Book Description
This globally oriented book covers the most current research and trends in International Management. It offers comprehensive and integrative cases that illustrate the actual behaviors and functions required for successful cross-cultural management at the strategic and interpersonal level.
Includes numerous boxed features that relate concepts to real-world practice. Also includes experiential exercises for self-test.
For professionals in international business.
Customer Reviews:
Still number one in International Management.......2007-07-06
This book was published in 2004. I have used it for the past three years in a college course with exactly the same title. It covers the cultural differences of managerial operations in multinational enterprises. The PowerPoint slide is useful for lectures. Many in-class exercises were done using articles from: BusinessWeek, Crains NY Business, Economist (online), Financial Times (online), Forbes and Fortune magazines.
The book will be better if more real-world examples were given on CEO of Ikea, Mittal Steel or News Corporation. Students did the reseach on the CEOs of these firms and reported their final projects. Final projects were done individually or in a group. Students generally like the book except the cost. But the book is cheaper than most of the other international management titles. I would recommend this book to everyone.
Great book describing culture.......2000-09-15
Excellent Book. I was impressed on how the author was able to showthe various difficulties that are faced and how one can go about managing them. Real scenarios helped a lot in understanding the difficulties better in International relations.
Book Description
Despite the fact that Juarez is a Mexican border city just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, most Americans are unaware that for more than twelve years this city has been the center of an epidemic of horrific crimes against women and girls, consisting of kidnappings, rape, mutilation, and murder, with most of the victims conforming to a specific profile: young, slender, and poor, fueling the premise that the murders are not random.
Indeed, there has been much speculation that the killer or killers are American citizens. While some leading members of the American media have reported on the situation, prompting the U.S. government to send in top criminal profilers from the FBI, little real information about this international atrocity has emerged. According to Amnesty International, as of 2006 more than 400 bodies have been recovered, with hundreds still missing.
As for who is behind the murders themselves, the answer remains unknown, although many have argued that the killings have become a sort of blood sport, due to the lawlessness of the city itself. Among the theories being considered are illegal trafficking in human organs, ritualistic satanic sacrifices, copycat killers, and a conspiracy between members of the powerful Juárez drug cartel and some corrupt Mexican officials who have turned a blind eye to the felonies, all the while lining their pockets with money drenched in blood.
Despite numerous arrests over the last ten years, the murders continue to occur, with the killers growing bolder, dumping bodies in the city itself rather than on the outskirts of town, as was initially the case, indicating a possible growing and most alarming alliance of silence and cover-up by Mexican politicians.
The Daughters of Juárez promises to be the first eye-opening, authoritative nonfiction work of its kind to examine the brutal killings and draw attention to these atrocities on the border. The end result will shock readers and become required reading on the subject for years to come.
Customer Reviews:
Daughters of Juarez.......2007-10-03
Daughters of Juarez is a disturbing story, but it is a true account of the unsolved mysteries of these young women's lost lives. It is an insight into the poverty and injustice that occurs daily in this border town and surrounding areas.
Compelling story, purple prose delivery.......2007-09-09
I would have to agree with the previous reviewer who said that the story was compelling and important, but the overlong purple prose descriptions of what the families went through and the overly dramatic descriptions of the situations, with speculations on what everyone was thinking mar an important and compelling book.
Some straight crime reporting, an analysis of the facts and maybe some more social analysis (for instance, how do the drug culture, the male dominated hispanic culture, the pervasive corruption of the border towns, etc. contribute to this holocaust against women) would have helped a lot.
Still, there is not much written about this problem, which if it were happening here or in any first world country, would be page one news everyday, so the book is valuable.
So, good subject and investigative reporting marred by overly dramatic writing.
I would recommend it, you can skip over the long emotional descriptions of background, thoughts and other contrived elements.
Daughters of Juarez.......2007-08-26
I live in El Paso and have followed much of this in the newspaper including the two Bus drivers, The FBI coming to help, etc. Now I know it was all lies.
Mexico has been called the most corrupt nation on earth and I've heard the stories and now I see it in action. I have too many chilling stories direct from American victims of the Juarez Police to share here.
This corruption has spread to El Paso with corruption in the Border Patrol, the government, the police and I'm not just saying this, I've talked to people and have examples both from the Newspaper and people in the know. The FBI has been conducting an investigation into the El Paso government for several months and people are going to jail. Halleluiah!
Personally I've been afraid to go across the Border for years based on these stories and now I'll be spreading the word. Do not go into Mexico!
This book hits hard with details that would make a strong man cry. The horrible end to young lives, the Police laughing at parents asking for help and the intimidating of helpless mothers who might "know too much", the framing of innocents, The corruption of "investigations" run by incompetents.
This book is an indictment, a denunciation of a government and society gone terribly wrong. Bribes are necessary just to get your TV cable hooked up and this pattern of behavior climbs to the very top.
I hope this book helps but in a society that accepts incompetence and corruption as a given I have my doubts. If Mexico is to change it must come from the bottom and it is so instilled in the poverty stricken common people to not make waves how can we expect them to effectively rise up. But enough publicity might send the rats scurrying, we need more books and TV exposes like this.
Compelling read, but with reservations.......2007-08-09
The Daughters of Juarez, by Teresa Rodriguez (with Diana Montané and Lisa Pulitzer), chronicles a series of horrific murders of young women (and teens) in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, over the last fourteen years, the law enforcement/governmental response to them, and the myriad theories as to the perpetrator(s). Over this period, a good part of 400 poor women were raped, tortured and killed, then dumped in desert areas and vacant lots around the city. The book details a rich tapestry of police and governmental brutality, corruption, blatant sexual discrimination, disregard for public safety, and just plain incompetence.
