The Situation Is Hopeless, but Not Serious (The Pursuit of Unhappiness)

Customer Reviews:

A little disappointing........2007-02-08

Paul Watzlawick has written some really exceptional material, but I found this book to be less so. I did finally get a very useful insight near the end, but I felt like I was going through a lot of repetitive material. Kind of like a long run for a short slide. For a more enjoyable read by the same author, try "Change: Principles of Problem Formation and Problem Resolution." For me his best was "How Real is Real? (An Anecdotal Introduction to Communication Theory)" , now out of print and a classic.

A really amusing and tale-telling reading.......2005-07-11

The author extracts from his extensive practice and writing in the field of communication theory an amusing list of "technics" people use to make their own lives miserable. They span from the avoidance of things that could solve one's own problems to the dual tendency to insist focusing on what cannot be reached; to projecting one's prejudices on others like when one wants to ask something fearing it will not be given and thus putting in act behaviours that forster just that reaction.

All in all the feeling that one gets from the book is that we do not need terrorism, wars, discriminations, torture, presidents of the United States or Osamas... all that is needed to make ourselves unhappy is already inside ourselves - thus, and here comes the positive message, it is there that it may, and must, be cured.

Funny and insightful!.......2003-02-08

This book is such a joy to read! It is one of the funniest books I have read and yet we learn so much about ourselves with it! It shows us how we create much of the unhappiness that we experience and in an indirect way, how we can step out of it. If you want to learn more about consciousness and how it relates to our happiness, read "The Ever-Transcending Spirit" by Toru Sato. It is not as funny but it tells us more about how consciousness works in a simple way. I think you will like it.

LAUGHING YOURSELF OUT OF UNHAPPINESS.......2002-11-02

A review by the marqueeofburano: A wonderful, witty, exposé of our endeavors to live a more miserable life by Watzlawick, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Stanford University. The treatment of the subject will surely make you laugh at yourself and thus, perhaps, contribute to make you a better person.
W. deals with the fundamental, painful, necessity of the human being to be unhappy (in order to be quiet). And in fact, he contends that the best chapters of universal literature dwell with disaster, tragedy, guilt, madness, etc.
Dante's Inferno-W. writes- is very superior to his Paradise; same case as Milton's Paradise Lost compared with his Paradise Regained; Faust I's greatness is proportionally inverse to the tediousness of Faust II. So the author embarks hilariously in a methodic introduction to the best and more verifiable mechanisms to achieve unhappiness. Samples:
Always be truthful to yourself. A principle, from Polonius in Hamlet,of the outmost necessity for us ( its application is what gets the guy killed by Hamlet like a rat). So then, we must resist any temptation to yield to any other criteria or opinion, apart from ours. Never compromise or accept someone else's advice. The author then addresses the issue of the old saying: "time cures all wounds"..... According to W. four sound mechanisms exist if you want to avoid time's healing effects and transform the past into a present source of suffering. In the exaltation of the past we find those that only remember the good things about their youth and not the years of insecurity and anxiety. In so doing, they have a consistent reserve of sadness about their miserable present...... Also, this fidelity to the past, impairs our ability to enjoy the present and fully dedicate our efforts to the endeavors of the moment. Another mechanism is to consistently dwell with the guilt complex that past errors create, finding excuses or scapegoats (our parents, God, chromosomes, teachers etc.) while doing nothing to avoid committing the same mistakes again.
The author drives his point with practical examples. For instance the story of the hammer. A man wants to hang a painting. He has the nail, but not the hammer. Therefore it occurs to him to go over to the neighbor and ask him to lend him his hammer. But at this point, doubt sets in. What if he doesn't want to lend me the hammer? Yesterday he barely spoke to me. Maybe he was in a hurry. Or, perhaps, he holds something against me. But why? I didn't do anything to him. If he would ask me to lend him something, I would, at once. How can he refuse to lend me his hammer? People like him make other people's life miserable. Worst, he thinks that I need him because he has a hammer. This is got to stop ! And suddenly the guy runs to the neighbor's door, rings, and before letting him say anything, he screams: "You can keep your hammer, you b......"
Watzlawick not only discussess techniques to create false problems, but also the ones that make it actually possible to avoid solving problems and conver them into eternal torments. Here we get the example of the man that claps his hands every ten seconds. Asked why he does that, he answers: "to drive away the elephants..." -"But why, there are no elephants here"- The guy says: "Precisely".
This is a very funny book. It deals, with a fresh and delightful approach, with many of our karmas and mind bothering mosquitoes.......

