Fuel Cell Fundamentals

Book Description

Fuel Cell Fundamentals is an introductory-level textbook covering the basic science and engineering behind fuel cell technology. Focusing on the fundamentals, it provides straightforward descriptions of how fuel cells work, why they offer the potential for high efficiency, and how their unique advantages can best be used. Emphasis is placed on the founding scientific principles that govern fuel cell operations. Designed to be accessible to fuel cell beginners, it is suitable for any engineering or science major with a background in calculus, basic physics, and elementary thermodynamics. The book is divided in two parts: The first (and largest part), "Fuel Cell Principles" focuses on basic fuel cell physics. The second part: "Fuel Cell Technology" provides a brief discussion of the practical applications of fuel cell technology. Fuel Cell Fundamentals provides examples, problems, and pedagogy for classroom use. A solutions manual is available.

Customer Reviews:

No Answer Key means limited practical use.......2007-02-07

I an in engineer working in a different industry and was interested in learning more about fuel cells. Since the authors do not provide answers to the chapter questions or problems, I would not recommend this book to someone trying to get an in-depth understanding. Better to find a lighter, broader read.

Very good book.......2007-01-03

The book is an interesting one as introduces the fundamentals of fuel cell theory. I do recommend the book for those who are initiating their studies in this subject. The book is well written and organized.

An excellent introductory book - up to date and comprehensive.......2006-04-16

This is a very complete and thorough book, and covers all of the theory as well as the technology of fuel cells. It is very well organized and structured and is highly suitable for first time students as well as an excellent reference book for the experienced reader. I highly recommend this book to virtually anyone who is interested in fuel cell technology.

Best introductory book on fuel cells available.......2005-12-19

This book is an excellent introduction to fuel cells for the novice as well as a valuable reference for someone with more experience. It does not assume prior knowledge on the one hand, yet provides enough depth to be of interest for people already in the fuel cell field. When I first became interested in fuel cells, I did a survey of all the books available and this one best suited my needs by far. It is very readable and the explanations provide both quantitative scientific rigor as well as supporting, intuitive reasoning. I highly recommend this book - when you finish reading it you will have a solid foundation in fuel cell science and technology.

Provides clear, interesting overview.......2005-12-08

This book does a fabulous job of providing a clear, interesting overview of fuel cells. Without assuming any previous knowledge, the book introduces the reader to the necessary fuel cell science, including thermodynamics, charge and mass transport, and reaction kinetics. The book also introduces the five types of fuel cells (PEMFC, PAFC, AFC, MCFC, SOFC) and gives the reader a good understanding of the characteristics, advantages and disadvtanges to each one, allowing for easy comparison. As a student, this textbook seemlessly guided me through the fuel cells class and left me with a strong, deeper understanding of fuel cells (and an ability to intelligently discuss them!). I still reference my textbook frequently and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about fuel cells.

Average customer rating:

Most Elaborately Annotated Edition. Artwork by Sätty.
Great edition with blood-thirsty details
Best Dracula resource available
The original novel with copious marginal notes

The Annotated Dracula
Bram Stoker
Manufacturer: Crown Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

In Search of Dracula: The History of Dracula and Vampires
Hollywood's Legends of Horror Collection (Doctor X / The Return of Doctor X / Mad Love / The Devil Doll / Mark of the Vampire / The Mask of Fu Manchu)

ASIN: 0517520176

Customer Reviews:

Most Elaborately Annotated Edition. Artwork by Sätty........2004-11-09

Leonard Wolf may be the world's most revered "Dracula" scholar. A native of Transylvania who left "the land beyond the forest" as a child, Wolf has taught and written about Bram Stoker's immortal novel for decades. In 1975, Wolf published "The Annotated Dracula", which remains to this day the most elaborately annotated edition of the novel.

"The Annotated Dracula" is a large book whose many illustrations and interesting notes are a pleasure to peruse. The text of the novel, itself, is taken from the second printing of the first edition, with typos in tact. The annotations include over 100 illustrations -drawings and photographs. 15 full-page drawings by artist Sätty (Wilfried Podreich) are featured. These are captivating expressionist interpretations of scenes from "Dracula", not to be missed. All illustrations are black-and-white.

In his introduction to "The Annotated Dracula", Leonard Wolf takes the reader on a tour of the traditions and circumstances from which "Dracula" eventually emerged at the hand of Bram Stoker. He discusses Gothic Romance literature, the vampire literature that preceded "Dracula", Eastern European vampire folklore, Vlad "Dracula" Tepes -the 15th century Wallachian Prince from whom the Count Dracula takes his name, and, finally, the life of the novel's enigmatic author, Bram Stoker.

Annotations in the form of margin notes are found on most pages of the novel. Wolf has included explanations for every imaginable allusion in the text, as well as interesting personal comments. The reader gets quite a history lesson just reading the notes. Some of the most intriguing notes include: recipes for the Romanian dishes on which Jonathan Harker dines, population demographics for Transylvania in the late 19th century, translations of old Mr. Swales' dialect, explanations of Victorian figures of speech, and the particulars of Victorian typewriters that Mina employs so frequently. I find that reading straight through the abundant notes is a bit much. Reading them with the novel is distracting. They are ideal for fans and students concentrating on one chapter or passage at a time and add to the enjoyment of the novel when absorbed in small doses.

The Appendixes contain some useful information and interesting trivia, as well. Maps of Transylvania, Europe, England & Wales, Whitby, London, and the Zoological Gardens in London are provided, with places from the novel marked. A Calendar of Events charts the events of the novel from May to November 1887 (the supposed year "Dracula" takes place) in coherent form. Students and aficionados may appreciate "Dracula Onstage", a chart of Count Dracula's appearances in the novel, with page numbers. There is a Selected Filmography that includes notable Dracula films, 1922-1974, including films featuring the Dracula character, not necessarily based on Stoker's novel. British, American, and Foreign-language editions of "Dracula" from 1897 to 1973 are listed. There is an Index for the novel that is helpful but not comprehensive.

"The Annotated Dracula" has been out of print for some time. Its latest incarnation is "The Essential Dracula", a handsome softcover edition released in 2004. "The Essential Dracula" retains and, in some cases, augments the footnotes found in "The Annotated Dracula", but dispenses with most of its illustrations, all of the Sätty drawings, and the Appendixes. If you simply want the information contained in the notes, "The Essential Dracula" is excellent -although the notes border on microscopic and can be trying to read. "The Annotated Dracula", with its maps, charts, and abundant illustrations, is a more elaborate edition.

Great edition with blood-thirsty details.......1999-06-21

First read this when I was in college. Great illustrztions and liner notes. Even on page one, as Jonathan HRKER STOPS FOR DINNER IN THE HOTEL BEFORE GOING ON TO DRACULA'S CASTLE, HE DINES ON CHICKEN PAPRIKOSH. In the margin, they have THE RECIPE!!!! for this dish! Awesome. Hope it returns.

Best Dracula resource available.......1998-07-24

Excellent information. Background information details nearly line by line the orginal novel. Get your hands on a copy of this book if you can.

The original novel with copious marginal notes.......1998-01-18

Vampire stories have been told and retold with fascination. However, there are few that match the power of the novel by Bram Stoker. This book contains the original version with thick margins filled with footnotes, anecdotes, vampire lore, and insight into every aspect of this fascinating story.

Average customer rating:

Contemporary Art in Book Form
an amazing work
Intriguing, but inaccessible
Reflection of woman
Great book...

Dictee
Theresa Hak Kyung Cha
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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No-No Boy
M. Butterfly.

ASIN: 0520231120

Book Description

Dictee is the best-known work of the versatile and important artist Theresa Hak Kyung Cha (1951-1982). A classic work of autobiography that transcends the self, Dictee is the story of several women: the Korean revolutionary Yu Guan Soon, Joan of Arc, Demeter and Persephone, Cha's mother Hyung Soon Huo (a Korean born in Manchuria to first-generation Korean exiles), and Cha herself. The element that unites these women is suffering and the transcendence of suffering. The book is divided into nine parts structured around the Greek Muses. Cha deploys a variety of texts, documents, images, and forms of address and inquiry to explore issues of dislocation and the fragmentation of memory. The result is a work of power, complexity, and enduring beauty.

