Foreign-market Books

The language in this short novel is simple and engaging, and probably the best (if not only) reason to read this book, particularly for students of french such as myself.

Unfortunately the story is very contrived and unconvincing, despite Camus' apparent attempts to ground it in a believable, ordinary world. The problem (as I see it) is that Mersault is easily Camus' least interesting protagonist, and the entire story is told in first person from his perspective. Mersault feels nothing and thinks nothing throughout the narrative, so that the narration gives the reader an intimate view of... nothing. Admittedly, previous and subsequent authors have dealt quite thoroughly with the thoughts and feelings of human characters in somewhat analogous situations to that of Mersault. Perhaps Camus was consciously treading new ground by placing his protagonist in what would be trying and difficult situations if only he cared about anything, but he doesn't, so they aren't.

There is plenty of good Camus out there, particularly his short stories and plays, but this is not it.

Quel roman savoureux. Du passé simple, j'en prendrais volontier. Un incontournable.

I first read the novel in english, but I read it in french once I became fluent in that language. After the first sentence: "Aujourd'hui, Maman est morte," you know that you are in the good hands of Albert Camus. The existential theme is just awsome, and it was all the better en français! Surtout, je sait que je l'aimais.

Je fais mon debut comme instite a un lycee. Pour le cours de francais V, on va commencer la litterature avec L'ETRANGER de Camus. Je crois que c'est l'endroit ideal pour commencer, car le livre se presente simplement au lecture, mais le mene aux themes importants de la philosophie francaise/absurdiste. A mon avis personnel, la scene du meurtre sur la plage est exceptionnellement emouvante et vive. Ceux qui disent que c'est n'importe quoi comme livre completement ratent un chef-d'oeuvre.

What a way to begin a story?! And what can one say about Camus that hasn't already been said? This is a great novel filled with observations, images and actions carefully stitched into words by a master narrator. If you're a novice to French literature, this is a perfect place to begin.

This book explains in simple language how to take advantage of the huge growth that emerging markets are having. It gives you pointers on how to maximize your profits and reducing your risk exposure. If your a day trader, this book will open your eyes to a whole new world filled with excellent investment opportunities. With this book you will have advantage over millions of other investors that don't even know the growth opportunities that these markets have. It's the simplest way to learn from the masters of investment, without having to pay a lot for that knowledge.

This book teaches you how to take advantage of emerging markets. It explains in simple language the different types of investments you can make to take advantage of this fast growing economies. At the same time it gives you tools you can use to minimize risk and maximize profits. If your a day trader, with a huge appetite for gains, this book will open you eyes to a whole new universe of opportunities that exist in emerging markets. If you want easy money, there's no better book that tells you how to get it than this one.

I hold a position in a bank operating in Central America. This book offers an insight that has to be shared by the business community throughout the world! Marber shows how the teachings of David Ricardo are being practiced by people throughout the world everyday. The opportunities and road blocks to achieve world class are defined clearly not only for first world countries but also for the developing ones. His book is a great introduction to the subject. A well researched book with great sources of information for college students and proffesionals that want to participate in these markets. A great contribution to the field of emerging markets, especially, if you take in consideration that there are not that many books covering this matter. Not many professionals on this field are able to write in such entertaining way.

I found this well researched book from the author's "Emerging Markets Insider" column on WORLDLYINVESTOR.COM (also highly recommended). Most investors have forgotten these markets in recent years due to crises in Asia, Russia, and Latin America. Having been born in an "emerging market" (South Africa), it is interesting to see a "First Worlder's" perspective. Mr. Marber rightly has pointed out that these are important markets (many up more than 50% this year), and anyone interested in solid background material should find this book useful. His weekly web pieces on emerging market stocks are very timely and I found his book complimentary to those articles. Yes, the Dow Jones and Nasdaq have been soaring. But many emerging markets have outperformed them this year and over time. There are too few books that cover these markets well, and this is one of the better examples I have read.

Marber offers some considerable insight into the growing magnitude of emerging markets in the global economy, redressing the balance of the plethora of protectionist literature that would rather see Third World remain third. What is particularly refreshing about his approach is that he embraces the negative sentiment, potential risks, and shortcomings of emerging markets investing, and offers practical and forthright advice on how to make it work.