Hilarious.......2001-10-28

Brilliant. When I wasn't laughing out loud, I was pierced by his trenchant obervations. Shows us how we choose unhappiness without even thinking about it. He is no Pangloss, the world is a tough place, but Watzlawick shows us how we make it worse than it has to be for ourselves. Highly, highly recommended for anyone with a sense of humor who wants to know more about him/herself.

The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA

Average customer rating:

enough to fire your enthusiasm
a favorite.
take it with a grain of salt
2 Helix as 1
A dishonourment to Rosalind Franklin's memory

The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA
James D. Watson
Manufacturer: Touchstone
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 074321630X

Book Description

By identifying the structure of DNA, the molecule of life, Francis Crick and James Watson revolutionized biochemistry and won themselves a Nobel Prize. At the time, Watson was only twenty-four, a young scientist hungry to make his mark. His uncompromisingly honest account of the heady days of their thrilling sprint against other world-class researchers to solve one of science's greatest mysteries gives a dazzlingly clear picture of a world of brilliant scientists with great gifts, very human ambitions, and bitter rivalries. With humility unspoiled by false modesty, Watson relates his and Crick's desperate efforts to beat Linus Pauling to the Holy Grail of life sciences, the identification of the basic building block of life. Never has a scientist been so truthful in capturing in words the flavor of his work.

Customer Reviews:

enough to fire your enthusiasm.......2006-08-09

I read this book as a new science teacher, and it made me realise that all research and teaching can be enlivened by the characters that populate the scientific world. It certainly is not just for academics. I recommend this to everybody - I loved every page. Both Watson and Crick were insufferably arrogant, loud, ostentatious, obnoxious - but it allows the reader to see that enthusiasm and shear pushiness gets places. One sees the boundries set in academic research, and understands also the content of their work. A MUST read. As relevent today as in 1968.

a favorite........2006-05-25

this is easily one of my favorite books. some dislike it for watson's dramatization of certain social elements in the story, and for the way in which crick and watson made their discovery. but i think the book should be appreciated as a text which makes science more accessible to the general public. and perhaps most impressive is how watson does manage to include some science in a way which i think will not distract the lay reader, or bore him.

take it with a grain of salt.......2005-11-24

While James Watson is not on the list of authors I'd generally recommend reading, this book is an exception. Those interested in the history of molecular biology should definitely read this book. Given the nature of the topic, it is light and enjoyable reading. Certainly this account is biased to some extent, which makes it necessary to read other books on the topic as well. Further reading on Francis Crick and Rosalind Franklin, among other personalities mentioned in the Double Helix, are highly recommended, and necessary for fair balance.

2 Helix as 1.......2005-11-23

The Double Helix was a one of the books on my high school biology teacher's reading list for the class. The name itself, The Double Helix, had shied me away from reading it; it sounds like some boring old book that will describe the structure of DNA in some very big and boring words. However, after finally reading the book, I completely changed my thoughts on this book. I found the novel to be an easy and exciting to read in an almost fictious hero-like story.
Watson's story is not just a mere account of the events that occurred, but it also contains many of his personal thoughts and views of the events. Watson's purpose for writing The Double Helix was to explain that scientific research was a combination of "the contradictory pulls of ambition and the sense of fair play." Watson involves the reader in the "race" of the DNA structure with Linus Pauling and in the underhanded use of Rosalind Franklin's X-ray data. I, like many others, was sucked into the thrill of Watson's first-hand account of this dishonest race. During many points in the course of the novel, I was anxiously waiting to turn the page to see what Watson or Crick might do next. As Sir Lawrence Bragg puts it in the foreword, "I do not know any other instance where one is able to share so intimately in the researcher's struggle and doubts and final triumph."
The Double Helix was not only a good read, but also it has reinvigorated my spirit in the field of research, especially the active field of genetics. My first year of college courses in chemistry and biology had began to turn me away from research in particular areas, for the courses just did not seem to interest me anymore. However, this book has provided me with a new avenue into the exciting world and life of scientific research; I am again looking forward to going into the genetic research field.
I observed a very interesting point in the book, which is that all the data and diagrams that were discussed throughout the novel are also taught in our chemistry classes; it is in this fact that I find science's beauty, that only 50 years ago this data was used to solve the structure of a totally unknown molecule/idea and is now taught in elementary chemistry classes.
The Double Helix is an exceptional novel that I recommend to all.

