Bag of Bones

Amazon.com

Bag of Bones is partly inspired by Daphne du Maurier's classic Rebecca, but there's more than homage in this novel of horror and romance. Like du Maurier's Manderley, King's scary old place (on the shore of Maine's remote Dark Score Lake) is haunted by the late lady of the manor. There are many gory ghosts afoot, though: men, women, and wailing kids. The hero, a thriller novelist, stirs up hell's plenty of angry shades while investigating his wife's death. It turns out she either had a dark secret herself or was onto some dread scandal lurking in Dark Score Lake. As in King's previous book, Wizard and Glass, the fabric of reality is thin, and nosy narrators are in peril of plunging right out of this world and into a rather hostile otherworld.

Bag of Bones is a writer-haunted book, too. The spirits of Herman Melville and Ray Bradbury are deeply felt, and so are the tale's two romances (the hero muses on his marriage and falls for a young single mom with a marvelous, psychic daughter). There is also good-humored satire of the real bestseller book world--the hero complains that "the publicity process is like going to a sushi bar where you're the sushi." In its deep concerns with love, sprawling families, the writer's life, endangered children, and good old-fashioned storytelling, the book resembles a John Irving novel. It is also absolutely classic Stephen King, packed with nifty turns of phrase, irreverent wit, and lurid ghouls who grab you from beneath the bed while you cower under the covers. --Tim Appelo

Amazon.com Audio Review

No longer content to be the prolific provider of text, King grabs the audio reigns to recount this haunted tale of grief, young love, and otherworldly visits. When 40-year-old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan returns to his lakeside cabin to process his wife's death, he finds the place a beacon for nightmares and ghoulish visits. But there's hope in Kingsville, as this struggling writer falls in love with a young widow named Mattie and her 3-year-old psychic daughter, Kyra. If you've never heard King speak, be warned: 19-plus hours of his western Maine, nasal-drenched tones may be more than some listeners can bear. But there's a certain warmth and believability to King's voice--after all, it's his book and he is a middle-aged bestselling novelist--that jive well with Noonan's character. And since King rarely reads his own work, perhaps his doing so indicates that he's especially pleased with Bag of Bones; most listeners should be as well. (Running time: 19.5 hours, 14 cassettes) --Rob McDonald

Book Description

Stephen King's most gripping and unforgettable novel, Bag of Bones, is a story of grief and a lost love's enduring bonds, of a new love haunted by the secrets of the past, of an innocent child caught in a terrible crossfire.

Set in the Maine territory King has made mythic, Bag of Bones recounts the plight of forty-year-old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan, who is unable to stop grieving even four years after the sudden death of his wife, Jo, and who can no longer bear to face the blank screen of his word processor.

Now his nights are plagued by vivid nightmares of the house by the lake. Despite these dreams, or perhaps because of them, Mike finally returns to Sara Laughs, the Noonans' isolated summer home.

He finds his beloved Yankee town familiar on its surface, but much changed underneath -- held in the grip of a powerful millionaire, Max Devore, who twists the very fabric of the community to his purpose: to take his three-year-old granddaughter away from her widowed young mother. As Mike is drawn into their struggle, as he falls in love with both of them, he is also drawn into the mystery of Sara Laughs, now the site of ghostly visitations, ever-escalating nightmares, and the sudden recovery of his writing ability. What are the forces that have been unleashed here -- and what do they want of Mike Noonan?

As vivid and enthralling as King's most enduring works, Bag of Bones resonates with what Amy Tan calls "the witty and obsessive voice of King's powerful imagination." It's no secret that King is our most mesmerizing storyteller. In Bag of Bones -- described by Gloria Naylor as "a love story about the dark places within us all" -- he proves to be one of our most moving.

