community with a bank, farms, schools and churches. The shipmates limited their interaction with non-African people. Other than their contact with Americans and African Americans in the workplace, the Africans made little effort to interact anyone who wasn't from the continent in their personal lives. Intermarriages between Africans and African Americans occurred in small numbers. There were attempts to return to their families and homes in Africa; run-ins with the law; and a desire to dispel the rumors of their savagery and cannibalism.
This book is a sobering and painful account of some of the atrocities Africans endured. Ms. Diouf interviewed the descendants of the Mobile, Alabama slaves, and poured over mountains of archives in libraries and private collections to give the reader an up close and personal view of the lives of the shipmates of the Clotilda. There are many more stories and details to be discovered when you read Dreams of Africa in Alabama.
Book Description
Tailored after the actual "Crow Killer" John Johnson, Sam Minard is a mountain man who seeks the freedom that the Rocky Mountains offers trappers. After his beloved Indian wife is murdered, Sam Minard becomes obsessed with vengeance, and his fortunes become intertwined with those of Kate Bowden, a widow who faces madness. This remarkable frontier fiction captures that brief season when the romantic myth of the far West became a fact.
Customer Reviews:
An all time favorite.......2007-03-27
I didn't read this book until after I had seen 'Jeremiah Johnson', and was pleased that the movie and book were so different. I enjoyed the movie very much, but with Fisher's story I felt as though I had put on my huntin' clothes, laced up my boots, grabbed my Hawken Rifle, and joined in on the adventure. Coming from a family of outdoorsmen, some of us certainly fantasized about leaving it all behind from time to time, and making our way in the remote wilderness. In fact my two brothers moved to the Pacific Northwest after college and still spend much of their free time wandering the Cascades. Anyone who loves the wild west will find this one to be a real gem, and simply by reading it, will be richly rewarded. It is a diamond in the rough, but not one to be missed, and has inspired much of my own writing. This one comes highly recommended.
James Hart Isley
Author of The Bear Hunter
A RENAISSANCE MAN IN THE AMERICAN WEST.......2004-02-14
MOUNTAIN MAN continues to be a classic in American Western literature. The major foundation for the movie, Jeremiah Johnson, MOUNTAIN MAN tells the story of Samuel John Minard, a mountain man known for his physical prowess and for his quick and educated intellect. A renaissance man who has chosen the life of the great American West.
In his adventures Sam meets up with Indians of various tribes, other mountain men and a crazy pilgrim woman. HIs marriage to an Indian maiden leads him into a one-man war with sweeping consequences for himself and for his enemies.
MOUNTAIN MAN, as is the case with most books upon which movies are based, considerably outshines JEREMIAH JOHNSON in its story and characterizations. But, hey, I love the movie as well. I guess that says a lot about what I think of the book.
THE HORSEMAN
THE ONE THAT STARTED IT ALL.......2003-08-25
Mountain Man
Interestingly Larry McMurtry has written three books of late that invite the reader back to the time of the Mountain Men. I've read all of them and while I love McMurtry's writing and the stories presented in Boone's Lick and in volumes 1 and 2 of the new Berry bender series, there is nothing like going back to the source for the real experience.
I first read Mountain Man by Vardis Fisher as a teenager. I read it in conjunction with the release of Jeremiah Johnson upon which the book is loosely based. At that time I was captured by this genre and have made a regular reading of Mountain Man a part of my program.
While I can enthusiastically recommend the newer editions to the Mountain Man genre, I would encourage interested parties in taking a look at Mountain Man first. While you're at it, rent or buy Jeremiah Johnson starring Robert Redford. The experience will be one that you don't regret.
interesting but has flaws.......2003-06-22
Quite interesting book, whose literary value I won't judge, but it has every rumor about Indians and every lie about Supermountainmen incorporated into it. I read it because of the movie, and the movie was better. If you ask me, Thorp's "Crow Killer" is more concise and more realistic. But if you are a West fan, guess you will want to read Fischer too.
Poetry and Beauty.......2003-05-22
This was the first book I had read by Vardis Fisher. He is a very colorful writer. His descriptions of every thing he sees and everything he thinks is wonderful. His knowledge of classical music is warming. I personally love classical music. Even though I enjoyed the book very much I did not like the continual repeat of his describing the scenry over and over.
Books:
- A Lover's Guide to the Kama Sutra
- A Thousand Splendid Suns
- Absolute Batman: The Long Halloween
- Anytime...for as Long as You Want: Strength, Genius, Libido & Erection by Integrative Sex Transmutation
- Atlas of Human Parasitology
- Back on Blossom Street (The Knitting Books #3)
- Bird Songs
- Blood Revenge: Family Honor, Mediation and Outcasting
- Brain Trust: The Hidden Connection Between Mad Cow and Misdiagnosed Alzheimer's Disease
- Catch Of The Day (Zebra Contemporary Romance)
Books Index
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