A dishonourment to Rosalind Franklin's memory.......2005-11-18

This book is an innaccurate version of events in the the discovery of teh structure of DNA. What most people don't know is that Rosalind Franklin was crucial to the discovery of the structure of DNA. Watson and Crick actually stole most of her data via Wilson, her supervisor, adn passed it off as their own discoverery. She was a brilliant scientist and should have been an independent researcher at Kings College, but because she was a woman she was made an assistant to Wilson. She was extremely dedicated and plowed through all the obstacles at Kings College. However, her supervisor, Wilson, showed most of her data to his old friend Crick, who shared it with his partner Watson. They too were studying DNA, although they were on completely wrong track. The data that was pilfered included the famous photo 51, which Franklin obtained over a course of years' work and revealed the spiral shape of DNA. They also positioned the competent of DNA, such as the bases, exactly as she hypothesized. Watson, Crick, and Wilson received the Nobel Prize, while Franklin could not, because she died at the age of 38 due to radiation exposure from the X-rays she used to capture photo 51. The men only mentioned her in passing when accepting their prize, and definitely not as the source of the actual discovery. Then Watson had the gall to write a book that casts her in a horrible light, as an inferior person who was bad tempered and selfishly hoarded her information. He also calls her `Rosy' throughout the entire book, although she despised that name. He once even went up to Rosalind and demanded that she hand over her data. He was a complete bigot, and thought her inferior and was furious when she refused to share her own findings to him. He harps about her appearance in the book, and it is obvious that is the only way he perceives her, and not as a thinking person. And for the record, she was actually quite striking, and wore the latest in French fashions. She was extremely dedicated, and her level of determination would have been completely accepted in a man. That's why I give this book a one, and if I could I'd give it a zero. Watson is just begging for comeuppance for what he wrote in this book. I would reccomend reading other books about Rosalind's struggle, such as 'Rosalind Franklin: The dark lady of DNA'

Average customer rating:

The way to write history for children
Short Biography
the worst book ever
WARNING:REALLY BAD BOOK!
An excellent book

The Double Life of Pocahontas
Jean Fritz
Manufacturer: Putnam Juvenile
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0698119355

Book Description

In a story that is as gripping as it is historical, Jean Fritz reveals the true life of Pocahontas. Though at first permitted to move freely between the Indian and the white worlds, Pocahontas was eventually torn between her new life and the culture that shaped her.

Customer Reviews:

The way to write history for children.......2005-12-05

Jean Fritz is one of the best writers of history for children. She doesn't romanticize or simplify to the point of distortion, and she really puts the story in history. Fritz looks with an intelligent and sensitive eye into the heart and mind of Pocahontas, and with an unflinching and respectful eye to Native Americans and the English. The Pilgrim's landing on Plymouth Rock gets more attention, but it all started at Jamestown and this book is an excellent introduction.

Short Biography.......2003-06-24

This is a short, less than 100 pages, biography of what is know about Pocahontas. I rated it 5 stars although I would have preferred a longer book. However the book is priced right for it's size.

From what I can determine, the book is historically accurate. If your purpose for reading the book is to learn the basics about the life of Pocahontas, then I highly recommend it. If, however, you just wish to be entertained, watch the Disney movie. The movie is not even close to being historically accurate, but it is entertaining.

the worst book ever.......2002-03-11

You should NOT buy the Double life of Pochahontas.There is barely any dialog. It's really d u l l. Its about the english at Jamestown.It is more of a text book than a story book. It is barley about pochahontas at all. It all starts when the English build Jamestown...

WARNING:REALLY BAD BOOK!.......2002-03-11

I think this book was one of the worst books in the whole world! This book sounded like a rough draft. It just stated facts and it had no dialogue. It was not entertaining at all.

An excellent book.......2000-10-20

The Double Life of Pocahontas is, I think, a very interesting book for those who like Indians,wars,and mixed emotion stories. I recommendthis book for people ages 10 and up. I do this because I think anyone under ten might not understand some of the parts of the book. This book as you might of guessed is about Pocahontas and her life. It starts right before the settlers come. Along the way you'll learn some interesting facts about the Indians and the settlers. First Pocahontas saves John Smith from being killed. He's adopted into the tribe. Then John Smith goes back to London. Things then start to fall apart. The Indians attacked the settlers and the colony falls apart. Pocahontas is then captured and is being converted into Christian. Her father never trys to save her. She marries and is taken to England to met the King and Queen. She wants to stay in England. I won't tell you what happens you'll have to find out for yourself. The author,Jean Fritz,did very good research on this book. If I could I would read it again. This book is great read it now!