This book was purchased for my cousin who happens to have a small ranch. They have horses, chickens, lambs, cats, dogs and wild geese and herons. My cousin is an avid reader but had never heard of The James Herriot's series.
I read it many years ago and loved seeing where Herriot had worked and lived. A truly delightful reading.

I have to admit I am addictied to James Herriot's books. Having read them all a few years ago when they first were published and now again on audio discs in my car,they are so enjoyable. It is just like spending time with your very best and loved friends. I never want to turn my car off and leave these wonderful stories.

When I took the family on a two month trip to the U.K. I insisted on finding the villiages up in Yorkshire where James Herriots tales come to life.This was a bit of a task because Darraby does not really exist except in the lovely pages of his books.

This is a beautiful book that takes the reader on a precious journey through his world.

Great book, it was a gift for my father, unfortunatly the pages started falling out it, if it came in a hard bound I would have preferred that better. That is why I gave it only 2 star, because of the quality of the binding.

Wonderful!It is a lovely description of the sites and it presents splendid photographs.
I enjoyed it very much.

This is the perfect book for those of us who are James Herriot junkies! I had just finished re-reading the four Herriot books in the American series, and found it great fun to read Jim Harriot's own words describing so many of the scenes in the books, and in the TV series.

Graham-Yooll deftly weaves together the arcana of insurance with the blood-pumping excitement of an international spy thriller. I highly recommend this as a last minute Christmas gift for anyone especially those detective/intrigue readers. It's one thumping-good read with the flashpoint of the Middle East as a backdrop.

There is something of the flavor of a MacInnes thriller in A Foreign Policy. The protagonist is an insurance agent, but he is soon forced to investigate unsavory events within his own company, and many of the plot elements unfold in the mysterious and often ominous setting of Saudi Arabia. This was the type of book where I kept saying, "I'll make dinner at the end of this chapter," and then read five more chapters while my children glared at me.

I was at first distressed by what seemed a lack of characterization, but I realized soon enough that Graham-Yooll is very deft at revealing character with great word economy (despite the fact that the book exceeds four hundred pages). The real distress came from Medallion Press's sloppy copy editing; I found quite a few errors in the book that must have annoyed the author, as well!

However, aside from that, I highly recommend this thriller. Graham Yooll created a page-turner with an interesting narrative voice and a fascinating look at Saudi Arabia in the post-9/11 world. Graham-Yooll also exposes some of the prejudices and stereotypes westerners tend to have against Arab peoples, especially through a character who is part American and part Arab. Thriller fans, here's one for your library.

More than a paperback thriller, this book is not just an entertaining read but gives revealing insights into the complexities of Middle East politics. This is a fast-paced story with a cast of interesting characters who come together in deftly managed plot. Don't miss it!!

I planned on reading this book during my commute to and from work. When I got into it, I found myself wanting to stay on the train a little longer just to get through the next chapter...and the next...and the next...

My one-hour commute each way suddenly was not long enough.

A Foreign Policy is a timely, thrilling read. Richard Graham-Yooll is an enormous new talent. I hope to see more books from him!

The story of a commitment to a young man in the Legion. The instruction, enlistment in the paratroopers, skirmishes in the Aures (war of Algeria). A beautiful testimony of fighting, more psychological and construction of a personality out of the ordinary. Attaching.

I read this years ago and am now purchasing the book for my father. It should appeal to casual readers or those well versed in history. Easy to read, hard to put down, intelligently written, a real humdinger of a story. Unique to say the least.

Easy read - fascinating story about an adventerous guy who has gone on to achieve a world of accomplishments!

I couldn't put the book down. Makes you realize how soft most of our lives really are and helps you appreciate your life. I recommend this book to everyone, especially those who like to whine and complain.

I was in the Marine Corps 1963-1967 and was comparing what I read about the Legion to life at Parris Island, but the two experiences are so different. One of the best books I ever read, and my first about the FFL, but not the last. Very very interesting.