Customer Reviews:

Contemporary Art in Book Form.......2007-07-27

I read this book for my Asian American lit class and found it excruciating painful to read. It's certainly inventive, but that's the only positive thing I can say about it. It's difficult to read, there are no characters to love. The French side by side is misleading since the translations are not exact. I would not call this a book, but rather a piece of contemporary art: It has a great concept but isn't actually very nice to read.

an amazing work.......2007-02-13

Dictee is a seminal work that has strongly influenced those poets lucky enough to have read it in the decades since it first appeared. It has had an underground reputation for decades, and now is beginning to be known to the mainstream. Yes, Dictee is rooted in the specifics of her family's immigrant experience, in the specifics of Korea and of America, in the specifics of gender, but it explodes across time, space and cultures, it transcends form, and ultimately it transforms the reader's consciousness of what can be done with writing and how you can perceive your life. I am tempted to say "if Cha had lived longer she would have been one of our major writers" but in fact she *is* one of the major writers of the second half of the 20th century, on the strength of this one work alone. I am delighted that Dictee is soon to appear in an addition with more of Cha's work.

Intriguing, but inaccessible.......2006-05-30

This book is certainly written in a surprising format, and some of the passages are interesting. However, in attempting to follow Cha's thought from one part to the next, the thought itself disappears, leaving only a form.

This book is clearly written for a very narrow range of readers: recent female Korean emigres to America who also know French, as well as extremely knowledgeable scholars. Those who do identify in some way with Cha's biography do find a way into the text. The two articles I read as part of a study of this book were written by Korean American women, who did find something meaningful in Dictee.

I, however, was lost and confused most of the time by the often minimalist use of words, their repeating, and the sudden jumps in theme and style.

Buy this book only if you fit into the above mentioned category, or if you have much time and desire to struggle through a confusing work for a questionable reward.

Reflection of woman.......2005-03-18

This book is confusing, frustrating, consuming and utterly breathtaking. It is a shattered mirror w/ pieces of riddles, poetry, cold photos of mothers and unsung heroines & nonsense; a true reflection of a woman. And like a woman, it takes work to truly understand its essence. Discovering what is hidden within Cha's deliberate chaos is like discovering the most sacred thoughts a woman possess. What makes this book unique is not so much the unconventional style but its dominating force to be absolutely nonconforming, such as the wildness that goes on in a woman's mind. It's not meant to be dissected and place into some kind of scientific formula of understanding. It's meant to be subjective, delicate and complex. Digest its intricacy and savor each page with delight. -Scribbling Ibis, 3/17/05

Great book..........2004-11-06

This has to be one of the most unusual books I have read. The layout of the whole book is a peice of art by itself. I bought it using a coupon from UnderTag.com, so it was almost free for me.

Average customer rating:

One of the best editions ever!
Wonderful Book... Worth Every Penny
Good, if You Like this Genre
Lord of the Rings boxed set review.
One "Ring" to rule them all

The Lord of the Rings
J.R.R. Tolkien
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Hobbit
The Silmarillion
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ASIN: 0618260587

Book Description

Three-volume boxed set edition lavishly illustrated in full color by Alan Lee

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, The Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth still it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell, by chance, into the hands of the hobbit, Bilbo Baggins.

From his fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor, Sauron's power spread far and wide. He gathered all the Great Rings to him, but ever he searched far and wide for the One Ring that would complete his dominion.

On his eleventy-first birthday, Bilbo dissapeared bequeathing to his young cousin, Frodo, the Ruling Ring, and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom.

The Lord of the Rings tells of the great quest undertaken by Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring: Gandalf the wizard, the hobbits Merry, Pippin and Sam, Gimli the Dwarf, Legolas the Elf, Boromir of Gondor, and a tall, mysterious stranger called Strider.

Customer Reviews:

One of the best editions ever!.......2007-08-01

What else should I say? Alan Lee is t h e perfect illustrator for this epic work of literature!

Wonderful Book... Worth Every Penny.......2007-07-23

I recieved this book and the artwork on the novels in fantastic. It really gives the books a great look and I have had fellow friends and family comment on how wonderful the artwork is too.

The whole Lord of the Rings novel is split into the three parts making it a trilogy, like the movies. This makes for easy handling of the book while reading instead of readind and trying to hold a 1000 or more page novel in your bed or in a chair.

This novel has a great story to it. Anybody looking for a great long novel would definetly enjoy this one. It gives a lot of background into the characters and really helps their image develop in your mind.

This product is an A+ for me and they couldn't have done it any better.

Good, if You Like this Genre.......2007-06-14

You can't say you didn't get what you paid for. These colossal books, filled with adventures, can certainly keep a person occupied, but as a general warning, these aren't those "glove-fits-all" books. You have to be in the mindset for an epic fantasy battle, and though I wasn't, my classmates who read the entire trilogy absolutely adored the stories. I would highly recommend reading The Hobbit before attempting to digest the trilogy, just so the concepts of hobbits, wizards, and Middle Earth, will be old hat.

Lord of the Rings boxed set review........2007-05-14

An mesmerising tale beautifully presented in this illustrated boxed set. The Lord of the Rings is the ultimate tale of good versus evil set in the enchanting landscape created by Tolkien that is Middle Earth.
I would recommend this edition to anyone who wants to embark on this wonderfully exciting quest with Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin.
An excellent edition!

One "Ring" to rule them all.......2007-05-06

Though J.R.R. Tolkien was not the first or most critically-acclaimed fantasy writer, he remains the most beloved and influential, even though "Lord of the Rings" is decades old.

Now with the epic movie trilogy based on this book, new waves of readers are discovering the unique power of the "Lord of the Rings." Tolkien's classic is a timeless tale of good and evil, written in a detailed, powerful style, set in a fictional world of staggering detail and haunting beauty.

Following up on events in "The Hobbit," "The Fellowship of the Ring" opens with the hobbit Bilbo Baggins departing from the Shire, after many years of living as the town eccentric. He reluctantly leaves his treasured ring of invisibility to his adventurous nephew Frodo, and vanishes into the wild with some dwarves.

But Gandalf the wizard, informs Frodo that the Ring is really the Ring of Power, a powerful item that the demonic Dark Lord Sauron has poured his essence and power into. And if Sauron can regain the Ring, he will be able to conquer Middle-Earth. Aghast, Frodo joins a fellowship of Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, Men and a wizard, to go to the one place where the Ring can be destroyed: Mount Doom.

"The Two Towers" begins directly after "Fellowship," after Frodo Baggins flees with his friend Sam into Mordor, with no one to protect them. His cousins Merry and Pippin are kidnapped by orcs from the renegade wizard Saruman. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli begin a frenetic search for the hobbits, and receive unexpected help from unlikely allies. Meanwhile, the Ring weighs more heavily on Frodo, as he is forced to get help from one of the people he most despised: the Ring's slave Gollum.

"Return of the King" brings the trilogy to an action-packed, slam-bang and ultimately poignant finale. Sam barely rescues Frodo from Sauron's orcs, and the two resume their journey to Mount Doom, barely escaping Sauron's forces. As Aragorn leads the desperate battle against Sauron's armies at the city of Minas Tirith, Frodo falls increasingly under the seductive spell of the Ring.

"Lord of the Rings" is indeed a powerful book, and its timeless messages and quests have shaped the fantasy genre, and crossed the boundaries of literary fiction. At its core it's about the fight of good versus evil, and how "little people" can have a strength and willpower that the great and mighty can't even begin to understand.

And Middle-Earth is a pretty astounding universe -- not just because Tolkien created a rich back-history for it, but because of the feeling of mystery that hangs around its corners, whether it's dead soldiers or slumbering tree-men. And of course rich cultures of Men, ancient wizards, the stately melancholy elves, and the tough dwarves -- as well as the idyllic Shire, a sort of ancient British countryside which is threatened by corruption.

Tolkien's writing is evocative and descriptive, though not to extremes; an elf rider is simple described as shining like a light behind a veil. The story is wrapped in a wide range of dialogue -- from Sam's folksy chat to the Elves' ethereal, formal songs -- and the pacing is slow and gradual, but kept alive by sudden twists of the plot. The first several chapters are kind of slow-moving, but by the time our heroes get to Bree, the pace picks up.

Frodo Baggins is an everyman hero, who dreams of adventure but begins to treasure the simple, boring life that he had once he is deprived of it. His deteriotation is saddening, all the more so because he is aware of it. The equally vibrant cast also includes Gandalf the crabby grandfatherly wizard, Sam Gamgee the loyal gardener, and a variety of kings, elves, dwarves, and more lovable little hobbits.

Even after all the years, J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" still rules the fantasy genre and has become an integral part of modern literature. It's an epic for all ages, and few books have even come close to equalling it.