James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon

Average customer rating:

endlessly fascinating
I had no interest in SF...
A stellar piece of work
Perhaps the Ultimate Biography
(In)Visible (Wo)man

James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon
Julie Phillips
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0312203853
Release Date: 2006-08-08

Book Description

James Tiptree, Jr. burst onto the science fiction scene in the 1970s with a series of hard-edged, provocative short stories. Hailed as a brilliant masculine writer with a deep sympathy for his female characters, he penned such classics as Houston, Houston, Do You Read? and The Women Men Dont See. Then the cover was blown on his alter ego: James Tiptree, Jr. was really a sixty-one-year old woman named Alice Sheldon. As a child, she explored Africa with her mother. Later, made into a debutante, she eloped with one of the guests at the party. She was an artist, a chicken farmer, a World War II intelligence officer, a CIA agent, an experimental psychologist. Devoted to her second husband, she struggled with her feelings for women. In 1987, her suicide shocked friends and fans. This fascinating biography, ten years in the making, is based on extensive research, exclusive interviews, and full access to Alice Sheldons papers.

Customer Reviews:

endlessly fascinating.......2007-09-29

I am happy to say this brilliant book just won as a finalist in the Washington State Book contest (the author grew up in Seattle and now lives overseas). This biography blew me away intellectually and emotionally, and it will haunt me. I can't recommend it enough to those interested in literature, history, the "60s", psychology, gender and women's studies, science fiction, and Ursula Le Guin (one of the Tiptree's longtime friends who didn't suspect for years "he" was a she. No one did). The writing is superb, as is the research, and the passion behind it is clear.

I had no interest in SF..........2007-06-21

before I began reading Phillips biography of Alice Sheldon/James Tiptree, and I still have no interest in it! But Julie Phillips has written a compelling book about an incredibly complex woman whose life included youthful explorations of Africa with her parents in the 1920's, though two marriages, war work with the WACs, social science work ending with a doctorate, to, finally, her emergence as one of the most important SF writers in the late '60's and '70's.

She began writing as a man, almost as a lark. As with many SF writers, she took a pseudonym to avoid attracting attention in her "day job". She stayed a "man" until unmasked in the late '70's.

Phillips does a great job with her biography.

A stellar piece of work.......2007-01-17

I was blown away by this book. I've been a SF reader, off and on, since I was a kid, but I've never read much (if any) of Tiptree until very recently. One doesn't need to be a fan of SF to read and appreciate this incredible biography. Alice Sheldon was a very complex, tortured soul, and Phillips certainly captures her essence, thanks in part to access to Sheldon's journals and correspondence. Even if Sheldon had never written any stories, her life would be worthy of a biography. Her parents, her travels, her various jobs, her emotional problems. . . Wow, there's enough material here for ten ordinary lives! Kudos to Julie Phillips for writing such an extraordinary book.

Perhaps the Ultimate Biography.......2006-12-22

This book is a delight. I would go so far as to say it is the best biography I have ever read (not that I've read a great number). Philips has presented an exhaustive but not exhausting account of the life of Alice B. Sheldon, aka James Tiptree Jr., aka Racconna Sheldon. This is a comprehensive work at over 400 pages of smallish print. One gets the feeling that Philips has done the job almost to perfection.

What makes this book so amazing? Firstly, the subject, Alice Sheldon, is fascinating. This is much more than a biography of a science fiction writer (although it is that too); it is a chronicle of a difficult and ultimately tragic life. It would be hard to read this book and not feel for Sheldon, who 'lived inside her body as though inside an alien artifact.' Sheldon's lack of comfort in her own body is palpable in these pages. One can sense her dis-ease. Philips presents this difficult material sympathetically, correctly asserting that Sheldon's life is indicative of the changing landscape of sexual politics in twentieth century America.

The various sections of Sheldon's life are interesting in themselves. For example, the chapters on Africa are fascinating, as is the material on Sheldon's mother, Mary Hastings Bradley (who I'd never heard of, although she was a famous writer in her day). 'Alli's' life is overshadowed by that of her successful mother, and the older woman's presence hangs over these pages. By the time we finally get to Sheldon's own writing career, more than half the book (and half her life) is over. This enables us to see the ephemeral figure of 'James Tiptree Jr.' in the context in which he was concieved.