Latin is a challenging language to learn because
the average person doesn't speak it or listen to
others speaking Latin. This work has a careful
delineation of the major conjugations, the use of
singulars/ plurals and the major declensions. The
word dictionary is comprehensive.

The purchase would be helpful for the first time student
of Latin in your house.

Dr. Joseph S. Maresca

Having studied Latin as a high school student, undergraduate, and graduate student, I can say that this is the one portable and concise dictionary that's accompanied me through the years. It is good to have a larger and more comprehensive dictionary for reference- but you can throw this one in your backpack and go. I especially like the fact that there are enough specialized words in this dictionary- from Catullus, Caesar, Horace, etc.- to last a student through advanced translation courses. Much better than the Oxford portable Latin dictionary, and others I've tried.

The Bantam Latin English Dictionary is a very useful reference, and I wish greatly that I had had it when I was studying Latin at university---a long time ago.

though i'm a bit upset that a piece of the cover was torn off,
this dictionary is great. it's thorough, cheap, and its easy to carry.

it's all i could really ask for!

This Latin and English dictionary is perfect for anyone learning, studying or someone who is just curious about the Latin language. It provides ornate definitions for the Latin words, and it also has a wonderful English to Latin trnalsation section in the back.
It contains:
Both words and phrases used
Mythincal/Geographical/and Historical Names
Classical and Ecclesiastical Pronounciation guides

Hope this review helped, this book is definately recommended!

Kathleen Taylor mixes a dry wit and enthusiasm for the potential drama of small-town living in the sixth installment of the Tory Bauer mysteries. There were several typos in the edition I read, but it didn't detract from the joy of reading Taylor's latest. This series has become one of my favorites.

The characters are appealing and have a way of finding their way into and out of jams while simultaneously dishing up a slice of Midwestern living that even the most cynical of city folk will be able to enjoy.

I am hoping that this is the latest of many Tory Bauer mysteries yet to come. She has many more stories to tell.

OK, I admit that I was already a Kathleen Taylor fan. Had I not been, FOREIGN BODY would have made me one.
This is a tour de force for Ms. Taylor. Her descriptive skills are at their best as Tory Bauer, her protagonist, doesn't even go outside her own café in Delphi, South Dakota to get involved with another mess. The question is: Is it a suicide or is it murder? Tory and her best friend wannabe-lover, wealthy-librarian Neil Pascoe, try to sort the pieces of a puzzle involving the local Luthern minister, a visiting teen-age choir, and a local scalawag.
As Ms. Taylor fits the pieces together, she builds her characters so completely that, when one finishes the book, he feels as though he is actually acquainted with the town and it's cleverly drawn citizenry.
The Tory Bauer series was already one of the best in the contemporary mystery genre. FOREIGN BODY only builds Ms. Taylor's reputation as a master storyteller and skilled writer.
When is Kathleen Taylor going to get her much-deserved Edgar Allen Poe Award?

Tory Bauer, waitress, part owner of a small cafe in Delphi, South Dakota and reluctant crime solver has fallen into another sticky situation. A young girl has attempted suicide in the Delphi Café and Tory is off in search of answers. I found a few problems with this, the sixth and most recent of the Tory Bauer Mysteries. I have always enjoyed Tory's introspective breaks in previous novels. They are often humorous and surprisingly insightful. But I think Ms. Taylor went a little overboard with this particular gambit in the first part of the story. It seemed to take too long to get to the meat of the tale. By the time Tory sits down with her friend, Neil Pascoe (they are a perfect match!), to discuss recent events, the story begins to move along at a more satisfying pace. There were several writing errors throughout the book. A few examples: In one sentence, the word make was used in place of the word may. "...lost on the our vast grid...". "...that it would to be up to me...". There were so many of these small errors it was a distraction. The print on several pages was faint and washed out looking. For people with normal vision, this probably doesn't pose a problem, but my eyesight is less than good and I had some difficulty with it. The story is a very good one and I enjoyed catching up with the folks in Delphi. It is a Not To Be Missed addition to this excellent series. I'm sorry to be so critical here, but I am hoping that word will get back to the publisher that Taylor's books deserve better editing and more attention paid to the actual printing process.