The Well of Lost Plots (Thursday Next Series)

Average customer rating:

A good read, But
A funny romp `behind the scenes' of literature.
I am amazed
Has Thursday Next jumped the shark?
Third in a line of great reads!!

The Well of Lost Plots (Thursday Next Series)
Jasper Fforde
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0143034359
Release Date: 2004-07-24

Book Description

Jasper Fforde has done it again in this genre-bending blend of crime fiction, fantasy, and top-drawer literary entertainment. After two rollicking New York Times bestselling adventures through Western literature, resourceful literary detective Thursday Next definitely needs some downtime. And what better place for a respite than in the hidden depths of the Well of Lost Plots, where all unpublished books reside? But peace and quiet remain elusive for Thursday, who soon discovers that the Well is a veritable linguistic free-for-all, where grammasites run rampant, plot devices are hawked on the black market, and lousy books—like the one she has taken up residence in—are scrapped for salvage. To make matters worse, a murderer is stalking the personnel of Jurisfiction and it's up to Thursday to save the day. A brilliant feat of literary showmanship filled with wit, fantasy, and effervescent originality, this Ffordian tour de force is the most exciting Thursday Next adventure yet.

Customer Reviews:

A good read, But.......2007-04-18

Hmm, it's a good book but I think that the series was a lot more fun when it was in the real world and not set entirely in the Book world.

I never really bought into the central plot device and I really didn't feel that the whole UltraWord® thing was fleshed out enough to make it that important not to mention that several of the drawbacks of it seem kind of tacked on.

All in all I think that this is definitely worth reading but not nearly as good as the first two Thursday Next novels and I definitely liked the Nursery Crime books better. They seem to take themselves less seriously and are just more fun.

A funny romp `behind the scenes' of literature........2007-04-07

I thoroughly enjoyed Jasper Fforde's "The Well of Lost Plots", the third in his Thursday Next series. In this fantasy/mystery "outlanders", i.e. real people, may enter books and interact with the characters. Thursday does so hoping for a rest but soon becomes tangled in a plot that will shake up all of literature. There is corruption, intrigue and murder!

At the same time, she must deal with Aornis Hades, her enemy from earlier books who is trying to make her forget her husband. This insidious being has the ability to make a person lose memories.

There are plenty of writing puns and jokes sprinkled through the story as well as literary references. Miss Havisham, the Cheshire Cat and Humpty Dumpty play a role. We also meet `generics', background characters that writers create but do not `flesh out'. Thursday helps a couple of them become more interesting characters.

This story and the fascinating world Fforde has created is quite inventive. I don't know yet how this compares to the other volumes in the series but I look forward to reading those and letting you know.

I am amazed.......2007-03-22

My first book by Jasper Fforde was The Eyre Affair and I didn't really like it. I just couldn't connect with its main character Thursday Next. She wasn't real to me. And only the book's version of England and the other characters in the book kept me somewhat interested.
Not expecting that to change I read The Well of Lost Plots and my indifference to Fforde's work turned into amusement, amazement and then devotion. Thursday Next is still not real to me but she's become the familiar narrator of a wonderful world. Jasper Fforde has tons of ideas and they range from interesting to endearing to hilarious to amazing and so on and so forth.
Thursday Next, who already traveled into books in The Eyre Affair, has found refuge in `the book world' where characters out of fiction live their lives inside and outside their books. One of the many amazing facts we learn is that books are not created by authors but in fact are just transmitted to their pens out of the book world. We also learn that the first operating system book world was called OralTrad, which was then upgraded by the rhyming OralTradPlus (for easier recall), followed by a split into CaveDaubPro and the picto-phonetic storytelling systems which started with ClayTablet V2.1 and eventually ended in the current version of book V8.3. We also learn why we are still waiting for Godot and what happens when books get scrapped.
If you haven't read any of the Thursday Next novels pick this one to start with. If you have read one and weren't enthused try this one and change your mind the way I did. I've ordered the second of the series and am looking forward to the fourth and then the Next one. Pun intended.

Has Thursday Next jumped the shark? .......2007-03-16

Is it too early to suggest that Jasper has jumped the shark? Maybe, but I'm less indulgent about whether Thursday Next has.

Was it sophisticated intentional irony to set a book in a world of chaotic, unfinished, badly written drafts that itself feels chaotic, unfinished and badly written? I carped at Fforde in `Lost in a Good Book' that he'd be better off dropping his pretensions of plot (particularly an `overplot' for the series) and running with enjoyable stand alone surreal episodes. Here he barely bothers: Thursday can't remember Landon but then - after a mere page of unintegrated dream flapdoodle - she can. How nice. Meanwhile she's still done nothing to attempt to restore this supposed core love of her life. OK, lets dismiss the utterly unsatisfying overplot, what about the one for this novel? UltraWord(tm). Oh, I get it - it's a bit like Microsoft. Ho ho, smirk. This joke (I think it'd be stretching things to call it satire) works for about a paragraph - yet he milks this baby dry. Pageturner 1.3. Bookmark version 2.6 (or whatever), Jasper, we get it already.

OK, so the series plot has stalled, and the central one of this particular book is weak. `Lost plots' indeed. Still, plot's never been his strong point - let's get onto some of his traditional strengths: amusing Douglas Adams style leaps of imagination, and charming characters. Well, for the former, yeah, OK, there are some cool ideas here and there (although I'm struggling a bit to recall them, um, maybe the generics. And I did like the way this book connected with `The Big Over Easy'. The mispeling vyrus was mildly amusing the first time - ah, hey, it's misspelt - Oh, Jaaaaasper) - and the whole notion of being able to wander into any book at any time has fantastic potential. But a lot of other writers do this better. For a start, Fforde's pool of books is tiny - it's like he did a couple of undergrad literature courses (Austen, Dickens, Bronte, Shakespeare) - even, perhaps just one on classic English literature - and there's not a lot more going on. We're either supposed to feel impressed that he's dropped some names we might have heard of, and/or smug that we get the reference. Hey, I got the Biggles cameo. I didn't feel that smug. More importantly, he name drops classic characters or genres or settings but that's about it. There's not even an attempt to recreate and improvise with them in novel ways. Ms Havisham is probably the one he tries hardest with, but there's not even a whiff of Dickens in more than name. Even if he had've dropped the Havisham name and tried just creating her as a character, there's very little going on of interest between her and Thursday: somehow they're supposed to have this great professional respect between mentor and acolyte, but this is assumed rather than built. So we don't get a rounded new character to enjoy, nor do we get an avatar of an old one. What we get is a lame reference - and it's not enough.

It would be really cool if we suddenly found ourself in a range of novels with a real awareness (and love of) their conventions. An Asimov novel, say, where Thursday would suddenly find herself stacked and doting on some arrogant lead male - or would deliciously subvert this. Or a few pages of Steven King desperation and suspense. Or dropping in some classic characters who act and talk like they did originally - so we're aware why they ever gained their popularity. In pops Sherlock Holmes, with his quirks and methods. Here's Bertie Wooster, and you know what, he's hilarious - no, he's not just called Bertie Wooster, he says the sort of things Bertie would say, with the same exquisite turn of phrase. Alternatively we could find out it's an act, and once he steps off set he's dry and maliciously urbane. It's not, and I think you might have got my point by now, merely Fforde pulling a name of a book and dropping it into this one. It's not enough.

Charm? It feels a bit like Groundhog Day (not overall - this was, in contrast, generally a clever, charming film. Stick with me, I mean it feels like a bit in the film. You'll get it. Sorry, am I going on a bit long in these parentheses?). You know, where Bill Murray has had some lovely romantic moments with Andy McDowell one night, but in trying to recreate them on the next and the one after that he loses the magic, "OK, OK, c'mon, I pat the dog, you laugh, we slip on the snow into each others arms, you're happy, blah blah, can we get on with it." Thursday's friends and family sometimes used to do and say some charming things, here they more sort of hint at them. Most of the dialogue is transactional, "Hey, look out, it's going to get you." Instead of building emotional ties, Jasper goes for the cheap soap opera technique, "Who will die tonight?" Nobody feels much for these characters, but surely if we kill one of them we'll get some sort of response?! Well, Jasper kills a few (again the irritating conventional clanger of suddenly killing off several characters in a week that have supposedly survived lifetimes of danger and intrigue, while the rookie inexplicably lives on to solve the crime), but we have to manufacture the emotion.

Finally, somewhere along the line I stopped liking Thursday. I really was quite fond of her in `The Eyre Affair', but now I'd really rather hang out with someone else. She's still smart, I suppose, but she's not a particularly sympathetic character. "Plock, plock", says Jasper, "I gave her a pregnant dodo, for goodness sake - how much more charm can you want!?" Sorry, it's trimming, it's not enough.