Although many suspects have been charged and held, it is doubtful that any of the murders can ever be considered legitimately solved because of this pervasive and persistent institutional dysfunction. In fact, one can say that this is a glaring example of how not to run a criminal justice system. It's heartbreaking to consider that the families of these slain women will never see justice done. Additionally, it must have been so frustrating for those in law enforcement and government who made efforts to run effective investigations, only to be stymied at every turn by the very system they should have been able to trust, forced out of their jobs because they wouldn't falsify results or analyses, or even physically threatened.
Daughters is definitely a compelling, true tale and Rodriguez does a service to those affected by these horrors by airing them for everyone to examine. The book, however, suffers from a lack of organization: Rodriguez bounces around dates, people and events so much so that it's hard to keep them all straight. Also, she makes a point of maudlin over-description of the women and their families so as to make them more sympathetic. This in my mind is unnecessary; most people will find the thought of someone (not to mention hundreds) being subjected to the extreme violence that these women experienced and the grief (on multiple levels) that their loved ones were forced to endure to be inconceivably horrible - no matter who the reader is. I also think Rodriguez could have used some citations to support what must have been years of research and investigation. In the end, I would recommend this book as a real eye-opener, but with these reservations.
Thrilling Read.......2007-08-05
I stumbled onto The Daughter's of Juarez after having a discussion on the term femicide (the act of killing a woman is a more generic term but this term is often applied to specific mass killings of women). In Juarez, Mexico women from all social classes and with distinctly different family ties have been going missing. Now and then bodies (and the occasional mass grave) of women that have been sexually abused and mutilated show up. The Daughter's of Juarez explores the lives of these missing women, the media blips that have occurred as a result, the political turmoil caused over these cases, as well as the possible answers to what has happened to so many women. After reading about this I was horrified by what had happened and because I had never heard of anything about this prior to the reading. A thrilling and exploratory read of the lives of women in Juarez, Mexico as well as a look at the relations between the U.S. and its border neighbor.
Amazon.com
"The men as they rode turned black in the sun from the blood on their clothes and their faces and then paled slowly in the rising dust until they assumed once more the color of the land through which they passed." If what we call "horror" can be seen as including any literature that has dark, horrific subject matter, then Blood Meridian is, in this reviewer's estimation, the best horror novel ever written. It's a perverse, picaresque Western about bounty hunters for Indian scalps near the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s--a ragged caravan of indiscriminate killers led by an unforgettable human monster called "The Judge." Imagine the imagery of Sam Peckinpah and Heironymus Bosch as written by William Faulkner, and you'll have just an inkling of this novel's power. From the opening scenes about a 14-year-old Tennessee boy who joins the band of hunters to the extraordinary, mythic ending, this is an American classic about extreme violence.
Book Description
An epic novel of the violence and depravity that attended America's westward expansion,
Blood Meridianbrilliantly subverts the conventions of the Western novel and the mythology of the "wild west." Based on historical events that took place on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s, it traces the fortunes of the Kid, a fourteen-year-old Tennesseean who stumbles into the nightmarish world where Indians are being murdered and the market for their scalps is thriving.
Customer Reviews:
What's Lies Beneath Man's Thin Veneer of Humanity.......2007-09-19
Mr. McCarthy's 'Blood Meridian' examines the nature of man when the fragile constraints of civilization have been broken. To accentuate that all the horrors in 'Blood Meridian' area contained within each of us, Mr. McCarthy sets his novel in the land of our national myth, the 'Wild West.' Not Hollywood's 'Wild West' mind you, but one recognizable as something closer to what reality must have been. That's the truely frightening part.
As everyone notes, the violence starts early in the book and never lets up. Mr. McCarthy forces the reader to look, forces us to not look away. This horrific violence is the vehicle McCarthy uses to move the novel from on his pages to within our own minds. Once we follow the characters across the societally self-imposed border and left 'civilization' and 'humanity' behind, Glanton and 'The Judge' become OUR king and OUR high priest. As 'The Kid's' humanity slowly withers, we recognize the degradable nature of our own humanity. 'The Kid' is the reader. 'The Kid' is the individual. If we are honest with ourselves, McCarthy tells us that when faced with humanity's ever-present interior horrors (represented perfectly by 'The Judge') we are just as helpless.
That is the true horror of 'Blood Meridian.' Not the blood. Not the guts. Not even the dead babies. The horror of 'Blood Meridian' is that at any time we are a one choice, one action away from 'The Judge' and the constraining force of 'civilization' is tenuous at best. And once that thread of humanity has broken...
Mr. McCarthy's language paints a vivid picture but can be difficult to wade through. His word choice can be archaic and obscure, but no word (or sentence) in 'Blood Meridian' ever seems out of place. 'Blood Meridian' makes you work to understand what's going on. The 300 page book seemed much longer to me. Perhaps its because I reread passages. More likely it was because Mr. McCarthy can construct two or three paragraphs that give you the impression that you've seen every detail of a hundred mile journey, all within half of a page.
'Blood Meridian' is not a pretty book or one that fits within today's 'entertainment' consumer's expectations. 'Blood Meridian' is Hieronymus Bosch, not Claude Monet. Mr. McCarthy has created a novel sublime in its ability to frighten and disgust you. Don't let that dissuade you. It's well worth the effort.