One funny thing about this book is that Tiptree's writing career is made to seem almost like an afterthought, or a not-entirely successful experiment. This is strange because most readers of this book will come to it thinking of Tiptree as one of the greatest writers in SF history (which 'he' is). But although Tiptree garnered the Hugos and Nebulas in quick time, none of it was much comfort to Sheldon. Here, again, one can sense Sheldon's dissatisfaction with her creations. A slight criticism of this book, in my mind, is that Philips spends little time addressing the themes and ideas in the stories themselves. It is almost as though the author of the biography does not quite appreciate the value of the stories to the extent that many of Tiptree's readers do. Stories like 'A Momentary Taste of Being' and 'Her Smoke Rose Up Forever' are surely some of the greatest in the English language.

It may be that in not coming from a SF background, Philips sees Tiptree's writing in the context that Sheldon herself may have seen it in. OK I am speculating, but Sheldon was clearly not content with having written these fabulous stories. As Philips makes clear, Sheldon 'meant it' when she wrote about death again and again. The ending to this book, which deals with the circumstances of Sheldon's murder of her husband 'Ting' and then her suicide, is simply shocking. Not knowing the details of Sheldon's death in advance, I was floored by this ending. This make me realise that while a reader such as myself finds enlightenment (or even redemption) in Tiptree's fiction, Sheldon herself drew little comfort from it.

This is an essential book, not only for those interested in Tiptree's SF career, but also for anyone interested in twentieth century history. It is useful especially in regard to the history of the so-called 'sexual revolution,' which came a few decades late for Alice B. Sheldon.

(In)Visible (Wo)man.......2006-12-19

A few weeks ago, Julie Phillips published James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon.

Last week I spotted Richard Ellmann scouting the MLA conference for penniless, amoral grad students who might be willing to swap a hit for a really good letter of recommendation.

Just kidding: he's been dead for almost 20 years. Nevertheless, the premiere literary biographer of our day has a serious rival. His specialty was bringing difficult figures to luminous life on the page. Julie Phillips has done the same for a character who seems too far-fetched to be real: the blonde Chicago debutante who became a chicken farmer, the first white child to trek through the Congo who grew up to be a suicidally depressed devotee of Dexedrine, the Army major and CIA analyst who was also a gifted artist, the battered teenage bride who earned a PhD in psychology, the reclusive male SF writer who turned out to be a middle-aged housewife in McLean, VA.

It would be easy for a biographer to get lost among the many masks of Alice B. Sheldon, or to be dazzled into idolatry by her flashing surfaces. Or, most likely, to choose one mask, one surface, as the Real or True or Important one, relegating the others to obscurity. Phillips never makes this mistake: she deals fairly with all the faces she mentions, and she examines the interplay of masks, emotions, gender identity, sexuality, and behavior with genuine insight.

Alice Bradley's parents were characters straight out of a 1920s film: dashing socialites who were also daring explorers. Her mother, Mary Hastings Bradley, was a superb raconteuse, expert markswoman, noted beauty, and very successful writer of both popular fiction and travel/adventure books. (I wonder if this book will bring her writing back into fashion.) Alice's father was a prosperous lawyer and a naturalist.

Their expeditions took them through Africa and India, mostly on foot, and they brought their small daughter Alice along. Generally 6-year-old Alice was carried in a litter; she learned early to say, "Put me down!" in a number of local languages. Less excusably, Mary used her daughter as a central figure in two books about their safaris. (Alice in Jungleland and Alice in Elephantland, which young Alice herself illustrated.)

Alice's experience of those early travels included helplessness in the face of constant danger (she alone of the party had no gun) and unspeakable terror at the death she saw all around her. In contrast, she was treated with wonder by the Africans, who had never seen a white child before, much less an adorable blonde Shirley Temple, and with patronizing affection by the various white dignitaries who entertained the explorers whenever they reached a city. (Yes, they packed plenty of evening clothes for these festivities. This was before the days of excess baggage charges.)

That disconnect between how Alice experienced the world and how others saw her role would have been difficult enough, but her parents subscribed to the Victorian ideal of presenting a tough and cheerful front in any adversity. Alice could not share or show her feelings, and it apparently never occurred to her parents that she might be frightened or disturbed.