Download Description

Stephen King's most gripping and unforgettable novel, "Bag of Bones, " is a story of grief and a lost love's enduring bonds, of a new love haunted by the secrets of the past, of an innocent child caught in a terrible crossfire. Set in the Maine territory King has made mythic, "Bag of Bones" recounts the plight of 40-year-old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan, who is unable to stop grieving even four years after the sudden death of his wife, Jo, and who can no longer bear to face the blank screen of his word processor. Now his nights are plagued by vivid nightmares of the house by the lake. Despite these dreams, or perhaps because of them, Mike finally returns to Sara Laughs, the Noonans' isolated summer home. He finds his beloved Yankee town familiar on its surface, but much changed underneath -- held in the grip of a powerful millionaire, Max Devore, who twists the very fabric of the community to his purpose: to take his three-year-old granddaughter away from her widowed young mother. As Mike is drawn into their struggle, as he falls in love with both of them, he is also drawn into the mystery of Sara Laughs, now the site of ghostly visitations, ever-escalating nightmares, and the sudden recovery of his writing ability. What are the forces that have been unleashed here -- and what do they want of Mike Noonan?

Customer Reviews:

Enjoyable, but Overlong.......2007-09-27

I love most of Stephen King's work, but I think his later novels spend too much time on irrelevant details that don't really further the plot. BAG OF BONES is a nice example of that.

It's a good story, but it's not a tightly written one. King produces hundreds of pages where the main character does nothing except mope around his house, passively watching one supernatural event after another. This gets tiresome after a while, and I wished the action in this novel started sooner. I know King takes his time in setting up his stories, and I normally don't mind that in his books. But in BAG OF BONES, I just felt there was too much set up and not very much payoff in the end.

Also, the only character in BAG OF BONES that seemed real to me was the narrator. All the other characters seemed a bit on the silly side, such as the incredibly adorable 3-year old daughter and the incredibly villainous computer magnate. Given the large size of this book, I was hoping the characterization would be more complex than it turned out to be.

Overall, this is a good novel, but it lacks the compelling nature of King's best work, such as THE DEAD ZONE, MISERY, SALEMS LOT, and THE STAND. If you're new to King, my advice is to go with those earlier novels first, before moving on to this slower-paced effort.

An eerie ghost story with love at the heart of it all.......2007-09-03

This book was a definite page turner. A ghost story entwined with a love story and a mystery to be solved. This book really hooked me, and parts of it where so eerie it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I have a whole new respect for Stephen King.

The story is about an author Mike Noonan who has suffered from writers block for four years after the tragic death of his wife. He moves to their summer house which turns out to be haunted by several spirits while he tries to get to the bottom of a secret his wife was keeping from him before she died, a secret that the whole town seems to know about but has been hiding for generations.

Great achievement.......2007-08-26

Stephen King's place as a successful mass-market thriller writer is, shall we say, pretty secure, but his skill at varied and deeper storytelling has often been unfairly denigrated. Sure, he's had his clunkers - out of 50 books that should surprise nobody - but Bag of Bones is a story any of the more highly acclaimed novelists currently writing would be proud to call their own.

Bag of Bones is a ghost story, yes, but it is much more than that. It is first of all a love story, a story about family and family history and connections, somewhat of an homage to various writers in the past, an amusing look into the career and thought processes of mass-market writers like King himself, and often just very funny. King writes some of his very best stuff here - inventive turns of phrase, great similes, subtle jibes, not-so-subtle jibes, self-effacing and self-referential humor, the works, all with a built-in soundtrack.

And yes, parts of the book can still thrill. This is by no means his 'scariest' book - not by a long shot - but the tension builds steadily and the story develops seemingly effortlessly. King is simply a master of prose English and reading his fluid, natural paragraphs, one after another until one realizes one has just popped off another 700 page book, makes one realize just how mediocre so much recent fiction by other authors really is.

I very much enjoyed reading Bag of Bones.

