literature

I reviewed this book a long time ago, back before Amazon kept track of us... (I'm the one that mentions the astonished Mary over coffee).... The reason I wanted to revisit this review, though, is more than just because I wanted credit. This book is truly astonishing-- this Christmas, I had it out on the table as part of my holiday decor and the friends & family who looked at it were all delighted. I think my favorite part is still the same-- the way Vivas illustrates a real looking family with the classic story. But another thing that is important to me is that she shows Joseph taking active part in his child's nurturing (even if he is technically a "stepdad"). The illustrations are gorgeous and the text is the classic, poetic King James version. Love it!

This is my all time favorite nativity book. I have purchased additional copies for each of my three children and at least one classroom. Julie Vivas's illustrations are wonderfully fanciful and humorous. I love having a view of Mary being hoisted up onto the donkey and later, the naked baby Jesus. The story is a KJV and formal, which is in beautiful contrast to the illustrations. I highly recommend this book!

For some odd reason, children's books based on the Bible often bring out the worst in illustrators. I've seen more bad drawing, syrupy expressions and cloying colors in illustrated Bible stories than in any other kind of children's book. That's why this book is literally a God send. The lovely King James text might normally be a little over the heads of the 4 to 8 year olds this book is aimed at, but Julie Vivas' illustrations bring it to life and make it something any child will want to hear again and again and again. I've read it for years to both of my children, as well as in classrooms, and it is always a huge hit. From angels with rainbow colored wings and army boots (a few of them riding the shepherds' sheep) to the crowds in Bethlehem literally dripping from the trees, this book is a delight. It's hilarious, but also very moving. One of my favorite pictures in the book is of the enormously pregnant Mary gazing at her belly in delight. And my six-year-old daughter adores the wide-eyed baby Jesus. If you only buy one Christmas picture book, this is the one to get.

This book was written by girls just like you. It will make you laugh, smile and even cry. But most of all it will give you a wonderful sense of self confidence and help you reach out and make friends. I highly reccomend it, that is, if you want to be sure of yourself in friendships, self confident and happy with your friends. I give it a big smile and two thumbs up!

I think this book is very helpful for girls who are in need of friends. This book is like the magazine, filled with advice, ideas, and stories. Throughout the book there are little bubbles and boxes for advice and stories. The stories are from real life girls who went out and had their own experiences with friendship. When I finished the book, I realized that this book solved some problems I was worrying about. It made me feel better that I got advice from some girls my own age and that they could relate.

"New Moon" magazine is devoted to helping girls discover their hopes and dreams. It always has an editorial board of girls ages ten to fourteen from across the country (although it is put together here in Duluth), which certainly ensures that the perspective accurately reflects the target audience. "New Moon Sports" covers why sports are good for girls, the benefits of competition, a brief history of women in sports, and information about how to keep your body healthy. Some of the more interesting features are a look at sports myths (e.g., boys are better at sports than girls), interviews with famous athletes (Bonnie Blair and Cathy Rigby), helpful tips (e.g., Hot Soccer Tips), and lots of suggestions as to what girls can do in terms of sports. Consequently, this is a valuable introductory text. There is not a lot of depth to the information presented herein, but what is here is on valuable and on target. There are also numerous sources for additional information where girls can easily go to find out more about whatever topic interests them, whether it is body image, a particular sport, or a favorite athlete. Other equally worthwhile books from "New Moon" focus on friendship, money, and writing.

Orwell was a socialist, who had served in the Spanish Civil War fighting fascism - a true believer. However, the betrayal of ideology, mass murder and abuses by Stalin in the name of socialism prompted Orwell to write _1984_: a brilliant satire and a classic of 20th century literature.

In the future, there is the one state, ruled by "Big Brother", an allegedly benevolent ruler who is rather sinister. Obedience is demanded, subjects are not even allowed the freedom of thought. All labor and effort is geared towards the "greater good", in a totally egalitarian society that is as stifling as it is sterile.

Written as a criticism of Stalinism and the Soviet system, its biting criticism is testament to the extremes of ideology. While it is an easier read than the earlier Soviet work by Eugene Zamiatin's _We_, I feel _We_ is the better book. Nonetheless, 1984 is worthy of a reading.