Back in Chicago, Alice grew up to be a debutante so impatient with the process that she eloped five days after her presentation to society. She and her husband (an aspiring novelist) moved to Berkeley, where she worked seriously at painting until the marriage crashed and burned. After World War II started; she joined the WAACs, traveled, used her administrative talents, and became one of the first photointelligence analysts. She also met Huntington "Ting" Sheldon, a divorced father of three a dozen years older than herself, whom she married.

The couple spent four years raising chickens, then joined the CIA. Alice, now called Alli, was still restless. She became increasingly fascinated by visual psychology and after several years went back to school, earning a PhD with her research into the psychological appeal of novelty and familiarity. But teaching drained her, and research funds were hard to get. She'd hit another dead end.

Then she turned into a man.

James Tiptree, Jr., was born of a jar of Tiptree's jam and Alli's obsessive need for camouflage. Already a published writer (she'd had a story in the New Yorker, no less), now Alli was writing something light and playful: science fiction. She didn't have to take it seriously, and she had a male identity that would allow her to simultaneously mask and reveal her real self.

Becoming Tip allowed her to say things women were not permitted to say--everything from potty humor to bleak, despairing visions of death. It gave her authority and camaraderie and respect, all in short supply for women in the 1960s. And it allowed her to express her long-burning, long-frustrated desire for women.

The masquerade went well beyond just publishing stories; she kept up lengthy and intimate correspondence with other SF writers and fans, all the while speaking as a man. Yet she told the truth in almost every other way--drew on her own biography, for example, to create Tiptree's life and interests. For most of ten years she managed to maintain the illusion.

Tiptree wrote a series of blistering short stories that won SF's highest awards. He was lauded as a rare male feminist. But eventually the disguise became a burden. After creating a female alter ego (Raccoona Sheldon, a pleasantly dotty retired schoolteacher to whom she assigned a family-fettered life in Wisconsin), Alli was still dissatisfied.

Then her seriously ailing mother, now well into her nineties, died in Chicago. The obituaries made it easy to link the reclusive SF writer whose mother had been a writer/explorer with the lone listed survivor. Tip's secret, Alli's secret was out.

After that, writing became more and more difficult for Alli, although the weight of awards and being taken seriously had dragged at her for a while. As she and Ting grew older, frailer, her depressions continued. He had agreed to a suicide pact when they couldn't go on. One night in May 1987 Alli decided it was time for them to go: he was blind, she was despairing, and the suicide note had been waiting for almost eight years.

She called friends to let them know her plans, but the police arrived before she could do anything. She must have been a hell of an actress, because she persuaded them to leave. Ting (apparently) went to sleep. She shot him in the head.

Then she called his son to tell him the news.

As the police scrambled to return, Alli wrapped a towel around her own head (she'd been bothered by the messiness of Ting's death), lay down next to her husband, took his hand, and shot herself dead.

Everyone should read this book. I don't mean "all SF fans" or "all readers" or "all people who think about gender." Everybody. This biography is that good.

Focal Point: A Proven System to Simplify Your Life, Double Your Productivity, and Achieve All Your Goals

Average customer rating:

Tracy's SLAM strategy is selfish
Sensational book on staying focused and achieving Success!
Close, But No Cigar
Should be required reading in schools
A great book

Focal Point: A Proven System to Simplify Your Life, Double Your Productivity, and Achieve All Your Goals
Brian Tracy
Manufacturer: AMACOM/American Management Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0814472788

Amazon.com

Focal Point is author and motivational speaker Brian Tracy's latest guide to professional and personal development. Combining the basic principles of career success and life balance he has advocated in the past with anecdotes for inspiration, the book proposes a unified approach to simultaneously achieving improvement at work and at home. The crux is finding the "focal point" in all pertinent areas--business, family, finances, health--and then launching a seven-step "personal strategic plan" that "helps you identify exactly what is most important to you ... identify what you need to do to achieve your most important goals (and) determine the steps you have to take to get from wherever you are to wherever you want to go." Tracy shows quite explicitly how to incorporate the specific phases of the process, including Values, Vision, Goals, Knowledge and Skills, Habits, Daily Activities, and Actions, into a drive for long-term growth and overall advancement. Not all who follow Tracy's program will find their incomes doubled and work hours pared while their personal relationships blossom, of course, but anyone who applies it diligently should see definite improvement. --Howard Rothman

Book Description

The Wall Street Journal business bestseller with over 50,000 copies sold!The true secret of high achievers is that they know how to find their "focal point" -- the one thing they should do, at any given moment, to get the best possible results in each area of their lives. In Focal Point, Tracy brings together the very best ideas on personal management into a simple, easy-to-use plan. Focal Point helps readers analyze their lives in seven key areas and shows them how to develop focused goals and plans in each. Finally in paperback, this best-selling guide provides timeless truths that have been discovered by the most effective people throughout the ages, answering questions like: * "How can I get control of my time and my life?" * "How can I achieve maximum career success and still balance my personal life?" * "How can I accelerate the achievement of all my goals?"Focal Point shows readers how to develop absolute clarity about what they want, and how they can achieve supreme satisfaction, both personally and professionally.