Stephen King is BACK!!!.......2007-08-22

I was quite pleased with this book. All of Stephen King's gripping narrative and spine-tingling spooks were out in force. The characters were fantastic and very believable (matter of fact, I think he used my grandma for one... hehe) and he's just got such a unique descriptive style!

It followed the perfect King formula. Find some schmoe, give him a few hard knocks and see what rattles loose. Add a few spooks and/or monsters, and see what our hero makes of them. Of course, he has to make himself a few stalwart friends along the way to help him at crunch time, but mainly, he'll just bumble along making enemies until the pieces fall into place.

Mike's grief when his wife Jo dies is so palpable, you begin to feel sorry for King on the loss of his own wife (until you realize that Tabitha King is very much alive). Bag of Bones was most definitely a page-turner, and I could barely stand to put it down when I'd arrived at work in the morning!

Sara Laughs was one hell of a lady, and she won't disappoint here either. Stephen King is definitely back on top with this effort!

A Ghostly Love Story.......2007-06-27

Great character, great story, great read. Additional proof that King is a literary genius.

The Widow's Tale (Dame Frevisse Medieval Mysteries)

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What fun - and it didn't keep jolting me with historical blunders!
A seamless tale of treachery and murder.
A top-notch entry in an excellent series.
Solid Frazer Story; Poorly Published
This series just gets better and better

The Widow's Tale (Dame Frevisse Medieval Mysteries)
Margaret Frazer
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0425202380

Book Description

Dame Frevisse is embroiled in political intrigue when she aids a widow who is holding on to secret information that could be damaging to the lords closest to the king.

Customer Reviews:

What fun - and it didn't keep jolting me with historical blunders!.......2006-09-23

With the death of her beloved husband, Edward, Cristiana Helyngton thinks her world has come to an end. Unfortunately it's only the start of her troubles. Her unscrupulous brother-in-law promptly and secretly obtains custody of Cristiana, her lands, and her two daughters, by representing Cristiana as a madwoman to the powerful Duke of Suffolk. With her brother off to Ireland in service as a knight to the Duke of York, Suffolk's political adversary, there's no one to protect or rescue Cristiana as Laurence Helyngton carries her off to confinement in a convent. There she lives in prescribed and bitter penitence, half starved and terrified on behalf of her girls. She knows that Laurence plans to force 12-year-old Mary to wed his son, securing the deceased Edward's estate under Laurence's control. After that he intends to place 8-year-old Jane in a nunnery, unless she's needed to replace Mary if the older daughter fails to seal the marriage by producing an heir.

But Laurence Helyngton has made one huge mistake. He's committed his sister-in-law to St. Frideswide's, where Sister Frevisse is hosteler. The gifted amateur detective soon suspects things aren't exactly as Cristana's "guardian" has described them. As she and Domina Elisabeth are drawn ever more deeply into the Helyngtons' escalating conflict, Frevisse realizes that people far more powerful than Cristana and Laurence may stand or fall based on its outcome. Among them is Alice, Duchess of Suffolk, Frevisse's estranged but still beloved cousin; and possibly King Henry VI himself.

Margaret Frazer's meticulously researched history, well-drawn characters, and credible plots have me reading her mystery novels eagerly, and that's remarkable because this genre usually leaves me cold. Dame Frevisse stories are an absolute delight, from first page to last, as Frazer immerses herself in the details of medieval life and takes me along for the ride. Can't wait to get my hands on another!

A seamless tale of treachery and murder........2006-02-11

This medieval series set in mid tenth century England are wonderful history lessons, as well as some very-well crafted mysteries. This particular book is set in the spring and summer of 1149 and most of the action occurs in and around Hertfordshire. We have the story of a young widow and her fight to keep her children and her lands away from some very unscrupulous relatives after her husband dies. Cristiana is not a heroine that readers will immediately like, but the tragedy of her story cannot fail but to touch people, as it does Sister Frevisse. This story also places Sister Frevisse in a very difficult situation. She must choose where to place her loyalties and she must also decide whether a piece of correspondance should be made public or not. I highly recommend this series to any lovers of Medieval fiction. Ms. Frazer's research and knowledge are impeccable. She's also a first-rate storyteller.