Wordiness galore!.......2007-09-12
I think Cormac McCarthy is one of those authors who write for editors and english teachers more than the reader. How pretentious. There is unnecessary wordiness to this novel. It distracts from the story, which is pretty good. His sentence structure is such that I keep thinking that there are much easier ways to say something, kiddo! One reviewer compared him to Hemmingway, but I must disagree. Yes, they both fancy the compound sentence, but Hemmingway wrote in a simpler elegant style. And you can be a good writer and not have to constantly use obscure nouns and reversed adjectives and odd pronoun usage and...oops, caught myself in a compound sentence.
He's heard this criticism before. And maybe it registered because The Road is much better read. Short sentences aren't bad, mi amigos.
Obsessive.......2007-08-26
This is only the second Mccarthy novel I have read,I might try one more before I give up.
There's no doubt that McCarhty is a gifted writer, but I don't share his obsession with violence and inhumanity, maybe that's his point, and in truth, looking at the world today I wonder if we've made any progress at all. Nevertheless I can't abide the literary vision here. I think its a waste of my time to read something that tells me what I already know and pounds in the pointlessness of life, as the authour sees it, till I am sick to death of it, I know there's more to life than this, and I quit the book. I couldn't read anymore after less than a hundred pages. I knew the whole thing would be just more of the same so why bother?
I don't think McCarthys a great writer, he dwells too much on the irredeemably demonic in man. He's an interesting writer, his style, his antique knowledge, his ornate vocabulary, but it takes more than this to make a writer with a response to life that is worthy rather than an indulgence in the depths of horror humanity is capable of. If you want the classic depiction of this, but also with reflection and thoughtfulness about man's plight than all you have to do is read, "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad.
1 doesn't begin to describe this waste of time.......2007-08-20
I listened to about half of the audio book and negative adjectives fail. I tried to tolerate it, I tried to give it much more effort than I felt it deserved or would ever reward me with just a experience that was better than listening to my own internal dialogue. The only thing I could even begin to care about was the animals. There wasn't a character that I was even remotely interested in, I certainly wasn't even the least bit curious as to what happened to them, let alone care about even enough to wish their demise. The evil, amorality of the characters hold no interest, no fascination and is very soon boring instead of evocative of anything. There is nothing inventive, interesting or otherwise at all compelling. You don't care about the Kid or the characters that surround him, you don't care about the people they kill, you don't care that the killings are brutal, and often indiscriminate. You don't care if they kill 10, 100 or 1000 Indians, Mexicans, by-standers or who or whatever ever. The violence is not fascinating, not shocking, not even numbing. In the end it's just repetitive and boring.
Read the phone book, read the want ads, don't bother with this, ever, for any reason.
Bloody Hell.......2007-08-13
Ultimately a lot of my problems with this are the same as when I read "Cities of the Plain" recently so I'll just cut and paste from there to save time.
I suppose McCarthy's writing is fine if you enjoy the Hemingway style, which I don't. I'm not sure what's so beautiful about sentences that go "He shaved and showered and toweled off and got dressed." Seems kind of ugly actually. Reminds me of the stories I wrote in junior high. But he has a Pulitzer and a National Book Award and I don't. Take that!
A few of the author's style choices left me more than a little confused. Let's go down the list:
1. McCarthy doesn't use quotation marks so sometimes it's hard to know when someone is talking and when McCarthy is narrating.
2. McCarthy is adverse to using proper names so you end up with confusing pronoun use. In one case he made it sound like wolves had built a fire. This is especially a problem when the author starts out a new section or chapter with "He" and then we have to wait a few sentences to figure out the "He" in question.
3. Most aggravating of all is that a lot of characters speak only Spanish and McCarthy puts their lines IN Spanish. So tough luck if you don't know any Spanish. I wasn't too bad off since I took a few Spanish classes in high school, but some terms still threw me--and I didn't have a Spanish-English dictionary handy. If this were a movie we'd have the benefit of subtitles but in a novel we have to try and interpret the gist of it from the character's actions, sort of like playing charades.
Here's a new one though:
4. The central character (supposedly) is "the kid" but after joining up with "the judge" and Glanton "the kid" steadily disappears until he's just an anonymous part of the gang as they terrorize Mexico and the southwestern United States. A good quarter or more of the book hardly mentions "the kid" at all until he resurfaces at the end for the final confrontation with "the judge."
As the reader I think I really missed out by another of McCarthy's habits of never getting into the character's minds. Since the characters are so opaque and the central character disappears, the final confrontation between "the kid" and "the judge" doesn't make a lot of sense. I never did understand why "the kid" didn't just off "the judge" when he had the chance, a direct result of "the kid" vanishing and never having any idea what he was thinking.
But suffice it to say if you enjoyed "The Road" then this is pretty much the same thing. A group of people going through a bleak wasteland full of blood, gore, and death. Only in this case it's "the kid" and the gang inflicting most of that blood, gore, and death in order to collect Indian scalps--or Mexican scalps will do in a pinch. Pretty much the whole book is them going from place to place killing people or getting chased off by people trying to kill them. If you're looking for anything happy or hopeful or any of that, you better keep on walking.
That is all.
Average customer rating:
- Knitting Enhancement
- Knitting on the Edge: Ribs, Ruffles, Lace, Fringes, Floral, Points & Picots: The Essential Collection of 350 Decorateive Borders
- Where are the corrections????
- Inspiring book to use as a springboard for your knitting imagination
- Some mistakes not the fault of the author.