I HAVE KNOWN KATHLEEN FOR OVER 30 YEARS( WE WENT TO HIGH SCHOOL) AND I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD KNOW AN AUTHOR AS GOOD AS HER. HER BOOKS ARE FUNNY AND KEEP YOU READING UNTIL THE END. A FRIEND FROM SCHOOL MAILED ME THE WHOLE SERIES AND IT TOOK ME 3 DAYS TO FINISH THEM ALL, BUT THE LAST ONE. I HAVE NOT RECEIVED IT YET. ALL I CAN SAY IS "YOU GO GIRL!!!!" KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!!!

"I've always wondered how fictional sleuths manage to view the continual mayhem with equanimity. I mean, you never saw Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple turning primly away from those who unexpectedly ingested cyanide. Kinsey Millhone didn't run for the can with a hand clamped over her mouth every time she came across a gunshot wound. Even Cecil Younger, a sort of ordinary small-town guy, seemed able to view bodily remains with a calm resignation that was more sad than anything else. They were able to see the unspeakable and process the unimaginable and unravel the Gordian Knot every ten months or so (depending on publishing schedules,) and most of them seemed no worse for the wear (well, Cecil got battered about a bit, but he persevered too.)
I suppose that the operative word here is FICTIONAL.
Writers can make up whatever they want, and their poor creations have no choice but to deal with the overflow. That's how it works in fiction. Characters discover bodies, they investigate deaths, and they solve mysteries and then enjoy a bit of downtime between each installment.
In real life, you'd never expect to find an overweight, widowed, café owner in a small plains town, unfortunate to have tripped over (in one way or another) six bodies (several at her place of business) in less than seven months.
I doubt you'd expect her to have been able to solve the underlying mystery of each of those deaths in short order while simultaneously trying to sort out her decidedly messy personal life and support herself in the trailer-house manner to which she'd become accustomed.And you'd certainly not expect her to have to face the whole process again barely a month after the last grizzly discovery.
If I was reading the story of my life, I'd have a hard time believing it myself.
Welcome to my world."

That's how Tory Bauer, reluctant and self-effacing heroine of Kathleen Taylor's excellent mystery series, describes herself in the newest visit with her and the folks in Delphi, South Dakota. I think she's a hoot! Clever and snappy! There is enough "background" information to start with this one, but why? Enjoy them all in order! Do you want fries with that? ;-)

PS: A Note to Ms Taylor's publishers: What in the name of Heavenly Frozen Bodies are you thinking?!? Bring Back Tory! Now! Right Now!

I have been using this dictionary to understand Josh Groban's Italian songs. It has been very helpful.

This little book seems quite complete, and the tables in the front are very helpful. The print on the pages smudges easily, but that is a function of the (probably) recycled paper. It is still a good value for the price.

This is the absolute BEST Italian-English dictionary I have ever found! In the last 25 years, living and working in Italy I have literally consumed 5 copies. It has 95% of the vocabulary I have ever needed.

I have been buying this dictionary for my high school students for the last 3 years. Not only is it economical but it has more words than the average high school student studying Italian can handle. Easy to use for teens.

This bilingual dictionary's two greatest virtues are its compact yet readable format and its affordable price. This meets my limited needs, as someone who comes across the occasional Italian word in passing. Most high school language students will also find that it has all the vocabulary they need. This isn't a scholar's reference, though. Translated definitions tend towards the terse, so they won't cover all usages of a term. And, to keep cost down, it's printed on pulp stock, so it won't last forever even if handled gently. It offers plenty if you don't need much, and that's good enough for me right now.

//wiredweird

Pascual Duarte, a condemned prisoner, has been busy writing the story of his life. An engaging story, told politely, with frequent apologies for its occasional "bad" words, as it moves from one disastrous occurrence to another. The prisoner grows up in poverty, it's true, but he also makes a series of bad decisions, carried away by obsessive thoughts and unruly emotions. The glass is always half empty for Pascual Duarte, but then he spills what is left. As his life goes rapidly downhill, Pascual remembers only a few, fleeting days of happiness.