A top-notch entry in an excellent series........2005-04-22

This is one of my favorite series and this novel is as good as any that Frazer has written. Both her continuing characters and her new characters are interesting and well developed. The mystery is well done, and the story is wrenching but believable. (This is one of the saddest stories that I have ever read.)

I would recommend this series to fans of Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael. Of all the series that have been likened to his, this is probably the closest in spirit. The characters are believably Medieval and Frevisse is a nun with a real vocation; the spirituality of the characters is portrayed very well - deep and real but not saccharine.

Solid Frazer Story; Poorly Published.......2005-02-27

While Frazer uncharacteristically leaves the story with loose ends (i.e. the Duchess of Suffolk just simply disappears from the story), this is a solid Sister Frevisse novel. I can't help but point out how very disappointing the quality of the publishing is--so many mispellings, duplicate words (i.e. and and), missing words. While this is not unusual in publishing these days, it's always disapointing. And, for me, always disrupts my enjoyment of the book. Alas for automated proofreading!

This series just gets better and better.......2005-02-02

Frazer makes 15th century England come alive: good plot, interesting characters (although Christiana is sort of wimpy/weepy ) it is hard to put down. LOVE Dame Fevrisse!

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Wonderful story!
A stunning & wholly original debut
A Truly Talented New Voice Arrives
A bold debut from a fresh literary talent!

Tales from the Town of Widows
James Canon
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0061140384
Release Date: 2007-01-02

Book Description

In the small Colombian mountain village of Mariquita, a band of guerrillas storms in to protest the country's ruling government. They arrive with propaganda and guns, and when they depart they have forcibly recruited all the town's men, leaving behind only a few—the priest and a young, fair-skinned boy disguised as a little girl.

In their wake, Mariquita becomes a sinking wasteland filled with women who quickly resign themselves to food shortages, littered streets, and mourning. Without men, life is hopeless, and getting along, nearly impossible. But, Rosalba viuda de Patiño, wife of the former police sergeant, sees a different fate for the town of widows. She declares herself magistrate and promises to instill law and order while restoring the failing economy and infrastructure. Reluctantly, the women agree to join forces. A utopia emerges, one that ironically resembles the ideal society the guerrilla group claims to promote.

Deft, rich, and darkly humorous, Tales from the Town of Widows is a captivating exploration of gender and sexuality that uses the ongoing conflict in Colombia as a backdrop. It presents a fascinating portrait of ill-fated wives and the war that helped them build a peaceful, equality-based society.

Exquisitely wrought, remarkably original, James Cañón's stunning debut marks the arrival of an unforgettable new literary talent.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful story!.......2007-10-01

Highly recommended read, especially for those who enjoy literature from Latin America. Combines the magical realism of much of the literature I've read from Colombia, alongside personal stories of the many-years-long conflict. A very beatiful epic-like and unusual story of love, interdependence and the will to survive.