There are many different types of books out there: fiction, non-fiction, science fiction, fantasy, horror, history, and biography. But only a few of them have the same impact that George Orwell achieves in his book 1984. It seems part paranoid fantasy, part tribute to the malleability of the human psyche, and part historical allegory.
The issues, even presented in the outdated means that they are, still ring true for our modern society. The line between patriotism and nationalism is a thin one, and one that Americans look at each day. But in Orwell's world that line was crossed, and the result was a totalitarian government beyond anything most of us can imagine. With the government controlling all jobs, information, deeds, and actions, even to the smallest thought of their peoples, his world is stark and horrible to those of us used to a freedom. But the steps into that world are not that far away from our modern media control. In his world of 1984 the media serves the purpose of brainwashing the populace at large, and an ongoing war keeps the pressure on. And while some may claim that the media in our own country has the same control over us, in his world, the media is the government, and has no other agenda than that which the government sets forth.
The strange part is that all of this occurs to us, through the eyes of the main character, Winston Smith, as he falls in love with a young woman named Julia. In Oceania, the nation-state in which Smith lives, love is not allowed, and not tolerated. Winston Smith is, in essence, an insurgent in his own nation. He sleeps each night knowing that something is wrong, but not being able to say exactly what. As a reader we can see exactly the horrors to which he is made to endure, and though they might make us scream and shout, he is unmoved. But love draws him out of that sheltered reality, and into open insurgency against his own nation.
This is the beginning of the end for Wilson, as the romance, and the pleasures, are short lived. Like a terrible wave the police of the world he inhabits come crashing down upon him to break his spirit. The way they torture him is gruesome, and should offend anyone who values our human rights. But in the end, Wilson himself comes to love "Big Brother" the face of the state of Oceania. He forgets his insurgency, through a conscious adaptation of his logic processes. He has to know that whatever the nation does is right, even when it contradicts what he has experienced in the recent past. In Orwell's words, Doublethink.
These are just the surface issues that come across in Orwell's vision world the deeper issues are buried. As in, how could such a world come to exist? Well, he explains that after World War 2, there came a mighty nuclear war that wiped out most of the population centers of the world. And that out of the nuclear ash arose a political methodology that swept the nations, a kind of socialism that blended into totalitarianism. This totalitarian regime took hold and great purges, on the scope of the great purges in the early communist USSR, ran across the world as we know it. 3 stable nations were born: Oceania (The Americas, the Pacific Islands, Australia, and England), Eastasia (China, Mongolia, The Indonesian Peninsula, and Japan), and Eurasia (All of Europe save England, and all of the Former USSR). The rest of the world was in a constant state of conquest by one of these 3 super-nations, with the captured populations used as slaves. The constant state of war between the nations served to keep control over the people within the nations.
This is a world devoid of hope. Indeed, devoid of any emotions except hatred, fanatical delight in the war effort, and the obedience to the governments of the nations. This is the worst vision of what the Nazis in Germany hoped to accomplish in their conquests. A world without any laws, but what the government states to be true at that moment. A world where people disappear, but no one notices, or even cares, a world of total devotion to the state as a whole, without regard to creed, race, or social status.
It isn't often that the characters in a book become common usage in the world at large, but the phrase "Big Brother is watching you" has become synonymous with the government watching over its citizens. It shows up today in almost everyday speech. Especially when people are talking right to privacy issues. This seems apt, as privacy is one of the things that Wilson Smith never had, and will never have. Big Brother (the government) watched his every move of his life, recorded his every word, and rifled through his belongings at their leisure. This book is the origin of that phrase.
Orwell gives us a black and white view of the virtues of that world, and its drawbacks. The astounding thing is that it isn't still more talked about. We have, most of us, read this book. But how many too the time to understand the social and political ramifications it speaks of? I will from now on, that is for sure.

The Man doesn't want you to read "1984" 'cause He can't let you know His intentions. It's all about control, man. Look at September 11, which was, like many of the missile attacks in "1984," staged by the US government to justify war. The Department of Homeland Security (Orwellian in its name) and the War on Terror (in classic Oceanic fashion, everything "bad" has "terror" and everything "good" has "freedom" in its name-- all language and understanding has been reduced to simplicity) were initiated afterwards, amidst much doublespeak and Orwellian rheteric from the mouths of the Bush Administration. The neverending war against Eurasia/Eastasia used to justify domestic surveillance and limitation on civil liberties in "1984" are mirrored in the present day by the ongoing "War on Terror" and its consequencial PATRIOT act that has curtailed civil liberties. Anyone who says this book is "dated" or "outdated" is either ignorant, blind to the condition of this great nation or working for THE MAN!!

I am sending copies of this book out to several elementary teachers that I know. This book has wonderful illustrations and captures a childs attention and keeps it thru out the whole book. Books like this are great teaching tools just for that reason alone, not to mention the wonderful characters they learn to love thru out it. I would suggest anyone who has children to purchase a copy.

The outstanding illustrations in this book is sure to hold the attention of even the youngest children. The author has taken an otherwise dull suject and made it bright and fun for the kids.