Customer Reviews:

Tracy's SLAM strategy is selfish.......2007-07-27

Say I get married and afterwards my wife develops a debilitating disease. If I had known what I know now, I wouldn't have gotten married to her. Tracy's advice: dump her as fast as you can.

Say I agree to help my friend move. When I arrive at his place I find out that he's a packrat and has tons of stuff to move. If I had known what I know now, I wouldn't have agreed to help him move. Tracy's advice: get out of your commitment to help as fast as you can.

In both these cases, there is no regard for commitments you have made to other people.

Sensational book on staying focused and achieving Success!.......2007-05-01

As a longtime student of Brian Tracy's profound knowledge, I finally stumbled across this book while searching for Brian Tracy books, and have eagerly read it, page by page.

Closely following the superb content found in his must-get "Double Your Productivity" DVD, this is a superb guide to staying focused on high-value activities.

I am very grateful to Brian Tracy, and credit him with much of my entrepreneurial success (over 34,000 customers so far from my businesses, and growing!). A prolific, profoundly wise and imminently practical man, Brian Tracy is, as I told him in person at a recent Denver seminar, the "best business success coach ever". And he is. And then some.

"Focal Point" does a sensational job of driving home those points that everyone needs to be successful. By identifying and concentrating your energy on highest-value tasks and priorities. And, powerfully, by identifying in his words the costs of wasting time on less important, less urgent tasks. Creating mental consequences for developing a successful mindset, through all his words.

I had a pen out and scribbled all throughout this book, underlining key words here and there, taking notes in the cover of the book, and more.

I've studied "time management" and personal productivity for decades. Been to dozens of corporate seminars.

This book blows 'em all away. I eagerly devour (and have applied) Brian Tracy's knowledge and words, his values and mindset for success, to create an entrepreneurial empire, and Brian's the "go to" guy for much of that success.

Highly recommended; I've bought all of Brian's books and this is by far (along with Advanced Selling) one of his top 3-4 to date.

Buy this book and profit. The more I study Brian Tracy, and use what he teaches me, the more money I make, the more people's lives I touch with my companies, and the more successful I am. And so can you!

Thanks, Brian - this one's very important, and valued.

Regards,

Ken Calhoun

Close, But No Cigar.......2006-09-08

When I read this book originally, I was very impressed with it. However, after reading "The Goal" by Eliyahu Goldratt, I realized my mistake. What if the idea that 20% of causes control 80% of effect is incorrect? What if only 1% of causes controls 99% of the effect? "Focal Point" seems to always assume the 20% part.

Secondly, I found that the author is very unclear about how to get one to formulate what one really wants. What exactly is the problem with the way you do things now? He seems to have the same solution for all aspects of your life. However, what if you are solving the wrong problem? Instead, if you use the theory of constraints (invented by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt) and the tools based on that, I think that you will be impressed with how well it manages to focus your mind on what you want. It allows you to discover the problem that you really need to solve in order to see the improvements you desire. I see the results myself.

Also, "Focal Point" does seem to at least pay lip service to prioritization. However, by basically telling you that you should fundamentally do very similar things for all areas of your life, the book totally destroys the concept of prioritization. If you try to be good at everything, you will be good at nothing.

Another thing I dislike about the book is this. The way I read it is that it tells you to come up with a plan for this or a plan for that, but says nothing about how to actually do so. It says nothing about how to prepare for the great likelihood that something will go seriously wrong with your plan. Never mind the fact that you may not even know what the actual problem is that you need to solve to see some measurable improvement. In short, I do not see at all how it addresses the question of how to convert wishful thinking into a robust solution.

Should be required reading in schools.......2006-04-11

Okay I'll be the first to admit that I'm a great admirer of Brian Tracy's work. As a workshop facilitator and personal development coach I've utilized Brian's techniques and strategies on many an occasion. Focal Point has added a new dimension to what I can offer my students.