A stunning & wholly original debut.......2007-08-12

Tales from the Town of Widows and Chronicles from the Land of Men is a feast for anyone who relishes beautiful, intelligent writing infused with humor and humanity.
Set against the backdrop of the Colombian civil war, it tells the story of a group of women living in a remote mountain village who are forced to fend for themselves after a band of Communist guerrillas descends on the village and forcibly recruits all the men, killing those who resist and leading the others away to fight for their cause. The women and children who are left behind must overcome their grief, fear, ignorance and passivity in order to survive and build a new society of their own on the patriarchal rubble of the old.
The book embodies many contradictions without ever pulling at the seams. It is at once lyrical and brutal, subversive and idealistic, satirical and affecting, wickedly funny and profoundly sad. It tackles big issues--religion, politics, sexual politics--but its real power lies in the poignant and often comic humanity of its characters, with their hairy, muscular legs and rectangular bodies, their migrating warts and luxurious mustaches. And those are just the women: the widows, spinsters, prostitutes and virgins who inhabit the town of Mariquita. We are also given, in journalistic chronicles at the end of each chapter, brief and often shocking glimpses of the men and boys doomed to fight in the war, and the civilians caught up in its senseless violence.
The book begins in 1992 and ends, 16 years later, in 1992. (Among the many innovations the women conceive is the concept of female time, which is based on the menstrual cycle and runs backwards. They also end up rejecting religion, making clothing optional and deciding that heterosexuality is over-rated.) Each chapter focuses on a particular woman: Doña Emilia, the madam of the village's whorehouse, who loses all her customers when the men are taken away; Cleotilde Guarnizo, the mannish, mustached schoolteacher with the stomping gait and mysterious past; Francisca viuda de Gómez, the widow who finds a fortune under her bed; Julia Morales, born Julio, whose mother dresses him as a girl to hide him from the guerrillas and who grows up to become the town beauty. But the main character, the unifying force of the village and of the book, is Rosalba viuda de Patiño, the widow of the town's police sergeant. Soon after the men are taken away, Rosalba is appointed Magistrate by a passing government soldier. It falls on her, an uneducated housewife with no leadership experience, to rouse the women from their grief and apathy and restore order, prosperity and hope to the village -- a seemingly impossible task that requires all her ingenuity and determination.
In the end, Rosalba and the other villagers create a new society based on the values of women: harmony, cooperation and respect for every individual, whether female or male, gay or straight, buck naked or wearing a red polka dot dress that's tight in all the right places. And when some of the village's men come home after their 16-year absence and try to reclaim their power and male prerogatives, things get really interesting...

A Truly Talented New Voice Arrives.......2007-04-03

This book marks the arrival of a writer I'm very sure will become a household name in the near future. James Canon is a very talented writer and this book proves the depth of his imagination. It tells the story of how the women from a small town in the Andes mountains of Colombia struggle to survive after all the men are forcibly taken or executed by the guerrillas. James Canon moved to the States from Colombia to study English and ended up getting a writing degree from Columbia University. He wrote this book in English, so there is nothing lost in the translation. He weaves a modern day tale which includes magical realism, war dispatches, heartfelt love and much more. Each chapter is followed by a chronicle from the land of men in which members of the leftist guerrillas, the paramilitary forces and the Colombian army share their experiences of the endless war. I was very touched by this book and highly recommend it.

A bold debut from a fresh literary talent!.......2007-01-19

In the tradition of Laura Esquivel's LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOALTE this stunning debut novel relies on delicious doses of magical realism to entrance the reader into the extraordinary realm of Maraquita, Columbia, a hamlet reborn with visionary ideas of social, political and environmental responsibilites. I became hypnotized with the introduction of these abandonded women whom are forced to re-invent themselves and their society. Employing humor, despair and sometimes shock these tales intoxicate and inspire!

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I can't believe I'm the first to review this book!

The Grass Widow's Tale
Ellis Peters
Manufacturer: Thorndike Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0786245077

Customer Reviews:

I can't believe I'm the first to review this book!.......2005-04-24

This is a wonderful story in the George Felse series, although we see very little of George this go round and a great deal of his marvelous wife, Bunty. In this one Bunty is on her own while George is in London following a lead. While she is being maudlin about her forty-first birthday, she gets thrown into the adventure of her life. She meets a distraught stranger in a pub on Saturday night, and she finds herself caught up in a truly terrifying situation. The action of the book only takes place over 24 hours, but there is enough action jam-packed in that 24 hours to keep the reader turning pages. We're talking about murder, kidnapping, organized crime and a whole slew of lesser things. And Bunty slides through it all in her usual inimitable fashion. Of course the writing is pure Ellis Peters, and the book is a delight!