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Knitting on the Edge: Ribs, Ruffles, Lace, Fringes, Floral, Points & Picots: The Essential Collection of 350 Decorative Borders
Nicky Epstein
Manufacturer: Sixth&Spring Books
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Knitting Over The Edge: Unique Ribs, Cords, Appliques, Colors, Nouveau
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Knitting Beyond the Edge: Cuffs and Collars*Necklines*Hems*Closures - The Essential Collection of Decorative Finishes
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Nicky Epstein's Knitted Embellishments: 350 Appliques, Borders, Cords and More!
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The Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Volume Two: Cables: The Ultimate Stitch Dictionary from the Editors of Vogue Knitting Magazine (Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Series)
ASIN: 1931543402 |
Book Description
Compiled by an acclaimed knitwear designer and teacher, this collection of 350 knitted edgings, borders, and trims runs the gamut of styles and offers something for all tastes. A wealth of individual project ideas are featured for ribbed edges, ruffles, lace, fringes, flora, and garters. Color photographs accompany each of the designs, which rely upon readily available yarns and which come complete with line-by-line stitching instructions. Decorate cuffs, finish hems, and customize your own unique sweater. Develop distinctive styles and patterns using ideas such as the feather lace ruffle, bel epoque, garter stitch weave, sea scallop edge, sugar drop and much more.
Customer Reviews:
Knitting Enhancement.......2007-04-12
Great book!
Well written, well described, really nice ideas.
Highly recommended.
Knitting on the Edge: Ribs, Ruffles, Lace, Fringes, Floral, Points & Picots: The Essential Collection of 350 Decorateive Borders.......2007-02-06
It's OK. I bought it, but could have lived without it. The sections include: Introduction, Texture, Size, Notes, Ribs, Ruffles, Lace, Fringes, Flora, Points & Picots, Patterns, Stitches, Abbreviations, Techniques, Acknowledgments, & Recourses.
This is an excellent book for beginner or intermediate knitters. Experienced knitters would have already used many of these ideas in their self-designed knitted project. It's a nice reference book for them.
Where are the corrections????.......2006-12-18
There are many mistakes in this book...and it is poorly written. Patterns should be more clear. One person stated she couldn't find any errors...well I beg to differ with you, so far every pattern I've started has errors and have not been able to complete either project because of them. what is up with P1 P5...????? why not p6????? I do not understand that and have never seen it before....crazy
Inspiring book to use as a springboard for your knitting imagination.......2006-12-09
After much deliberation, I decided to buy the three Nicky Epstein books in this series (On the Edge, Over the Edge, Beyond the Edge). Each of these books are just gorgeous, filled with color illustrations of each border or design on glossy pages. In essence, I'll be reviewing all three of the books together, but focusing on this one since I'm currently doing a border from it.
While I'd heard of Nicky Epstein (if you're into knitting, I don't see how you couldn't!), I waited about a year before buying her books, and I'm glad I did. I needed the time to become a better knitter. I consider myself an advanced beginner or an intermediate knitter, and I don't think these are books for beginners. For one thing, they're not meant to be pattern books. There are very few patterns included in them (and the ones that are there are pretty scary looking! When I was first learning to knit I would have given up, because they're very complex-looking). The author assumes that her audience would know how to do some of the more advanced stitches used in her border patterns, and that they would also have some experience under their belt to figure out how to use her borders in bigger projects like sweaters or blankets or whatever.
That being said, I'm taking a star off because it's really hard to find errata for this book on the internet. I had to do some searching before I found a scant two or three corrections on the Vogue Knitting website. I spent two days working and reworking a specific border (the Serendipity, p.83) before I realized that the numbers the author had listed for how many stitches the pattern worked over were wrong. As I continued in the pattern, I found other number errors in it. When I looked for corrections, I couldn't find any for that specific pattern. Since I know this book has been out for a while, I would hope that all the pattern errors would have been worked out in later printings. Other than that, a great book and totally worth the money.
Some mistakes not the fault of the author........2006-09-12
Sometimes not being able to work a pattern doesn't mean the book has a mistake. For instance, p.139 "Butterfly" does not have different numbers of stitches on each row. Notice that "Embossed Hearts" on the same page ends each row differently worded than does "Butterfly." If not read carefully, "Butterfly" would seem to say do the repeat as many times as required, then knit #. But it says to "end last rep k#." So the last repeat of each row ends with a different number of knit stitches than the other repeats in the row. I counted it out and it works.
I also checked several more throughout the book in response to another review that said the first row always required more stitches than were cast-on. In the couple dozen that I checked, none were wrong.
I understand this book has errors. But we must not be blind to our own and instead blame the author.
Book Description
TRANSNATIONAL MANAGEMENT focuses on the management challenges associated with developing strategies and managing the operations of companies whose activities stretch across national boundaries. The purpose of this book is to provide a conceptual framework of the interplay between the multinational corporation, the countries in which it does business, and the competitive environment in which it operates. Through text narrative, cases, and readings, the authors skillfully examine the development of strategy, organizational capabilities, and management challenges for operating in the global economy.
Customer Reviews:
Transnational Mgtmt.......2007-09-27
The book was helpful in getting through my class because it was a requirement. The book had more cases and readings than actual theory. Which is good because you almost always get theory and less examples. The print is kind of small.
Please. Spare me this book........2007-04-16
The previous reviewer has it on the mark. I patiently formed my own opinion, and reached just about the same conclusion. I am forced to use this text as one of two final courses in an MBA program to coincide with final projects.