This book is an excellent combination of entertainment and education. The story is an educational experience. The illustration is an experience in the arts for the kids. The verse presentation of the story is an experience in poetry.

Bright and fun, but educational what more could you want?

The illustrations and context of the book are written so beautifully. The children will want to know what happens next. You actually learn about the adventure of the raindrop. I especially loved the way Kim illustrates through the 4 seasons. If you don't own this book ... YOU SHOULD!

From the basic elements of fiction writing to the fine points of editorial etiquette, from mining ideas to negotiating specific contract terms, REBEL YELL has it all. Not just for literary insurgents, Lance Olsen's how-to is an entertaining, up-to-date guide for all writers. Aspiring novelists and published authors alike will find themselves returning again and again to this highly readable reference tool for advice, guidelines, and old-fashioned encouragement. If you're looking for platitudes, vague generalities, or pompous pronouncements from on high, find another book -- there are plenty of them out there. This one teaches the craft and the trade of writing.

Scholarly critic and science fiction author/guru Lance Olsen has written an explosively relevant guide to creative fiction writing. As always he is three steps ahead of his contemporaries, not only in his futuristic theory of writing, but also in his publishing savvy. Olsen is no stranger to breaking fictional ground in a big, big way--check out his post-post modern novels BURNT, TIME FAMINE, and LIVE FROM EARTH. Here in REBEL YELL he sounds the clarion for a higher level of writing than we are used to--one that goes beyond the realm of realism to a new beginning, a dimension beyond conventional expectations and common fare.

REBEL YELL boasts practical writing features-- interviews with professional authors who put their work on the line daily, and Olsen's personal editorial advice that deftly guides readers through the elements of fiction writing. The book is a MUST for creative writing classes at the college level, and a treasure trove for the individual aspriring writer. A sharp, focused read, it launches a brave new era of writing, and of understanding literature.

An energetic, inspiring, amazing, thoroughly comprehensive introduction to modern fiction and publishing. Its cover introduces it as a mild-mannered little Writer's-Digest type how-to book. Don't be fooled for a minute.

If you enjoyed Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, but thought the heroines slightly too worldly, you may be delighted by this autobiographical account of two relatively naive girls off for their first continental jaunt.

It's a delightful, charming little book about their misunderstandings and misadventures, and certainly introduced me to historical ladies' undergarments in an unforgettable manner!

There are sequels (like "Forty Plus and Fancy Free") if you find you particularly liked this one, but the first is the best, as sadly firsts so often are. This is a funny little treasure of a book.

Note: a 3 star ranking from me is actually pretty good; I reserve 4 stars for tremendously good works, and 5 only for the rare few that are or ought to be classic; unfortunately most books published are 2 or less.

A long time hobby of mine has been to watch classic films, then scour used bookstores looking for the original work on which the films was based. When I first saw the film "Our Hearts Were Young And Gay", I knew I just had to find the book! Little did I realize that the European adventures of these two girls in the 1920s was actually not a work of fiction! There is even a line at the introduction of the book that reads "Lest the reader should be in any doubt, we wish to state that the incidents in this book are all true and the characters completely non-fictitious." I recently took this book on my first trip to Europe and found it delightful and funny. Great for those long hours waiting for and flying on planes. I must admit that this is the first book that ever had me literally laughing out loud.

Of course with any story turned into a film, it was kissed with a bit of Hollywood glamour and parts were left on the cutting room floor, but the story is truly witty, charming and fun and follows very closely to the book. See the movie if you can catch it on a classic movie channel! It hasn't been released on video or DVD yet. As for the book, the pages are worn and the dustjacket is ripped but it will always be in my library and I look forward to reading it over and over again.

This is definately my favorite book. It is light, hilarious and such a joy to read. I tried to put off finishing it, trying to extend my pure delight in reading it, but I couldnt keep myself away, so I finished it rather quickly. However, I still longed for more and began to read it agian. The story is true, well written and fun. The adventures Cornellia and Emily have during their first trip to Europe will literally make you laugh until you cry. I wished I could be one of the girls, along for their trip, until I realized I was there as well, enjoying it as much as they were. Cornelia and Emily are the perfect companions for such a trip, and it was so kind of them to share it with us. This is one of those books that become dear friends, and anyone who has not yet read it must do so now, or else they will miss out on the greatest trip of their lives.

Good short stories from thr great Updike. Each one uniqely different.