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Loredana: A Venetian Tale
Lauro Martines
Manufacturer: Thomas Dunne Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0312347510
Release Date: 2005-11-29

Book Description

A riveting novel of politics and passion, love and lust in sixteenth-century Venice -- the story of two lovers caught up in a dangerous revolutionary movement -- written by a distinguished historian of the Italian Renaissance.

Whistle Punks and Widow-Makers: Tales of the Bc Woods

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Whistle Punks and Widow-Makers: Tales of the Bc Woods
Robert E. Swanson
Manufacturer: Harbour Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

These tales from the golden age of logging in BC star all the legends of the woods. Not the founders of corporate dynasties, but the hookers, fallers, bull cooks, whistle punks and locie engineers who became real-life Paul Bunyans of the West Coast. "From sheer force of personality," writes Ken Drushka in his introduction, "these men rose above their workaday callings and became the subject of interminable bunkhouse bull sessions and barroom storytelling."

Whistle Punks and Widow-Makers features twenty-six unforgettable stories about these near-mythical characters. They had names like Bull Sling Bill, Eight-Day Wilson, Daddy Lamb and Broomhandle Charlie, and their stories are told by Robert Swanson, who was an inveterate collector of bunkhouse ballads for more than half a century. With over 120 photos from the glory days of logging, many of them published here for the first time.

Robert Swanson (1905-1994) worked for years as a logger, then as a forestry safety inspector for the government. A special horn Swanson invented for trains was adapted for use all over the world, and he also pioneered the development of air brakes on logging trucks. His expertise on steam trains and their whistles was central to the restoration of BC's popular Royal Hudson excursion train, and visitors to Vancouver will recognize his handiwork in Gastown's steam clock.

However, to his legions of fans Swanson will always be known as the "Bard of the Woods." During his forestry career he went to every logging camp and mill operation on the coast and spent long evenings bull slinging with the legends of logging. He started writing down their stories and ballads in the 1930s, and in the process he became one of BC's bestselling poets. A new edition of his collected bunkhouse ballads, Rhymes of a Western Logger, was published in 1992.

Irish Wonders - The Ghosts, Giants, Pookas, Demons, Leprechawns, Banshees, Fairies, Witches, Widows, Old Maids, & Other Marvels of the Emerald Isle (Popular Tales as Told By the People)

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Irish Wonders - The Ghosts, Giants, Pookas, Demons, Leprechawns, Banshees, Fairies, Witches, Widows, Old Maids, & Other Marvels of the Emerald Isle (Popular Tales as Told By the People)
Jr., D.R., Illustrated by Heaton, H.R. McAnally
Manufacturer: New York: Weathervane Books, 1977
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LV9QEO

The Abbot and the Widow: Tales from the Ming Dynasty (Signature Books)

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The Abbot and the Widow: Tales from the Ming Dynasty (Signature Books)
Mengchu Ling
Manufacturer: Eastbridge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Oil Vendor and the Courtesan: Tales from the Ming Dynasty

ASIN: 1891936395

A Widow's Tale: The 1884-1896 Diary of Helen Mar Kimball Whitney (Life Writings of Frontier Women, Vol. 6) (Life Writings Frontier Women)

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A Widow's Tale: The 1884-1896 Diary of Helen Mar Kimball Whitney (Life Writings of Frontier Women, Vol. 6) (Life Writings Frontier Women)
Charles Hatch
Manufacturer: Utah State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0874215579

Book Description

Mormon culture has produced during its history an unusual number of historically valuable personal writings. Few such diaries, journals, and memoirs published have provided as rich and well rounded a window into their authors' lives and worlds as the diary of Helen Mar Kimball Whitney. Because it provides a rare account of the widely experienced situations and problems faced by widows, her record has relevance far beyond Mormon history though.