If one hasn't achieved the mindset this book tries to instill, by the time you get this far in a program to use the text, you've already missed the train. Through very long case studies and short chapters, you review everything you ever learned about business. It is so slow and common sensical, you wonder who the book is trying to reach. It has little commentary and presents the idea of transnational organizations as a textbook concept. Boring, frustrating, basic.
I dread this book. The very sight of it makes me cringe and brings on acid reflux. Make sure you get your magnifying glass out, you'll need it. The text is in about a 8 or 9 font. This book may present more of a test of nerves, patience and sanity than it does a convincing or compelling read and study on transnational management.
Typical academia ego-boosting drivel.......2007-01-31
This book demonstrates the never-ending supply of ego-boosting drivel put out by academia every year! Retailing for nearly $150.00, it is barely more than a collection of case studies and long-winded, over explained obscure topics. Containing over 800 pages, only ~114 are dedicated to actual chapter material. In addition to the over-whelming mass of case material, there are 3 to 4 "Readings" at then end of each chapter section. These, too, are nothing more than ego-boosting drivel. I get the feeling that this book, with little substance, was just a way to sell case studies and collect royalties. For only ~114 pages of actual discussion, this book should not have cost more than $25 - and that's stretching it.
If you want to get a REAL education on business in a global setting, pick up the latest business magazine or weekly news periodical. In less than 30 minutes you will have a REAL world lesson in REAL time. For even more current global business topics and learning opportunities, try the internet sites of leading business and news magazines.
This textbook, and educational institutions' use of, perfectly illustrates why so many students graduate without the practical knowledge necessary to cope in the REAL business world.
In a world that constantly re-invents itself, textbook education (and this one in particular) is no way to stay competitive and current!
My sympathy goes out to every student forced to endure the use of this textbook (and 1000's others just like it)
Average customer rating:
- A Super Modern Western Adventure!
- Cowboys!~
- Part "High Plains Drifter" and Part "Romeo and Juliet."
- A wonderful reading experience
- All the Pretty Horses
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All the Pretty Horses
Cormac Mccarthy
Manufacturer: Vintage
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Binding: Paperback
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The Crossing
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Suttree
ASIN: 0679744398
Release Date: 1993-06-29 |
Amazon.com
Part bildungsroman, part horse opera, part meditation on courage and loyalty, this beautifully crafted novel won the National Book Award in 1992. The plot is simple enough. John Grady Cole, a 16-year-old dispossessed Texan, crosses the Rio Grande into Mexico in 1949, accompanied by his pal Lacey Rawlins. The two precocious horsemen pick up a sidekick--a laughable but deadly marksman named Jimmy Blevins--encounter various adventures on their way south and finally arrive at a paradisiacal hacienda where Cole falls into an ill-fated romance. Readers familiar with McCarthy's Faulknerian prose will find the writing more restrained than in Suttree and Blood Meridian. Newcomers will be mesmerized by the tragic tale of John Grady Cole's coming of age.
Book Description
Now a major motion picture from Columbia Pictures starring Matt Damon, produced by Mike Nichols, and directed by Billy Bob Thornton.
The national bestseller and the first volume in Cormac McCarthy's
Border Trilogy,
All the Pretty Horses is the tale of John Grady Cole, who at sixteen finds himself at the end of a long line of Texas ranchers, cut off from the only life he has ever imagined for himself. With two companions, he sets off for Mexico on a sometimes idyllic, sometimes comic journey to a place where dreams are paid for in blood. Winner of the National Book Award for Fiction.
Customer Reviews:
A Super Modern Western Adventure!.......2007-09-22
Note: I made some Mormon reader angry over my reviews of books written by Mormons out to prove the Book of Mormon, and that person has been slamming my reviews. This review of "All the Pretty Horses" is pretty good. I didn't want to ruin the story by telling too much. Your "helpful" votes are appreciated.
This memorable novel caught me and wouldn't let go. Around 1948, two teenage boys from Texas ride their horses down into Mexico. From there, the adventure begins. For a while, they live at a cattle ranch where the one boy falls in love with the wealthy rancher's daughter.
Highly recommended.
McCarthy is a powerful writer, and his novel "Blood Meridian" is the most powerful novel I ever read (see my review where I compare his prose to that of Conrad).
Blood Meridian:
"That night they rode through a region electric and wild where strange shapes of soft blue fire ran over the metal of the hoses' trappings and the wagonwheels rolled in hoops of fire and little shapes of pale blue light came to perch in the ears of the horses and in the beards of the men. All night sheetlightning quaked and sourceless to the west beyond the midnight thunderheads, making a bluish day of the distant desert, the mountains on the sudden skyline stark and black and lived like a land of some other order out there whose true geology was not stone but fear. The thunder moved up from the southwest and lightning lit the desert all about them, blue and barren, great clanging reaches ordered out of the absolute night like some demon kingdom summoned up or changeling land that come the day would leave them neither trace nor smoke nor ruin more than any troubling dream."
Compare above lines to similar lines in "The Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad:
"We could have fancied ourselves the first of men taking possession of an accursed inheritance, to be subdued at the cost of profound anguish and of excessive toil. But suddenly, as we struggled round a bend, there would be a glimpse of rush walls, of peaked grass-roofs, a burst of yells, a whirl of black limbs, a mass of hands clapping, of feet stamping, of bodies swaying, , of eyes rolling, under the droop of heavy and motionless foliage. The steamer toiled along slowly on the edge of a black and incomprehensible frenzy. The prehistoric man was cursing us, praying to us, welcoming us--who could tell" we were cut off from the comprehension of our surroundings; we glided past like phantoms, wondering and secretly appalled, as sane men would be before an enthusiastic outbreak in a madhouse. We could not understand because we were too far and could not remember because we were travelling in the night of first ages, of those ages that are gone, leaving hardly a sign--and no memories."
Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West
Cowboys!~.......2007-09-18
This book is short but really interesting. Anybody can read it quickly. The only confusing part is that the book has many quotes but it doesn't say who is saying it. This is why sometimes you have to think twice about who said this and that. The lovestory is not like any typical teenage lovestory- in one word it is DIFFERENT.
Part "High Plains Drifter" and Part "Romeo and Juliet.".......2007-09-10
Cormac McCarthy was born in Rhode island and grew up in Tennessee, but now lives in Tesuque, New Mexico. He is viewed by many as one of the more unusual and most talented of the current American writers. For example, Harold Bloom has written a number of things about McCarthy.
Some describe Mccarthy as a loner. Coincidentally, that is what one might call the protagonist in the present novel: John Grady. The novel is set in the 1950s time period and Grady is a young man or mature boy caught between the horse and buggy days of the old west and the new west connected by modern highways. Grady has a fascination for horses and is a talented rider.
The story is about two men who ride their horses into Mexico and work as ranch hands in Mexico. It is part love story and part a tale of justice and adventure, i.e.: Grady meets a woman in Mexico. The protagonist is a sympathetic character and most readers will find it to be a compelling read.
Some might not like it for the prose. The prose is complicated by design. I thought the first thirty pages were sometimes a bit awful but effective as well, but then McCarthy lightens up a bit on his writing. He reminded me a bit of the opening of Farewell to Arms where Hemingway tries to set the mood through the use of prose: Hemingway uses a narrative of the natural surroundings. McCarthy uses expressions such as "the sun sat blood red and elliptic," and these seem out of place when compared to the spartan dialogue of a father and son talking over a breakfast of eggs and coffee.
Also, McCarthy uses what is called polysyndeton, or the use of several conjunctions in close succession, especially where some might be omitted. It is a stylistic scheme used to slow down the tempo. As pointed out by others, polysyndeton is used extensively in the King James Version of the Bible. For example:
"And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark." Genesis 7:22-24
One of the best parts in the book - and exceptional writing by the way - is where he describes a dream in the middle of the book about horses running free on a plain and he does so in 18 continuous lines with no punctuation.
So, this is based on some universal themes, set in Texas and Mexico, and has some interesting and complicated prose. Once you get passed page 30 to 50, it is a novel that is hard to put down. I read most of the novel in an evening.
Highly recommended page turner: 5 stars.
A wonderful reading experience.......2007-09-09
This was one of the best reading experiences Ive ever had. What was most important to me was how true to the how people of this lifestyle actually are. I grew up in this type of atmosphere and its a big part of who I am even though it no longer defines me on a daily basis. Working with horses is a lifestyle. It what you live and breathe. McCarthy captures that. It had such an effect on me and took me back to a life I miss so much. Enjoy this book.
All the Pretty Horses.......2007-08-06
I was disappointed in the style of this book. I had just read "Water for Elephants" and was blown away. The reviews I read lead me to this author and the above book. The story line is good however he is slow to develop it. I appreciate discriptive text however a paragraph (or more) it seems to descibbe a dry river bed is a bit much especially when there is one on every page. Alas the last 1/3 of the book will go unread. And I will search for the next W.F.E.
Book Description
In this work of grave beauty and searing powerone of the most widely praised pieces of investigative reporting to appear in recent yearswe follow 26 men who in May 2001 attempted to cross the Mexican border into the desert of southern Arizona, through the deadly region known as the Devils Highway, a desert so harsh and desolate that even the Border Patrol is afraid to travel through it, a place that for hundreds of years has stolen mens souls and swallowed their blood. Only 12 of the men made it out.
Customer Reviews:
The Devil's Highway - a must read!.......2007-08-26
As a long-time resident of Tucson I was fascinated and horrified by this book. I thought that I knew a lot about "entrants" and the problems of our southern border but this book really opened my eyes. Such a complicated issue!
The book is well-written, absorbing, amusing, informing and very readable. Anyone who is at all interested in our immigration and border policies, or who has an interest in the desert and borderlands, should by all means read this book! Or, read it just because you like a good (true) story.
Urrea's Masterful Narrative.......2007-06-13
Touching story about everyday life at the border.
The Rabbit.......2007-02-20
Once upon a time, there was a rabbit and he was rather licious. lol...Good review...Don't strangle the chickens or choke them.
An Everyday Tragedy in the Southwest.......2006-11-11
As a resident who has lived in Yuma, Arizona for the past nine years and read the daily paper and watched the nightly news giving scant details about one or two bodies found here or there, presumed to be those of "illegals" -- Urrea brings to the reader the faces and lives of the human beings behind the numbers. I often think of the deceased that are briefly mentioned in these news blurbs and wonder where they came from, whom they have left behind and what dreams of theirs did the desert kill? And is the desert what really killed them? Or was it some errant Border Patrol agent or a frustrated and pissed off Minuteman? Just what are they so pissed about, anyhow?
Regarding the immigrants and their motivations for leaving their beloved behind for the north, Urrea certainly answered some of my questions. No, America, they are not all criminals, drug runners or people out to get your top jobs! They just want to make enough to feed their families and if they're lucky, save enough to buy a little building material for a house or to start up a small business. I have yet to hear any of my friends or acquaintances get excited about applying for jobs in agriculture or plucking chickens!