Third in a line of great reads!!.......2007-03-07

Fforde does it again. Thursday Next, still missing her husband and very pregnant, decides to take over for a character in a book. Good idea while she's pregnant. She is still active with the Jurisfiction detectives in Bookworld. But because she has taken over for a character she has to watch for her role everytime it comes up, or she could change the book forever. Aornis, the mind erasing menace, is trying her best to make Thursday forget her husband, but to no avail. I will probably cry when I am done with this series!

The Lord of the Rings (Collector's Edition)

Average customer rating:

After having reading this book for the 4th time...
Centenary Edition (LoTR)
Beautiful
21st Century Ahistorical Bibliophilia: Almost without peer, and the flaws have been been exaggerated in number and degree
Not overly satisfied

The Lord of the Rings (Collector's Edition)
J.R.R. Tolkien
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Imitation Leather

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Epic | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

The Hobbit
The Silmarillion
Unfinished Tales: The Lost Lore of Middle-earth
The Silmarillion
The Lord of the Rings (50th Anniversary Edition)

ASIN: 0395193958

Amazon.com

A Christian can almost be forgiven for not reading the Bible, but there's no salvation for a fantasy fan who hasn't read the gospel of the genre, J.R.R. Tolkien's definitive three-book epic, the Lord of the Rings (encompassing The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King), and its charming precursor, The Hobbit. That many (if not most) fantasy works are in some way derivative of Tolkien is understood, but the influence of the Lord of the Rings is so universal that everybody from George Lucas to Led Zeppelin has appropriated it for one purpose or another.

Not just revolutionary because it was groundbreaking, the Lord of the Rings is timeless because it's the product of a truly top-shelf mind. Tolkien was a distinguished linguist and Oxford scholar of dead languages, with strong ideas about the importance of myth and story and a deep appreciation of nature. His epic, 10 years in the making, recounts the Great War of the Ring and the closing of Middle-Earth's Third Age, a time when magic begins to fade from the world and men rise to dominance. Tolkien carefully details this transition with tremendous skill and love, creating in the Lord of the Rings a universal and all-embracing tale, a justly celebrated classic. --Paul Hughes

Book Description

A one-volume collector's edition boxed and bound in handsome red leatherette with gold, green, and blue foil stamping, two-color text setting, and large format fold-out maps containing the complete texts of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, and six appendices. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, The Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell, by chance, into the hands of the hobbit, Bilbo Baggins. From his fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor, Sauron's power spread far and wide. He gathered all the Great Rings to him, but ever he searched far and wide for the One Ring that would complete his dominion. On his eleventy-first birthday Bilbo disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin Frodo the Ruling Ring and a perilous quest -- to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord, and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom. The Lord of the Rings tells of the great quest undertaken by Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring: Gandalf the Wizard, Merry, Pippin, and Sam, Gimli the Dwarf, Legolas the Elf, Boromir of Gondor, and a tall, mysterious stranger called Strider.

Customer Reviews:

After having reading this book for the 4th time..........2007-09-22

I didn't like Fellowship of the Ring the first time I read it, but plowed on to the end and gave up on the other two "books" (it's really just one long book). I think I now know why. The first reason is that I had just read and loved The Hobbit, and was expecting another book along the same lines.
LOTR starts off with Bilbo and the wizard Gandalf in Hobbition, and mentions of Gollum. What a great opener! The problem was, for me, that these familiar elements were all moved into the background. The only times I felt hey this is cool, is when they jumped back into the story for a moment, and these were few and far between. When are we going to get to the good stuff, huh?
The other thing is that this is, except for the first chapter or two, in a completely different style than The Hobbit. It's pure fantasy in the sense of looking around at all the wonder. (often times of very not magic things eg, trees and grass and hills in the shire.) Indeed, the later books focuses on humans. (In the recent movies they injected Elves in places where there were none before in the story, I expect to increase general interest in the atmosphere)
The result is that I did not enjoy LOTR until I took a very leisurely attitude towards it, rather than an adventurous one, notwithstanding that there are adventurous moments. Every time I read it I find some facet of the world that I did not notice before, or that I forgot. That is now when I most enjoy the book. For others to enjoy this book I think you must enjoy the moment, and not be in a hurry for the plot to advance.

Centenary Edition (LoTR).......2007-09-08

This is not a critique of Profesor Tolkien's works: I defer to others more qualified than I to judge his writing.

This is merely a review and description of a specific version of The Lord of The Rings. A number of reviews and comments have prompted me to point out some sought-after features of this edition.

First, this is only about the edition known as "The Centenary (1892-1992)." It was published in a single volume by Houghton Mifflin in 1991 to celebrate 100 years since the birth of Professor Tolkien in 1892. To easily identify this book look for, on the back of the dust jacket, a special centenary medallion and ISBN-10: 0-395-59511-8.

Alan Lee, reknowned Tolkien artist, was specially commissioned to paint 50 illustrations for this "Illustrated Edition." They are beautifully rendered on glossy, high-quality paper and interspersed throughout the book.

The book is set in large type, with the typeface clear and easy to read. The paper is good quality, bright white and shows little print "bleed-through" from following pages. On a personal note, special attention was obviously paid to this edition, as compared to some of the other poorly printed editions. The cover boards are in brown cloth with a simple gilded imprint of the professor's trademark signature. Nothing very fancy, but elegant nonetheless.

What should be great news to many readers, this edition is CONTINUOUS from page one to the end. The table of contents lists the SIX books, as Prof. Tolkien intended! Page numbering does not start over after each book:
Books 1-2 (Fellowship) = pp. 33 - 428
Books 3-4 (Two Towers) = pp. 429 - 772
Books 5-6 (Return) = pp. 773 - 1069
Appendix A-F = pp.1070 - 1172

Six maps of middle-earth are bound in at the end of the book. They are of various aspects of middle-earth, in black and white, and are not fold-out style. They're of medium quality and nothing to write home about.

This is a wonderful edition, identified by its special Centenary medallion on the back of the dust jacket, quality printing and beautiful artwork by Alan Lee. If your wrists are strong enough to heft a single-volume LoTR, this makes a great reading copy for your library.

Beautiful.......2007-09-03

This is a wonderful edition to our book collection. It's leather, hard cover, fat, & comes in a nice matching sleeve. The pages are gold edged. There is artwork as well. I know there are probably nicer & more expensive books out there, but come on! This is a great book for the price! It's a future heirloom sitting pretty on your book shelf!

21st Century Ahistorical Bibliophilia: Almost without peer, and the flaws have been been exaggerated in number and degree.......2007-08-12

Two points to clarify about the most popular single-volume LOTR editions:

1) The 1991 single-volume Alan Lee-illustrated edition is the "centenary" edition, commemorating Tolkien's 100th birthday (cf. "centenarian") . The "centennial" edition won't be published until 2054, which will be the 100th anniversary of the original publication of Lord of the Rings. This is a very well designed and well printed/bound edition, built to last and beatufil. Its only fault is the absence of fold-out maps (it has the black and white maps printed in sections, often seen in paperback editions).

2) The reason for the broken type in the 1974 red leatherette "Collector's Edition" (and the occurrences of this number on the order of 1 or 2 characters on every 50th page or so) is more likely that the source text from which the negatives/plates were made and this edition printed was itself flawed and originally was some form of letterpress metal type, probably Monotype [a more 'modern' version of the old LinoType system], though depending on the date of that setting [up to mid-'60s, or even later] it may have been hand-composed. All metal type gets re-used, and becomes worn and some of it cracked/chipped over time. There were many books reprinted in this way through the early '80s (and a few publishers, such as Lindsay Books, of long out-of-print, mostly public-domain or 'gray rights' titles, still do this).

The problem is unlikely to have been caused by faults in photo-typesetting strips or process-camera negs in 1973 or so (when this LOTR Collector's Edition was first printed) since that process was a fully mature, climax technology by then, and quality control was simply outstanding (this was due to that extinct beast, the unionized master-printer, especially at Houghton Mifflin, a publisher with a very large academic textbook list, and an industry reputation for quality production; just look at any ten trade hardbacks circa 1973 and earlier, and compare any element of quality to any ten current titles and it's clear the the technology and practice of printing and book binding peaked long ago, and nothing of newer technology, especially computer technology has served the interest of producing better made books, quite the opposite. 2007 tech only makes it faster and cheaper, nothing else.