As a teenager Helen Kimball had been a polygamous wife of Mormon founder Joseph Smith. She subsequently married Horace Whitney. Her children included the noted Mormon author, religious authority, and politician Orson F. Whitney. She herself was a leading woman in her church and society and a writer known especially for her defense of plural marriage. Upon Horace's death, she began keeping a diary. In it, she recorded her economic, physical, and psychological struggles to meet the challenges of widowhood. Her writing was introspective and revelatory. She also commented on the changing society around her, as Salt Lake City in the last decades of the nineteenth century underwent rapid transformation, modernizing and opening up from its pioneer beginnings. She remained a well-connected member of an elite group of leading Latter-day Saint women, and prominent Utah and Mormon historical figures appear frequently in her daily entries. Above all, though, her diary is an unusual record of difficulties faced in many times and places by women, of all classes, whose husbands died and left them without sufficient means to carry on the types of lives to which they had been accustomed.

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Good for the illustrations

Great Stories... But... Hard To Follow

Charming folktales from old Ireland.

Charming folktales from old Ireland.

Great entertainment

Irish Wonders: The Ghosts, Giants, Pookas, Demons, Leprechawns, Banshees, Fairies, Witches, Widows, Old Maids & Other Marvels of Emerald Isle
D. R. McAnally Jr.
Manufacturer: Sterling Pub Co Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 080690299X

Book Description

Celtic lore holds a wealth of colorful characters beyond the famed leprechaun. And this gathering of late 19th century traditional folk tales brings together the best of the Emerald Isle's fabled denizens. The Banshee, Satan's Cloven Hoof, The Henpecked Giant, and—of course— The Leprechaun, all weave their spellbinding magic in the classic tradition of Irish storytelling in the pages of enchanting treasury. Illustrated throughout with 65 beautiful pen-and-ink drawings. 240 pages.

Customer Reviews:

Good for the illustrations.......2004-01-08

I love all things Irish! However, this book is useless. The vast majority of the book is written, as one reviewer put it, like the Irish speak. This makes the book completely unreadable- I tried a few chapters and gave up. It took so much concentration to figure out what the words were, that I couldn't string them together to form a logical thought. This may have well been written in Gaelic. If this book gets translated into proper English, I'll be the first in line to buy it. Until then, I'll enjoy the pretty pictures...

Great Stories... But... Hard To Follow.......2000-08-13

I gave this book 4 stars because I enjoyed reading it.. but the language was something I hadn't expected.. It is written exactly like Irishmen talk.. for an example: Tipperary, whos father was a farmer there, an' had a shmart bit av land wid no end av shape grazin' on it, an' the Tipperary boy was n't bad at all, only as shtupid as a donkey. This was taken from the story "The Rock of Cashel.. So if you buy this book.. be prepared to over look the obvious spelling/language problems but the stories are just as interesting. (I feel this pook should be given 3 and a half stars but I will go up a number instead of down. The book is interesting)

Charming folktales from old Ireland........2000-02-25

(The book I read was a 1977 reprint of the original 1888 edition, and some of the things I mention here might not apply to later editions.)

This charming book contains many folktales collected around Ireland before the close of the Nineteenth Century. As the title says, there are tales about ghosts, giants, pookas, the devil, etc. A distinctive feature of this book is that the author records not just the tale, but records it in the dialect of the teller!

However, I use the word "charming" because the stories are humorous, but rarely terribly interesting. Also, the author's use of the vernacular, while an interesting feature, requires the reader to pay particular attention when reading, and to be familiar with certain Irish words (e.g. shebeen, poteen, omadhawn, etc.).

As such, I would not call this a great book, but it is a good one - a charming one.

Charming folktales from old Ireland........2000-02-10

(The book I read was a 1977 reprint of the original 1888 edition, and some of the things I mention here might not apply to later editions.)

As such, I would not call this a great book, but it is a good one - a charming one.

Great entertainment.......2000-01-07

Great stories of Irish legend and folklore, written mostly as told by Irish peasantry in their native dialect.

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