This book should be recommended reading for our government leaders, the INS, and ALL law enforcement agencies - they might just be able to figure out a plan for immigration reform! Just be sure to read the interview of Mr. Urrea in the Reading Group Guide at the end of the book -- the numbers (profits) will amaze you. As this book painfully demonstrates, fences are not going to do anything but make death in the desert an even more certain fate for crossers.
Thank you, Mr. Urrea, for giving the world a clear and concise picture of what is really going on in our corner of the country and our part of the globe, for that matter. As I drive along I-8 going to either San Diego or Phoenix and offer my usual prayer for those who have died so close by, I can promise that the names of Edgar, Abraham, Jose and Reymundo will not be forgotten. I will even have a prayer for Mendez.
Great personal view of immigration.......2006-11-02
Urrea brings us up close and personal by sharing the real lives of those who risk crossing the border and the Border Patrol officers that try to stop them. A painful story, well told.
Book Description
Quirky, attractive knitted flowers, fringes, lattice edgings, and other embellishments can add style and flair to handmade knitted garments, store bought sweaters, household items, and more. This book contains hundreds of ideas and instructions for using knitted appliqus, borders, cords, embroidery, and enhancements such as fringes, tassels, pompoms, and ties.
Customer Reviews:
Nicky Epstein's Knitted Embellishments.......2007-05-13
Inspirational with step by step instructions. A must have for the knitter that just loves to knit,this book will have you doing so much more. Wonderful use of knitted cords, great edges, fringes, tassel and emroidery stitches. You will always add that special touch to your knitting. Thank you Nicky for sharing.
Worth the price.......2007-04-11
I have Ms Epstein's other books,Knitting Over The Edge: Unique Ribs, Cords, Appliques, Colors, Nouveau: The Second Essential Collection of Decorative Borders which I enjoyed and Knitting Beyond the Edge: Cuffs and Collars*Necklines*Hems*Closures - The Essential Collection of Decorative Finishes about which I was somewhat less enthused. I decided to get this book, because I was looking for ideas for embelishments, and there it was: "Embellishments," just what I was looking for, so I got it.
I think some of the appliqués are quite imaginative, particularly some of the leaves and pieced flower designs as well as many of the knitted cord appliqué designs, like the Celtic knots and most of the closures in the last few pages of the book. (I do love "frogs.") I will certainly try the technique myself.
The appliqué cord technique was also used effectively for faux cables, and although I enjoy tackling a complex cable from time to time as an exercise, I could see the appliqué system for cables as a very effective way of getting a project completed. It would also allow one to experiment with a design to decide what type of cable looks best on a completed sweater, and just where on the sweater it will most enhance the wearer--and all this without having to rip apart the sweater and do it over again!
The integration of beading into some of the edgings was also interesting and not something I would have thought of myself, because I'm not (yet) a beader. I could imagine the technique making something very special from something quite simple. However some of the designs for heavily beaded tassels seem just way too over the top.
I also like the way cross stitch and embroidery in flosses or yarns could be added to a finished sweater to give the piece the look of fairisle, intarsia, entrelac, and tapestry without the bulk and carryovers that occur with the first two.
I am not, however, a great fan of "bobbles" or raised edgings. I enjoy the technique of the former for its cleverness, and have added bobbles to things like purses, but they tend to make knitted and crocheted products look bulky and awkward in places that should probably not be emphasized on some individuals. (My figure, for instance, is bulky and awkward enough thank you.) Maybe on a very slim person, but definitely not a decorative technique I'd use for the more "mature" shape.
The designs are well illustrated and enlarged enough for the reader to see the techniques displayed. The author uses the method of charted instructions, which I usually find somewhat difficult to follow but which I can see as very useful for visualizing the finished product and its construction.
Most of my objections, though valid from my own perspective, might not be true of others. Maybe one likes heavily beaded tassles, maybe someone else enjoys bobbles. As one of the other reviewers notes; there's something for everyone in this book.
All in all a book well worth the price to add to ones craft library.
A Little Something for Everyone.......2007-02-10
I know, I know: "don't judge a book by its cover." But that is exactly why I had passed on this instructional before. The cover - which doesn't invite anyone to even pick up this book - is an awful diversion from the quality of information found here. Apparently, Epstein found an new editor or photographer to give her current works much, much more visual appeal.
Recently, I bought this and was surprised at what I found. This book is a great place to start! It's actually the 'Cliff Notes' to Epstein's other works - a springboard into the 'Edge' series. I have not bought any of the "Edge" series, only because they seem overwhelming and I didn't think I would actually use them (at least at this point in my knitting life). There is enough variation in patterns, ideas, and techniques to challenge and inspire anyone! This skimmed version is a great place to start. I'm encouraged to pick up her other books and reweigh their value in my knitting library.
Great BOOK!.......2007-01-16
My cut and sew knitwear professor recommended this book to me because it clearly illustrates every step to the knit embellishments. I really love the book and frequently refer to it when I need help coming up with a good idea to improve knit garments. I would recommend this book to a pro or an amatuer because it is really simple to follow along.