If there is, you have my attention. Maybe Isaac Babel's Collected Stories or Fitzgerald's Selected Stories. I've been writing for 27 years; I may have written three sentences that compare with the average in an Updike story. In "Flight" he captures in several sentences more about family than I've discovered through an entire life. Sorry for being self-referential; it's a measure of my awe. Updike's magic is that he can tell a story in a single sentence. If you only know Updike through his novels, you're in for a treat. By my lights, this is the greatest living story writer and this is the book that made that clear.

Updike is a poet,and poetry rings with fresh clarity in his short stories.Some are about lost youth or realization of one's self.About the acceptance of misfortune,but all told beautifully.The best would have to be A&P,the story of a teenager who works in a grocery store,and decides to risk his job for the girls that walk in,they get told to leave by the manager,but he tells the manger he's going to quit because of the way he treats the girls,so he leaves,while the girls don't even notice.Updike,the calculater of our innocence in the face of emotions.E - I = U and pigeon feathers..........

I would in fact prefer to award this 3.5 stars, but the Amazon system seems to compel one to choose between 3 and 4, and I think 4 is too generous. To begin with the text, there is no doubt that this is not the best Shakespeare to buy. It is to a large extent based on the Oxford Shakespeare, which - quite rightly, in my view - has attracted a lot of criticism for some of its peculiarities. Thus, for example, Oxford prints TWO versions of *King Lear*, the quarto text and that of the folio. Norton rightly takes issue with this, and produces the kind of conflated text that most readers would want, but adds the other two AS WELL (so we are offered THREE versions!). This kind of thing is, in truth, academic self-indulgence - it shows an undue respect for academic concerns which to most readers are not of the slightest interest. There is a similar tendency to pay scant regard to what most readers really want and need in the Introduction: that tells us a good deal about Shakespeare's time, and the material is interesting, but it is not often shown to be relevant, or necessary, to an understanding of what Shakespeare writes. The explanatory annotation accompanying the texts is not bad, but often inferior to that of comparable editions, notably Bevington's. The introductions to individual plays are usually stimulating, but not necessarily convincing. Thus Greenblatt on the one hand says about Macbeth's murder of Duncan, "That he does so without adequate motivation, that he murders a man toward whom he should be grateful and protective, deepens the mystery ..." (p. 2558), yet adds a few lines later: "Macbeth and Lady Macbeth act on ambition ...". Precisely, that IS Macbeth's motivation for the murder, as Macbeth himself points out unequivocally in 1.7.25-7 - there is, therefore, absolutely nothing mysterious about his motivation. The edition does, however, offer a number of good references to other writings about Shakespeare. All in all, I do consider 3.5 stars is a fair "grade", in seeking to assess this for the benefit of the majority of readers looking for a complete Shakespeare to buy; but I consider David Bevington's by far the best edition of the complete works, then the Riverside, and only then this one - though, with its annotations, it is certainly more useful than the Oxford edition on which it is based. - Joost Daalder, Professor of English, Flinders University, South Australia

I am new to Shakespeare and have started to read about him, his times, his works, and as a hobby try to become fairly knowledgeable about him and his place in our literary history. Starting from the basics I have reviewed a number of books and eventually I put together a "listmania" list of about 22-25 books. I am still not an expert nor do I claim such.

Having said that, to get your feet wet there are a few good biographies and I like the Anthony Burgess book "Shakespeare" that is an easy read and just over 200 pages long. Also there are a few other books and tour guides such as the new DK guide with lots of maps and photos. Then there are books such as Boyce's book "Shakespeare A to Z".

But I think the crown jewel of the books available is the present book almost 3500 pages long with CD which rises head and shoulders above anything else on the market. It is simply an excellent book by a group of highly qualified editors using the resources of Oxford. Obviously it can be improved but as of now it is the leader.

Jack in Toronto

I confess that after examining 5-6 of the top-selling complete Shakespeares I tried not to like the Norton. There are less expensive editions, there are editions with glossy pages and colored photographs, there are editions that are half the weight and bulk of this leviathan, which is far more Shakespeare than the average reader--perhaps, even scholar, for that matter--would ever require. But despite its bulk and unwieldyness, its 3500 (!) thin, flimsy pages, its sheer excess, I couldn't ignore its advantages. The small print enables the publishers to squeeze in contextual materials--in the introduction and appendixes--that in themselves amount to an encyclopedic companion to Shakespeare's works; the introductions to the plays are written not in "textbook prose" but in an engaging style worthy of their subject; and perhaps, best of all, this is the only edition that places the glosses right alongside the "strange" Elizabethan word instead of in the footnotes. You can read the plays without experiencing vertigo of the eye. So this is the edition, though you may wish to go with the smaller, bound portions that Norton publishes of the same edition--especially if you can't afford the cost of a personal valet to carry this tome from home to office. On the other hand, the complete edition is excellent for doing crunches and other aerobic exercises--activities many of us who read the Bard are abt to ignore.