Remember also that it was the Allen & Unwin type-compositors who introduced virtually all the spelling and diction errors in both the 1st and 2nd editions, some of which have only finally been fixed in the 2004-05 50th Anniversary edition; and these were errors mostly such as 'dwarves' being "corrected" to 'dwarfs', 'elven' to 'elfin', and many others, primarily linguistic, along those lines; these would have been proper corrections with any author other than Tolkien, of course.)

As for the notion that photo-reproduction is at all like printing a Word document on a laser printer, then scanning it back into a computer as a JPEG or GIF image file, and finally printing it again, that is a facile and plainly inaccurate comparison. In short, unless one starts with a bitmap or similar low quality computer 'font', prints on low-brightness ( <70) recycled paper via a cheap ink-jet printer, scans using a 75-by-75 dpi setting via low-end scanning hardware and software, and repeats printing as above, the result will certainly be nothing so poor as Jeff Sun describes in his review. Photo-reproduction via PC and peripherals or via process-camera, strips, and offset printing, can easily and does commonly achieve excellent results, provided the equipment is of first quality and the operator is skilled.

If anyone is obsessed enough to try this (as I clearly am), one fairly reliable way to tell whether a book is printed (at some stage) from some form of metal type is to use at least a 20x loupe and examine the vertical straight edges (particularly of upper N's, T's, L's, and E's) for irregularity. Metal type degrades in miniscule degrees after the first few hundred impressions, and will show this by cracking/splitting/chipping/warbling/bending and otherwise appearing NOT straight, sharp, and crisp (especially machine-set monotype/linotype which was all lead/tin, since it was melted down repeatedly; hand-set type has antimony and sometimes manganese in it, which makes it much harder to start and also casts more sharply; parts of letters break off but usually don't deform). It's a challenge to tell these apart, since photo-reproduction of letterpress can be hard to distinguish from original letterpress printing, if the latter is done by a highly skilled compositor and press operator. Some letterpress books show the impression of the type on the page, like a light embossing, from the force of the type striking the stock. Really good printing avoids this. So, if you have a book without this feature that does show feathering, breaks, waviness, etc. it may be either letterpress or photo-repro of LP, but if these traits are present it is almost certain metal type was used at some point in the life of the typesetting.

Two caveats to even to this: feathering alone does not definitely mean deformed metal type. Feathering,, or little veins and stream-like projects away from the character is often caused by excessive inking and watery ink, and also by cheap papers that are unsized (meaning a starch like substance is added during the paper's manufacture to prevent feathering and bleedthrough; newsprint is unsized and you can see how feathering works buy lightly touching a fountain pen to a piece of it for a minute or so). The other caveat is that some computer fonts, especially some high end ones for MAC typesetting systems, have been photographically captured/reproduced from books printed mostly before 1800, and their designers often deliberately retain some of the source type's imperfections (which are due mostly to the more primitive metallurgy of that era) to achieve a particular design effect. You might be surprised how much theory and psychology underlies type-design and typography; there is a lot. Need a dissertation topic?

This has become, I see now, a rant, and a really long one. First as a reader, then as a writer, then as apprentice in a letterpress print shop and bindery, I've always held the book as art-object or craft-work in very nearly as high esteem as the words contained within. I do think these issues are worth some ink, and I expect (or hope) that those interested in fine editions such as this so-called "Collector's " (Ugh! I so hate that term, it's like "deluxe" or "premier" and is mildly patronizing to the reader/buyer) edition of LOTR might also find at least some of the above ramble of interest and use. I do regard this red leatherette slipcased edition (ISBN 0-39-519395-8) as my favorite. It was this edition in which I first read LOTR, and though the Centenary hardcover and the HC 50th Anniversary editions (slipcased US and UK, different designs, both excellent) are on the whole and in most particulars better printed and bound, this edition is a nostalgia item for me. I also very much like the red binding, evocative as it is of the "Red Book of Westmarch," the foil-stamping on the spine, of the White Tree of Gondor, (which must be by either Pauline Baynes or by Tolkien himself) is a delight, and the two color printing, in spite of the ocassional bad character and slightly inconsistent inking, makes me feel like I'm reading an incunabulum. All of these speak across from the old world, though perhaps very long after the Third Age had concluded. I recommend it, highly and without reservation, even to a casual collector, especially now since it has recently gone out of print(ca. 2003-2005, around the time the slipcased, black bonded-leather, US 50th Anniversary edition [ISBN 0-618-51765-0] was published), and is very unlikely to be reissued. It (the Red) listed for $75, and Amazon last sold new copies for $47.50 last January. Now however, fine, used copies are nearing the original list price for the new, and new copies are nearing $100, and very hard to find. Buy one now, as soon as you find one available fine or better.

Not overly satisfied.......2007-08-02

The stories make a great novel, I'm a huge LoTR fan. Alas, when I attempted to purchase this product I found myself waiting nearly a month just to get an email telling me that Amazon was unable to obtain and ship me a copy of it. I opted for a different variation of this collectors edition, I would have been more impressed with this one.

The Perfect Paragon (Agatha Raisin Mysteries)

Average customer rating:

Agatha's Detective Agency Deepens Its Capabilities
Have you heard from Agatha lately?
Going downhill...such a shame
My 2 Cents Worth
The Perfect Paragon

The Perfect Paragon (Agatha Raisin Mysteries)
M. C. Beaton
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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

Women Sleuths | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

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Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell (An Agatha Raisin Mystery)

ASIN: 031230448X
Release Date: 2005-07-14

Book Description

'Outwardly bossy and vain, inwardly insecure and vulnerable, Agatha grows more endearing with each installment.'-Cleveland Plain Dealer After being nearly killed by both a hired hit man and her former secretary, Agatha Raisin could use some low-key cases. So when Robert Smedley walks through the door, determined to prove that his wife is cheating, Raisin In-vestigations immediately offers to help. Trouble is, Agatha hates divorce cases-especially when she's been hired by a pompous jerk like Smedley-but she has a business to run now and she's not about to turn away a paying client.

Customer Reviews:

Agatha's Detective Agency Deepens Its Capabilities.......2007-10-03

Although this is the 16th mystery in the Agatha Raisin series, you could enjoy this book as a stand-alone if you don't want to go back. Of those earlier books, I do especially recommend the first one, Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death.

Agatha Raisin had a rough start to her detective agency in The Deadly Dance. She learned she didn't really know all that much about detecting, that getting and keeping good help are hard, and that the police don't like amateur detectives who set up agencies any more than they like amateur detectives.

As The Perfect Paragon opens, the detective business is operating more smmothly . . . if only there were more business to operate. The money is in divorces, but Agatha has tried to avoid those cases due to having been recently divorced. But when business is slow, she agrees to check on Robert Smedley's wife, Mabel, who has shown an unusual (for her) tendency to act independently of her husband. Who is she buying those new clothes for? At the same time, Agatha has the usual run of missing teenagers and dogs where she normally makes good progress.

Agatha's agency soon makes a hash of the Smedley assignment, and after that she's off the case for other reasons. When a missing teenager turns out to be a murder victim, the obvious suspects seem to be unlikely killers, and Agatha is at a loss to figure out what happened . . . until Mrs. Bloxby gives her a hint as to motive. Before the story is over, crimes are spilling out in all directions.

Agatha adds a new staff member who brings some pizzazz to Agatha's investigations, and Agatha gets occasional help from her old detective partner, Sir Charles Fraith. Being as insensitive as ever to others, she virtually destroys her relationship with Bill Wong in the process of trying to find the killer and accept Bill's hospitality.

The story has a few weaknesses that are unfortunate: The investigation is turned into more of a circus than is really needed to make a good story, agency people make more dumb mistakes than seem likely, and there are a few too many coincidences in how the key facts are turned up.

The actual mystery is better developed and hidden than in many earlier books. And Agatha mostly avoids being her most annoying self.

I think these detective-agency cases will be the saving of this series, even though M. C. Beaton couldn't resist having Agatha fall for yet another handsome man.

Consider all the circumstances if you want to get at the truth!

Have you heard from Agatha lately?.......2007-04-03

This latest (16th) entry into the long running Agatha Raisin series opens as Agatha is seeking advice from her friend, the vicar's wife, about her new detective agency. Business is slow and Agatha is having doubts about the whole thing. She is surprised when the advice she is given is not to scale back but rather to hire a new employee. Reluctantly Agatha agrees and soon finds herself with more cases, and staff than she had ever imagined. She is even working with the local police! And being Agatha there is a new romance on the horizon.