The story is told simply, pictorially, with vivid descriptions of places, rooms, streets, the Spanish countryside, people, animals, and one horrific event after another. I won't tell you the plot--no need to--for this is a ahort book and you already know how it ends. Read it. I recommend Pascual Duarte highly. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.

Yo tuve que leer este libro para una clase de literatura espanola y me gusto mucho. Uno puede ver las condiciones de la gente en Espana durante esa epoca a traves de la vida de Pascual. Ademas es un buen libro y lo recomiendo a todos que tienen interes en la literatura y la cultura.

While we were in Spain in January 2002, Camilo Jose Cela, a Spanish nobel prize winner in 1989, died at the age of 85. As a tribute, I re-read this, one of his most famous books, written during a time when Spain was reading sweet lovely "lyrical" books (in the 40s). Its honesty and brutality was called "Tremendismo" (tremendous-ism, if you will).

The Family of Pascual Duarte is about the life of a dirt poor man from Extremadura and is filled with the absolute realities of the primitive, angry, vulgar nature of the poor in Spain during Franco's reign. Much of Cela's work, in fact, was banned by the Franco government and for good reason - as it portrays a Spain that was not of the tourist brochures. This book has been called the most famous Spanish novel since Don Quixote (which was written 400 years before it!) and has been translated more than any other Spanish novel. If you can read Spanish, you must do so since Cela's prose is unlike any other.

Un interesante acercamiento a los eternos opuestos. Es el bien algo absoluto? y el mal?. Es Pascual Duarte el verdugo o es la víctima?
Es un libro para ser leído al menos dos veces, la primera para disfrutarlo y la segunda o subsecuentes para ser analizado. Así que, si tu intención es el disfrute, aquí tienes algo para disfrutar. Si te interesa el análisis literario, psicológico o sociológico, también lo encuentras en esta obra de Don Camilo.

I had initially written a review in my very inadequate español, but decided I should spare myself the shame and write it in English until I improve, anyway, onto the story.

Pascual Duarte is a man whose life has been marked by a series of unfortunate incidents which he blames on fate/God that leads him to eventually commit matricide as well as a series of other crimes.

The novel is written as the recollections of the man while he is in prison, keeping this diary in which he pours his thoughts about his life and what made him the man he was. I saw in Pascual, a man like any other whose life could have gone a different way had he made better decisions in life.

This isn't a very inspiring story so don't expect to come out of this short book with a sense of having gone through the storm and come out of it a better person - Think "Perfect Storm" -. This is definitely not one of those books you want to be reading on a rainy day.

If you can stomach pain, sorrow and disappointment, then I would recommend this story to you. It is also interesting as a study of the psychology of a killer.

PS: For those people who are trying to learn Spanish, an excellent English translation (to me at least) is by Anthony Kerrigan. ISBN: 0316134317

My favorite book. It honestly explores the effects of passion, and does so with total economy.
It is both dramatic and zenlike at the same time.
Most writers believe in the "show don't tell" aproach, but only the best writers, most of them being in my opinion, French, have a way of telling that exceeds the showing. Ernaux, like Gide and Duras, offers a very processed view of a relationship which becomes an intellectual experience --despite it revolving around a physical love affair. Ernaux transportes her readers, not necessarily into the moments, but into the DRAMA of them --getting us inside this woman's mind and body and feeling the pain and exstacy of the many stages of obsession.
While reading this book, I often had to pause and just sigh. And when I completed this slim novel, just a couple hours later (I really took my time), I began it again.

My relationship to this book became very intimate after translating it from French to English for a college course. I really appreciated the subtlties of language that Ernaux mastered in Passion Simple. The French is marvelous, and the subject itself, passion/obsession, is pertinent. Most people reading this book are quick to judge the narrator's attitudes and actions. She, herself, is unwilling to do so in this book. Instead, she simply relays the facts. It is amazing how well she is able to do this so beautifully.

You wait for the phone to ring. That's your life, waiting. You never know when he'll call, so you leave your home as little as possible. Hair dryers and vacuum cleaners make noise that could drown out a ringing phone; you use them sparingly. And then, without warning, there's the voice you crave --- he can be free for a few hours without his wife getting curious.