One of the best in it's field .......2006-03-01
This book is one of the best in it's filed --at least of the ones that I have seen. I am a great Nicky Epstein fan, because she is so thorough and knows her stuff. You can find a ton of inspiration to embellish and improve your knitted pieces, or any other garment, bag, hat, pillow, toy, etc., for that matter, as the embellishments shown will be wonderful to personalize any item you wish to "treat". The instructions are precise and detailed enough for any but the novice knitter, without being too lengthy. The pictures give you a clear impression of what your result will be. I am glad to have bought this book.
Book Description
Patients Beyond Borders is the first comprehensive, easy-to-understand guide to medical tourism, aimed at the 84 million uninsured and under-insured Americans seeking treatment options abroad for increasingly expensive procedures in the US. From Thailand's American-accredited Bumrungrad hospital to Eric Clapton's Crossroads Clinic to Johns Hopkins International hospitals, health travelers now have a full array of the world's safest, best choices in treatment centers and physicians. Whether patients are seeking dental work, heart surgery, orthopedics, cosmetic surgery, neurosurgery, or LASIK eye repair, Patients Beyond Borders is the best way to become an informed health traveler and get patients started on their health travel journey. Part One: "How to Become a Savvy, Informed Medical Traveler" provides all the information and tools patients need to make safe, intelligent and cost-effective decisions about healthcare abroad: how to plan and budget a health journey, finding the highest-quality hospitals and treatment centers, finding the best physicians and surgeons, working with health travel planners, and more. Part Two: "The Most-Traveled Health Destinations" provides never-before-published information on treatment options in 14 countries, including fully-accredited hospitals and clinics, health travel agents, treatment specialties and super-specialties, recovery retreats, accommodations and more. Includes Patients Beyond Borders Treatment and Country Finder and Medical Travel Budget Planner. Patients Beyond Borders is the medical traveler's first complete guide to a world of new healthcare options. About the Author Author Josef Woodman has spent more than three years researching contemporary medical tourism, interviewing patients, practitioners, administrators, government officials and specialists in the field, while conducting an extensive analysis of safety records, accreditations, success rates and consumer trends. With significant resources and contacts from his pioneering background in health technology on the Web, Woodman has compiled a wealth of information for the American public about important healthcare choices.
Customer Reviews:
Great information that is hard to find .......2007-08-23
I spent a lot of time on the internet trying to research this topic on my own and looking for certain procedures (mainly dental and cosmetic surgery). It is nice to have this book as a resource, there is a lot of helpful info. in this book - I found it very informative and easy to read. I wound up getting dental work done in Mexico at a facility reviewed in this book and am happy with my experience. I recommend this book to anyone even remotely considering foreign medical travel.
Great overview.......2007-08-07
I am considering elective surgery and this was a great compendium of information scattered all over the internet.
Patients beyond borders.......2007-06-01
Book arrived very quickly. Great service again. Thank you so much.
patients Beyond Borders: Everybody's Guide to Affordable, World-Class Medical Tourism.......2007-04-07
Great book, offers very useful information both on travel needs and medical questions. I would recommend this book to anyone considering traveling for medical needs.
Wow! It's about time..........2007-03-30
With Americans paying punishing prices for healthcare, this easy-to-read guidebook could be a Godsend for many. I hope it lights a path for a new wave of health travelers and gives more people a chance to live longer, healthier lives. Kudos to Mr. Woodman and his research team.
Book Description
What you see is not always what you get - and this true story of a man and his dog is no exception. Woven just under the surface of this simple parable, Keller presents profound spiritual truth. It is the story of Lass, a worthless animal thought to be untrainable, who becomes a magnificent and valuable sheepdog - not terribly unlike how God's love can transform our worst characteristics into blessings that serve to further His Kingdom. Allow yourself to see Biblical truth in this classic tale of what can happen when you yield to the Master.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Books / Excellent Buy.......2007-09-28
Loved this book - a wonderful story of Love through the eyes of a shepherd. Lass is a sheepdog who is abused and unloved. Her transformation when she is loved by her master is a picture of our transformation when we receive God's (our master's) love.
Lessons from a Sheep Dog.......2007-04-28
The write ups were misleading. I bought this book for my grandson, only to find it contained Christian propaganda. "Obey the Master's voice" ??? please...
Engaging, light read - recommend for all.......2006-10-09
This book is warm story that shows the relationship of trust and loyalty built between an abused dog and his new owner. I highly recommend it to any and all.
Worthy of a re-read from time to time. Among other messages, a gentle reminder of the spirit of service we are all meant to demonstrate!
Great book for dog lovers.......2006-07-09
I gave this book to a friend for her birthday. She has a dog just like Lass and could relate very closely to the author's experiences. She loved the book. I am reading it now and agree completely. Great book for any dog lover.
Lessons from a Sheep Dog.......2006-03-20
Be sure to get this little book to go with "A shepherd looks at psalm 23". It will open you eyes to your relationship with our good shepherd and it may put you to shame as to how willing are you to follow His call.
Books:
- Lady Friday (The Keys To The Kingdom)
- Lady on the Hill: How Biltmore Became an American Icon
- Leadership for Differentiating Schools and Classrooms
- Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting
- Louis Comfort Tiffany and Laurelton Hall: An Artist's Country Estate (Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications)
- Making Your Move to One of America's Best Small Towns: How to Find a Great Little Place as Your Next Home Base
- Monday Morning Leadership: 8 Mentoring Sessions You Can't Afford to Miss
- Moroccan Interiors: 25th Anniversary edition
- Natural Swimming Pools: Inspiration For Harmony With Nature (Schiffer Design Book)
- Natural Swimming Pools: Inspiration For Harmony With Nature (Schiffer Design Book)
Books Index
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