Authors of series novels are faced with some difficult choices. Should their main character age as the series progress or stay the same? How many murders can a person just stumble on to? If the author chooses not to age the character then how to keep the series fresh? Criticisms begin about the stories becoming boring, formulistic etc. If the character does age or change in anyway the complaints are that he/she is not the same. In my opinion Beaton has reached a happy compromise with Agatha who ages slightly with each novel and her personality also matures slightly as time goes on. In the later books Agatha is beginning to realize that she must consider other people's feelings, that the traits that brought her success in the London business world are not serving her well in a small village. To solve the problem of how many bodies Agatha could just happen on to, Beaton has had Agatha open a detective agency so the mysteries will be able to present themselves in a more straightforward manner.

These books could be read and enjoyed in any order but due to the on-going story arc of Agatha's personal life it would be better to read them in order.

Going downhill...such a shame.......2007-03-23

Alas, I don't refer to our Agatha's arthritic hip or thickening waist, but to the series. I have delighted in reading Agatha's adventures. Have rolled my eyes at her vanity, shaken my head at her desperation, sympathized with her worries, admired her courage and been completely captivated. The characters, in general, became as familiar and as loved. Roy, Bill, Charles and Mrs. Bloxby, even Miss Simms, all have very human strengths and flaws.

Unfortunately, this latest entry begs comparison with Lilian Braun's "The Cat Who..." series in which the books became carbon copies of each other, progressively blurrier. I must agree wtih the reviewer who commented that the characters were too good to be true and poorly developed, that guesses turned out to be facts and obstacles were too easily overcome. The book was too brief and felt hurried and formulaic, as if Ms. Beaton was under pressure to throw something together quickly.

I'm glad to see Agatha growing, changing and, for that matter, aging. It would simply be too frustrating if she didn't. I'd be content to accompany her on her adventures whether she remains single or enters into marriage. (Although I usually wanted to box James Lacey's ears) What I can't bear is to see is Agatha and the village of Carsely degenerate into the mystery genre's version of fast food, i.e., flavorless, empty and simply there to fill space. I sincerely hope for better things in the next installments.

My 2 Cents Worth.......2007-02-03

I just finished this book, the last of the series (except for the new one in hardback) and am going through withdrawal symptoms. I have read the series straight through and have developed a soft spot for the irrascible Agatha Raisin. While Agatha's going pro is an inevitable progression of the series, I don't like the dissipation caused by too many characters. Other changes are evident in this book. Agatha now cooperates with the police (most of the time) and the police sometimes give her tips. This is the first book where Agatha herself is not in personal danger. Her character has softened somewhat and she's now just understanding the meaning of friendship, which requires giving as well as taking. She's still vain and men obsessed, but doesn't get much satisfaction in this book. Because of that, a melancholy mood has settled over her and she fears loneliness and old age. Speaking of age, the author is going to have to age Agatha a bit. How many years can she spend in her "early 50s"? I love this series and can't wait for the new book to come out in paperback. In the meantime, I'll give the Hamish McBeth series a try.

The Perfect Paragon.......2006-08-05

I have always loved Agatha Raisin. As a matter of fact I got my mother and sister hooked on her also. I was very disappointed in this book. Agatha has lost her spark and fiesty disposition. She needs to drop the detective agency as it makes the story too scattered. Even the love interest fizzled before any fire started. Hope the next one is a gem!

The Lord of the Rings (50th Anniversary Edition)

Average customer rating:

Excellent!
Water in a dry place
An Awe-Inspiring Masterpiece
A beautiful, supple, savory edition
Can't wait to posess it....

The Lord of the Rings (50th Anniversary Edition)
J.R.R. Tolkien
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Leather Bound

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Epic | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0618517650
Release Date: 2004-10-21

Book Description

The Fellowship of the Ring, part one of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic masterpiece, ﬁrst reached these shores on October 21, 1954, arriving, as C. S. Lewis proclaimed, "like lightning from a clear sky." Fifty years and nearly one hundred million American readers later comes a beautiful new one-volume collector's edition beﬁtting the stature of this crown jewel of our list. With a text fully corrected under the supervision of Christopher Tolkien to meet the author's exacting wishes, two large-format fold-out maps, a ribbon placemarker, gilded page edges, a color insert depicting Tolkien's own paintings of the Book of Mazarbul and exceptionally elegant and sturdy overall packaging housed within an attractive slipcase, this edition is the ﬁnest we've ever produced.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent!.......2007-10-05

This book is a must have for LOTR fans. It looks simple too great. It has very genuine leather cover and has really authentic maps inside. It is a good collector's item.

Water in a dry place.......2007-10-02

Over the past several decades, THE LORD OF THE RINGS has sold millions of copies and is commonly regarded as one of the most influential fantasy novels ever published. Many first time readers have began their trek into Middle-earth with Frodo and the Company of the Ring in recent years. What they will encounter there has been loved by millions of readers before them, and if they allow themselves to respond to Tolkien and his Myth will doubtless become a loyal and ardent fan of Tolkien and those furry-footed hobbits. What's also notable about THE LORD OF THE RINGS is, for a book as long as it is, many of its readers reread the novel many times over. Yet despite its enduring popularity, Tolkien is often held in complete disregard by the literary establishment.

The real question is why? In the literary climate that is characterized by modernism and post-modernism where the twentieth and twenty first century is a wasteland why does a "series" of fantasy novels become one of the most beloved works in modern times?

It's because the power of myth over the human imagination works wonders, creating a longing and a hunger that, Tolkien argues, is met by the Christian religion. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis are the flip-sides of the same coin, with Lewis giving us accounts of the longing and Tolkien providing the books that would create that longing. And what about the longing? It's that longing for Myth, that love for those beauties which Tolkien shows us in THE LORD OF THE RINGS. It's that longing that sets man apart from all other creatures in the universe: a craving for beauty and for joy. The German word for this longing is "senhsucht". In a time characterized by fast-food, cell-phones, materialism, superficiality, the account of a Hobbit working against all odds in a mythic landscape so captures the human imagination (and this is NOT hype) that an entire genre is created. It is because of how Tolkien so masterfully handles Myth that he has been so highly treasured by such a large fan base.

Still, there are a few things to consider when reading Tolkien nowadays. Looking over the reviews, it proved rather shocking to me that people have been complaining that, although it was original when it was published, much of what Tolkien has done has become cliche and that other writers are much better working with these cliches and making them more exciting than Tolkien. They complain about his "endless descriptions" of the natural world, very detailed accounts of geography and not enough "characterization." The characters are unrealistic: the "human drama" required by the book's very nature is beyond Tolkien's scope as a writer. THE FELLOWSHIP is both uneven and very weak in pacing, with so much invested in the world and its history Tolkien forgets to make us care about the characters themselves. Another fault oft cited against Tolkien is the lack of "female characters," and there have been accusations that Tolkien is racist; one of my favorite misconceptions is that Frodo and Sam are homosexuals.

Academia has no time for Tolkien, and many of our key critics have denounced Tolkien as ill-written or escapist (Harold Bloom said that THE LORD OF THE RINGS is a period piece which will simply not die but just keeps lingering on long after its relevance. This is the stance taken by a lot of professional critics with a grudge against Tolkien, and wonderfully have been proven wrong). To this day, while not nearly as openly hostile as previous decades, academia in general harbors resentment against Tolkien and everything he's done. As far as they're concerned, he's done something that is actually popular and therefore unworthy of study. It's one of those "high-brow vs. low-brow" situations, and instead of producing "worthwhile" academic research, Tolkien instead writes a "series" of novels which become one of the most established authors of this century. In recent years, academic support has grown tremendously for Tolkien, but he is still a very hotly contested modern writer, unlike some other "academically undeniable" classics such as James Joyce. Unlike the academic favorites, Tolkien highly polarizes the professional literary establishment. Fortunately he has gained some ground here though.

Much of the complaints voiced against THE LORD OF THE RINGS are both unimportant and irrelevant. Tolkien is working with literary traditions not in-tune with the modern mind, but is instead handling narrative threads of Myth. Tolkien gives us solid archetypes to work with, bringing out the very qualities of masculinity and the beauties and stark wonders of femininty, but all expressed in mythological terminology. The idea of Sam and Frodo as homosexual is both ridiculous and totally unfounded. In Myth, good is characterized and seen as "White," and the evil is dark and perverted. Those who say Tolkien is racist approach him from the wrong standpoint.