My 4-year-old and I have really enjoyed Keller's book, "The Scrambled States of America". I ordered this title in hopes of getting a similar home run.

The artwork is great, and Keller's highly non-linear style is still a big hit with my son. For me, though, the storyline doesn't quite gel. Very little is happening in "Open Wide: Tooth School Inside". Instead, we get a recitation of facts about teeth, with large doses of humor thrown in.

Don't get me wrong, Nebraska. It's still a good book, just not up to the greatness that was "The Scrambled States of America".

After "Scrambled States," what else can a children's book author come up with? Plenty, if you happen to be Laurie Keller, and envision the mouthful of human teeth as a "school."

Kids will recognize many elements of the classroom setting here, including familiar "types" of students -- both dilligent and smarmy. The teeth learn their oral hygiene lessons from Dr. Flossman, but not without many a well-aimed pun and off-the-cuff wisecrack. A good dose of factual material craftily sneaks its way into all the silly stuff. Keller has a sure sense of what holds the interest of kids. I met her at a book signing, and she said she was inspired by Dr. Suess, among others, as a child. With this, her second book, she is well on her way to establishing herself as a children's author in the excitingly fresh tradition of her childhood idol. But her style is all her own.

Kids will cherish this book... if you allow them to pry it from your own hands. (By the way, tell your dentist about this one!)

I am a school nurse that teaches oral hygiene. I use this book constantly for every grade level, even in my pregnant minor program. My 5 year old daughter loves this book as her bedtime story book, and has learned more about teeth then most adults. She loves the little side-talk of the different teeth. A fun and entertaining way to introduce oral hygiene and the ramifications of not brushing. I even gave a copy to my dentist! Julie Hart-Lawson RN/ San Diego City Schools

Yes, I am the person who liberated this exquisite book from the lending library at Del Bocca Vista, the over 55 condo association in southern Florida, while on vacation last December. I tucked it under my shirt then biked over to the pool where I peeled its thin skin, and read it while the juice of an orange (which I had snatched on the way to the pool from the overloaded tree of an unsuspecting neighbor...trusting our secret is safe), ran down my arm depositing its sweetness at the crook of my elbow. It was truly the best orange I ever tasted, made even more succulent by my inadvertently applying McPhee's lesson that oranges taken from the interior southwest portion of a tree are typically the tastiest. As a bonus, and a tribute to the domino effect of knowledge, I recently began reading "The Poisonwood Bible," the story of a woman, her missionary husband and their four children in the 1960's Belgian Congo. I was pleased to make the connection between "the blood red juice" of an orange the mother was opening, and the description read earlier in the McPhee book about blood red oranges. I am certain the passage about this atypical (to us) orange in "The Poisonwood Bible" would have made no sense whatever had I not read about blood red oranges in the McPhee "bible of oranges." I am also more aware of the fact that the taste of oranges differs not only from tree to tree but within the same tree and I have a much more inspired interest and understanding of the history and growth of Florida though the citrus industry. All hail McPhee.

You might think that a whole book on oranges was just too much, but I read this book as eagerly as if it was a mystery and I couldn't wait to see what was on the next page. It is worth reading for the writing alone, as McPhee's style brings the groves to life and makes you laugh aloud at times with subtle humor.

In addition to describing the origin of oranges, their cultivation and rising popularity from when the Hesperides would watch them to the present of the book (1967), he explains how it came to be that most of us have orange juice for breakfast. There is some very interesting science in the book as well, and it seems quite thorough in every respect (after all, it is an entire book on oranges!). There are some excellent character descriptions of the original settlers and orange barons as well: "The Indians hated Russell and always had. One of them fired at him and nicked him the arm. Feeling pain that night, Russell went into the boat's cabin and groped in the dark for a bottle of salve. Picking up a bottle of ink by mistake, he poured it over his arm. When the sun came up, he thought he had gangrene. The others knew that it was ink, but they thought even less of Russell than the Indians did, and they said nothing." It is a must-read for anyone who is traveling to FL and wants to know more about the real FL and less about theme-parks!

The only disappointment might be for those who live in California, as although CA oranges are given a place, the main focus is on FL.

A great read!

I received this book after hearing about it for a few months at my BOOKCROSSING.COM meetup. Two other members were going on and on about how they couldn't put this book about oranges *down*. I snatched it up as soon as they brought a copy to the meeting.

I was hooked from the first page! Not only myself but my mom..then sister.. then boyfriend. We had to get mom her own copy!

This is a book I'll recommend over and over. A definite "must read".