In a panic, you bathe. Frantically clean your home. File your nails so there's no chance you'll leave a mark on him. Lay out drinks, ice, his favorite snack. And then the door opens and your life begins. You barely speak, this isn't that kind of relationship. Later, he looks at his watch. You sigh. He showers, dresses. A final touch, and he's gone. And your life once again turns to waiting.

That's a woman's story. (It's the rare man whose life revolves around an unavailable woman who has trouble finding a moment to call and has an even harder time arranging a rendezvous.) Indeed, it's Annie Ernaux's story --- a lightly fictionalized account of a two-year affair she had with a married Eastern European diplomat. The whole story takes just 64 pages. And nothing really happens; it's mostly waiting. But the waiting is so acutely observed that in France --- Ernaux lives in a suburb of Paris --- 'Simple Passion' was the #1 bestseller for 8 months, with more than 400,000 copies sold.

The appeal of the book is, if you will, how manly it is. How matter-of-fact. Writing, Ernaux tells us at the start of the novel, should be like sex. That is, there should be "a feeling of anxiety and stupefaction. a suspension of moral judgment." So you won't get any speculation about his feelings. Or if he'll leave his wife. No, this affair is about sex. It's about "lying in bed with that man in the middle of the afternoon."

The man, like the woman, is nameless. He's 38. He likes "Yves Saint-Laurent suits, Cerruti ties and powerful cars." He watches bad TV. He drinks. But these preferences hardly matter. For the narrator knows at the beginning of the affair something that most woman only learn at the end: "The man we love is a complete stranger." As is, perhaps, the woman. Something happens at the end of the book --- nothing dramatic, like a murder or even a confrontation, but I don't want to spoil the experience for you --- and we're forced to consider her anew.

Who is Annie Ernaux? You've probably never heard of her, but she's one of the biggest names in French fiction. Born in 1940, she grew up in a small town. She became a literature teacher in Paris. And, from her first book to her most recent, she had her style down pat: short, autobiographical books, so honestly told you feel she's scraping off skin with every word. She never presents herself as a victim or a hero; she just is. Her books win prizes. And, though they're chilly, they sell. Her humanity --- that honest expression of desire and weakness --- only looks simple. It's a bitch to write.

Ernaux says that passion is the luxury of adults. I think I understand what she means: It's time out of time, a shared secret, a deep and wordless acknowledgment of need and a gloriously hot way of satisfying that need. I think that's why women, in particular, gravitate to Ernaux's short, disturbing books --- they know they're real. How? Because, at one point or another, they've been that woman looking at her phone, praying for it to ring.

One review on the cover of this book says it is "a monument to passions". I believe it is an inconsequential anthill. This tiny little book, is in actuality simply an overpriced pamphlet. It consists of 64 pages but in large print and much doublespacing and footnotes at the bottom of some pages. Having just gone through the painful experience of wading through the 827 page Underworld by Don Delillo I decided to pick up this little book. It was a bad choice. There is nothing redeemable about the boring lackluster prose. The subject of love has been rhapsodied on for thousands of years and this boring little assemblage of pages adds nothing to its mystery. If anything, it cheapens it. With its emotionless tone, it resembles the side of a cereal box. Actually, the cereal box would be more entertaining. Ernaux could have minimalized her book even further by limiting it to two sentences: "Woman loves married man. Has affair with him that ends." Actually, these lines are good representatives of the prose style in Simple Passion. I could go on but then the review would be longer than the book.

SIMPLE PASSION is a woman's story of her affair with a married man. It is a short book which I read in one sitting. What makes the story special is that it only tells what her life is like when she is not with him. From the time he left her side until the next time she saw him she says she did nothing else but wait for him. She describes in detail her obsessive thinking about her lover. So although she never describes her time with him, all her time away from him is spent thinking about him, planning her next meeting with him, waiting for him to call, fantasizing about him. As she goes about her daily life, her mind never strays from him. It is as compelling a story as her obsession was to her.