As for the modern fantasy reader, those who complain about Tolkien's originality (while acknowledging it, but that later writers do a much better job with it) is like saying Shakespeare, while a good dramatist, is not that good because other people take his principals and make them more exciting, etc. I heard a story once about a person who went to see a Shakespeare play and went away complaining there were too many quotes in the play to make it any good. Shakespeare is the source of these quotes and he did not even realise it.

Most people know that Tolkien founded modern fantasy. Tolkien laid down the template for the fantasy genre in general, and anyone who reads fantasy has been touched, directly or indirectly, by Tolkien's work. Almost all of the major fantasy authors have acknowledge their debt to Tolkien, and the shadow Tolkien casts over fantasy literature is very long indeed. Because there is fifty years separating us from the original publication, it is much harder to approach THE LORD OF THE RINGS as those first reviewers, for those who have grown up reading fantasy literature are now accustomed to Dwarves and Elves and Dark Lords and Epic Quests, but when it was issued THE LORD OF THE RINGS transformed and invented an entire new genre. It is not Tolkien's fault that his vision of a mythology was so successful that everyone else decided they would try their hand at fantasy and work within Tolkien's templates. The main problem with fantasy authors in general are they are more interested in emulation than they are in true "myth-making." Much like early rock and roll, which, because rock was not an established form of music, the early musicians relied on other forms to create a new genre, Tolkien did not have this tradition to fall back on so instead he used various literatures and epic poems to create his own vision of myth. A lot of fantasy writers do not work in the context of myth any more, but rather rely on genre stereotypes which are generally found in Tolkien. Many readers who are interested in "pulp" fantasy get bogged down in Tolkien because he takes the time to fully explain his world and its cultures, because his goal is different. There is plenty of action in LORD OF THE RINGS, but those raised on the pulp fantasy will not care for it.

Ultimately, THE LORD OF THE RINGS's criticism has shown itself to be of little importance on its durability as a major text. Ever since its publication in 1954, 1955, and 1956, LOTR has become one of the most important literary works our era has produced, highly regarded and passionately loved by an enormous amount of people. Despite the very vocal minority who despise Tolkien and his work, THE LORD OF THE RINGS has consistently topped the polls for the best book of the last one hundred years. Whatever the critics say, THE LORD OF THE RINGS is here to stay because popular imagination has grabbed hold of Tolkien's vision and ran with it. Tolkien and Lewis have been wonderfully vindicated in their belief that there is an enormous adult appetite for Myth and fantasy literature.

Tolkien's work is water in a dry place.

An Awe-Inspiring Masterpiece.......2007-09-14

Finally, 50 years later, Houghton Mifflin is able to assemble the Masterpiece that Tolkien dreamed of so many years ago. This leather bound edition is complete with all 6 books, gilded pages, it's own cloth bookmark, as well as appendices full of additional information. It allows for Tolkien's story to become a tale, his dream a reality. Such a work of art is a must have for Tolkien enthusiasts and book collectors alike. At $53 dollars, it was money well spent.
The only con i see is that it is so beautiful, you don't even want to open it! More seriously, be careful with the fold-out maps. They take a little coaxing to unfold as they are glued at the corners. The cover of the book does seem a little thin considering the weight and amount of pages, but it has held up fine for me. Despite these small "problems", this IS a five star book in every way possible. Thank you for your time

-Matt

A beautiful, supple, savory edition.......2007-08-24

Whatever problems might have been with this book before, they seem to have been solved - the pages are sewn in, the leather is gorgeous and feels wonderful, and it is a solid, beautiful, wonderful book.

The Lord of the Rings is also, of course, a five star story, but I am five starring this review solely on the physical characteristics of this leather edition.

Mmmmmmmm.... s'wonderful!

Sit in your highback reading chair in front of the fire with a glass of Cognac reading this one. Very Alistair Cook.

It's pricey, but well worth it.

Can't wait to posess it...........2007-08-06

I feel sorry for the people who wrote reviews anything under five stars for this. I saw this at my boss's place and all I can tell you is that I cannot wait to possess this edition. I have been engaged with Tolkien literature for past 5 years...it's an age in itself. But let me not get there, because ths review would be exceding it's purpose and prescribed bounds then.

Let me jus say that I LOVED the presentaion of this book. The maps, the additional work...just loved it. It is a treat for Tolkien lovers - collector's delight. I can hardly wait to have this added to my library...

The Stone Monkey (A Lincoln Rhyme Novel)

Average customer rating:

Topical, intelligent and good reading
Yet another solild entry in the Rhyme saga.
An endless series of turns of events
My first Rhyme novel
Reasonably good entry in L. Rhyme series, with good NY Chinatown info!

The Stone Monkey (A Lincoln Rhyme Novel)
Jeffery Deaver
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0743221990
Release Date: 2002-03-12

Amazon.com

When a vicious smuggler known as the Ghost scuttles a ship filled with undocumented Chinese immigrants less than a mile from New York harbor, only a handful of survivors--and the Ghost himself--manage to escape the burning vessel. Lincoln Rhyme, the quadriplegic NYPD forensic detective first introduced in 1997's The Bone Collector, and Amelia Sachs, his partner and lover, must stop the Ghost before he murders the two families who made it to shore. The families have gone to ground in the all but impenetrable world of Manhattan's Chinatown, a fact that makes the pair's two allies--Sonny Li, a Chinese cop, and Dr. John Sung-- invaluable partners.

The group's race against time showcases Jeffery Deaver's many talents, particularly intricate plotting, plenty of surprising twists, and breakneck pacing. This is a real standout from a writer whose previous thrillers have earned him a solid following among mystery fans. --Jane Adams

Book Description

LINCOLN RHYME RETURNS! First introduced in the spine-chilling novel The Bone Collector, Lincoln Rhyme dazzled readers with unparalleled forensic sleuthing -- all done from the confines of a wheelchair. A famed criminologist, paralyzed from the neck down, Rhyme compensates for his physical disability with his brains -- and the arms and legs of his brilliant and beautiful protégée, Amelia Sachs. It is Amelia who "walks the grid" for Rhyme, acting as his eyes and ears for the famously dangerous and difficult cases chronicled in Jeffery Deaver's bestselling novels The Bone Collector, The Coffin Dancer, and The Empty Chair.

Now the awe-inspiring duo returns in The Stone Monkey. Recruited to help the FBI and the Immigration and Naturalization Service perform the nearly impossible, Lincoln and Amelia manage to track down a cargo ship headed for New York City and carrying two dozen illegal Chinese immigrants, as well as the notorious human smuggler and killer known as "the Ghost." But when the Ghost's capture goes disastrously wrong, Lincoln and Amelia find themselves in a race against time: to stop the Ghost before he can track down and murder the two surviving families who have escaped from the ship and vanished deep into the labyrinthine world of New York City's Chinatown.

Over the next harrowing forty-eight hours, the Ghost brilliantly and ruthlessly hunts for the families, while Rhyme, aided by a quirky policeman from mainland China, struggles to find them before they die, and Amelia Sachs pursues a very different kind of police work -- forming a connection with one of the immigrants that may have consequences going to the core of her relationship with her partner and lover, Lincoln Rhyme.

The Stone Monkey abounds with Deaver's famous trademarks: wholly unexpected plot twists, breakneck pacing, and characters who are heartbreakingly real, reminding us once again why People hailed him as "the master of ticking-bomb suspense" and Publishers Weekly called him the "most clever plotter on the planet."

Download Description

Lincoln Rhyme returns! First introduced in the spine-chilling novel The Bone Collector, Lincoln Rhyme dazzled readers with unparalleled forensic sleuthing -- all done from the confines of a wheelchair. A famed criminologist, paralyzed from the neck down, Rhyme compensates for his physical disability with his brains -- and the arms and legs of his brilliant and beautiful protÃƒÂ©gÃƒÂ©e, Amelia Sachs. It is Amelia who "walks the grid" for Rhyme, acting as his eyes and ears for the famously dangerous and difficult cases chronicled in Jeffery Deaver's bestselling novels The Bone Collector, The Coffin Dancer, and The Empty Chair.

Customer Reviews:

Topical, intelligent and good reading.......2007-06-01

Jeffery Deaver's popular duo of Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are back again, as they did in The Bone Collector, The Empty Chair, The Coffin Dancer, and (after The Stone Monkey) The Vanished Man - which for me is just, just the best of the bunch. They are all good, and Deaver has created an enigmatic character in the immobile Lincoln Rhyme who, grumpy though he is, always displays such a lucidity of mind and exceptional talent for forensics that all other characters in the book pale into insignificance. He's human though, he has failings, but we always forgive him because we know that despite his intense frustrations (brought about by his almost absolute physical disability) he is a man of integrity and sound judgement. In The Stone Monkey he is on the trail of a 'Snakehead', a Chinese man who exploits the desperations of those in his home country and who seek a better life in The Beautiful Country (is New York beautiful?). The Snakehead, aka Ghost, is a pretty nasty piece of work and his identity is cleverly hidden throught most of this story although I have to confess that, for once, I got it right and quite early on. It didn't spoil a thing though, the book gave me new insights into the pain and politics behind human trafficking, and once again I can give a Deaver novel the thumbs-up and a strong recommendation. By the way, there's more to Deaver than the Rhyme/Sachs series - try Twisted (a series of short stories) and The Blue Nowhere for starters.

Yet another solild entry in the Rhyme saga........2007-03-30

No spoilers

The Stone Monkey is yet another blazing and captivating read by Deaver staring Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs that has plot twists throughout it that I promise you won't see coming. I won't summarize the plot, but I will say that seeing as how this is the fourth book in the Rhyme series, I doubt anyone reading this is new to Rhyme, so having said that, if you've read the previous three books and liked them, read this now. While I wouldn't say this is the best book out of the first four (it lacked the "wow" surprise factor that the others had throughout the book), it's still a great and fun book. If you haven't read Deaver before, stop reading this review and go look up and buy The Bone Collector, the first book of this series

Bottom line: another fun and informative read that a Deaver fan will demolish is minimal sittings.

An endless series of turns of events .......2007-01-05

Another riveting thriller featuring forensic expert Lincoln Rhyme and partner and lover Amelia Sachs, with the latter showing a hint of interest for a soothing-voiced chinese doctor who is not who he pretends he is...

My first Rhyme novel.......2005-07-29

This is the first book I read by Jeffery Deaver. It was hard at first to visualize the condition Lincoln is in pertaining to the wheel chair and his disability. After a while I did not think about his disability, but how his mind worked to solve the crime. He works well with Amelia and the story intrigued me until the end. I have since read five more of Deaver's books.

Reasonably good entry in L. Rhyme series, with good NY Chinatown info!.......2005-07-05

"Stone Monkey" (named after a good luck amulet worn by the story's Chinese doctor) is Deaver's fourth in the NYPD Forensic Expert (and quadriplegic) Lincoln Rhyme series. In this one, he and "leg-man" Amelia Sachs are trying to locate a "Snakehead", a Chinese illegal immigrant smuggler, named the Ghost who has sunk the boat before the Coast Guard can get to it, and now needs to find and eliminate the two families and a couple of single people (a doctor and an undercover detective) who made it to the Long Island shore and survived. The Chinese people are temporarily hiding out in New York's huge Chinatown, but the brutal Ghost seems to have unlimited connections in his quest to find them and eliminate any witnesses to the incident. The detective, a fun character named Sammy Li, hooks up with Rhyme's team and nearly steals several scenes with both his insights and his humorous commentary on various turns in the investigation.

Like Deaver's "Vanished Man" that combines a forensic police procedural with considerable information about the practice of magic and illusion, this novel equally informs us readers about Chinese culture and the hopes and aspirations of those seeking a better life in the "Beautiful Country" (as they call America). While the indifference of the villain to human life gets a little hard to take, in the end he gets what he deserves, mostly through the hard work of Rhyme and Sachs. At the end, a twist we never expected helped explain some otherwise puzzling developments during the case. Just one caveat - it appears to us from the lack of much background on our leading man and lady that it might help to read this series in order - Deaver's technique of unfolding the bare minimum of character development in each successive story may detract from these otherwise interesting and suspenseful tales.

Average customer rating:

Couldn't put it down!
Kellogg's prose has gotten even more crisp and pithy
Full of wit with an exciting mystery and great detective.
Terrific

Nothing but Gossip
Marne Davis Kellogg
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Women Sleuths | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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Insatiable

ASIN: 0385488602
Release Date: 1998-12-29

Book Description

In Marne Davis Kellogg's fourth wildly entertaining mystery featuring Lilly Bennett, the intrepid marshal of Bennett's Fort, Wyoming, and president of Bennett Security, finally makes it to the altar--but not before stopping a one-man crime wave, being abducted in the trunk of a Cadillac, and confronting a murderer over a rose-strewn casket.

Lilly's long-suffering mother can finally breathe a sigh of relief--and reap the rewards of her finely honed party-planning skills--by throwing the wedding of the century! Lilly's marriage to her dashing suitor, Richard Jerome, is just a week away.  But where Lilly Bennett is concerned, that week might as well be a lifetime.

And sure enough, it's at a pre-wedding party that the first shooting occurs.  The victim is the hostess herself, Alma Rutherford Gilhooly--larger, louder, and brassier than life, but also richer than Croesus--who is found in her dressing room with a bullet in her head just moments after Lilly has left.

Suspects abound--from Alma's philandering husband to charismatic televangelist Johnny Bourbon, to hunky white hunter Kennedy McGee, to Alma's own half sister, Mercedes, now president and CEO of Rutherford Oil and Alma's chief rival in a bitter proxy fight.  To muddy the waters--and give Lilly a bunch of prenuptial headaches that have nothing to do with getting cold feet--each one of these suspicious characters seems to be sleeping in the wrong bed.

So what's the motive--business or pleasure? It takes three more attempted murders and all of Lilly's investigative powers for the villain to be caught, just in time for the wedding!

As always, Marne Davis Kellogg's character portraits are devastatingly on-target, her mystery scrupulously plotted, and her sense of place immaculately portrayed.

Customer Reviews:

Couldn't put it down!.......2001-08-13

I picked this book up as something to read on the plane, not knowing or even hearing of Ms. Kellogg ever before. But, once I started reading it, I just couldn't put it down. I was very impressed with Ms. Kellogg's style--she gives her main character, Lilly Bennett, such insight and wisdom into all the other brilliant characters that inhabit the story, I was enraptured to the end. I love the setting and general feel of the book- the laid-back, yet sophisticated upper-class western that the book is set in was a breath of fresh air from what seems like every other stuffy, old-school murder mystery dealing with the upper class.

I'm working on reading all the rest of Ms. Kellogg's work now, and I have to say that it just keeps getting better. Kudos to you, Marne!

Kellogg's prose has gotten even more crisp and pithy.......1999-05-18

Forget the plot -- read Kellogg's books for her wordsmithing. In this novel, sleuth Lily really comes into her own with her on-target marksmanship rivaled only by her pinpoint accuracy in assessing the world as we know it. Her comments on an indecent exposure case are worth the price of admission. And how refreshing it is to have a protagonist who doesn't cut her own hair with nail scissors but who can still shoot-em-up with the best of 'em.

Full of wit with an exciting mystery and great detective........1999-01-11

Heiress, private sleuth and U.S. Marshall, Lilly Bennett, is finally getting married, an event which her mother had almost given up on. After more than a couple decades of trying to find the right man, Lilly is marrying Richard...who is everything a woman could want. She takes on the case of a murdered oil heiress the week of her fabulous wedding and puts not only her life and that of her brother's on the line, but is expected to attend a number of high society pre-marital parties. Can she do it all and still keep the love of her life? Lilly has fun skewering both ends of the political spectrum as well as societal mores. A professional woman sleuth...with a big difference.

Terrific.......1998-10-23

She is the President of Bennett Security as well as the Federal Marshal at the tourist attraction of Bennett's Fist. As the extremely successful Lily Bennett nears fifty, she falls in love for the first time in her life. In six days, she plans to marry the man of her dreams. Ever since Lily became a cop instead of a debutante at twenty-two, her mother has prayed every night for this day to occur.

Even as her calendar is filled with last minute social events and wedding details, Lily is also working on a case. A power struggle between two half-sisters over control of Rutherford Oil has led to one of the siblings being shot to death. The deceased's spouse Wade Gilhooey hires Lily to prove that he did not kill his wife. Lily quickly learns that the victim had many enemies, but things turn personal and ugly when an attempt to kill Lily's brother occurs because he has information that someone does not want leaked. With her plate boiling over, readers must wonder whether Lily will make it to the church in one piece.

Fans will enjoy the believable changes that love has made to Lily, who remains one of the best female sleuths in nineties literature. However, what makes NOTHING BUT GOSSIP click is the juxtaposition between murder scenes and wedding events. Mame Davis Kellog takes a rather risky chance with her popular sleuth, but succeeds in freshening up her series.

Harriet Klausner

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