I've read it twice now and know that I'll be using it as a reference book for years to come. I recommend that you buy it for yourself and buy a copy for anyone you know who needs to get focused.

A great book.......2005-09-22

This is an excellent book. I have read a lot of motivational books recently, 8th habit, 10 rules of success etc. What is really required is an up-to-date book that can be easily applied and this really fits the bill.
I think to get the maximum out of this book you need to apply the principles and really focus on certain key elements, every single page has nuggets of wisdom that are much deeper than they seem, coming back to the book a year after reading its almost like reading it for the first time.
I'm going to give you two examples from a random page, in this case page14. "In the focal point process you identify the few things you can do that are more valuable... you then discipline yourself to focus all your energy... on those specific tasks". Another deep one "Whatever you concentrate on grows" wow good stuff eh.

Now I am going to give you two examples of how this month I have implemented from the book.
Spanish - in the past I have bought, books and tapes and still only know a few words. Now with the focal point method I realized I needed CDs so I could learn in the car. Now in some of my business emails with Latin America I include some Spanish phrases, my customers appreciate them and send a few new ones (with translations) back in their emails. Suffice it to say I know 5 times more in one week than I ever did over the years I've tried to learn Spanish.

The next example is organization, I have known for years that I needed to be more oraginsed, I bought an organizer last week (Day runner system), now I have my to do list and schedule on my computer. I have fun trying to do things in a more organized way using my new system. I have focused on what I want, to be better organized, its extremely values and can change one's life, my concentration on this issue has lead to great personal results and extends to my direct reports as I am getting them to organize better.

All in all a great buy for under $30 and a life changing book. In fact if I had to buy 2 self help books this year this would be one of them. Lastly its interesting that Covey talks about the new knowledge or information age worker (& therefore the need for the 8th habit) and this new type of worker is also mentioned by Tracey in this book. Great minds think alike?

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Fans of the Fudge series won't be dissapointed
double fudge
Double Fudge
This is a funny and great book!
Double Fudge Written by:Judy Blume

Double Fudge
Judy Blume
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0142501115

Book Description

"I love money," is five-year-old Fudge's new theme song. He's going to dress as a miser for Halloween and has made big plans to buy the entire world (or at least Toys"R"Us). Fudge's new obsession with cash is driving his older brother Peter crazy! But life really spins out of control when Peter and his family run into their long-lost relatives, the Howie Hatchers of Honolulu, Hawaii. Now Peter has to deal with Flora and Fauna, his annoying twin cousins who burst into song at the drop of a hat, and their weird little brother, coincidentally named Farley Drexel Hatcher-just like Fudge! Their names aren't the only similarity, and before long, mini-Fudge is causing just as much trouble as Fudge always has! This newest book starring Peter and Fudge is one wild ride!

Customer Reviews:

Fans of the Fudge series won't be dissapointed.......2007-07-22

Fudge fans should definetly buy this book as it as interesting and funny as any of the previous novels in the Fudge series.

This time around, Fudge's newfound obsession with money leads the family into meeting some crazy cousins, who invite themselves to stay with Peter's family and cause all sorts of headaches. Definetly a book children should read, this book, and the rest of the series, are highly reccommended.

double fudge.......2007-06-04

My favorite scene is when fudge sings about money and when he answer a sheet about money this remind me of when Ihad money i was buying some chip and it cost a dollar then i thought i would get adollar back. So i started to cry. people should read this book because its funny some should laugh once in a wild.

Double Fudge.......2007-06-04

Have you ever been obseessed with money? Well in Double Fudge someone is and his little cousin is too. Their names are Farley Drexel Hatcher but,he likes to be called Fudge and his little cousin Farley Drexel Hatcher his long lost cousin but they call him Mini. Fudge started with money because first he asked Peter' How much money will I have to buy New York?' One night when he was supposed to be in bed he was under the table and his Grandma said' grenn stuff and they went to Washington D.C. to see money. When they got there they ran into some interesting people. If you want to know who they ran raed the the book.

This is a funny and great book!.......2007-06-04

Fudge is back!Thats right,fudge is back and he's ready to buy, buy,buy.

Double Fudge Written by:Judy Blume.......2007-06-04

Ever had a cousin that can be just like you! Read "Double Fudge" and you'll read about Fudge Mini.You'll read and see on the cover that they look just alike and Mini is just like Fudge when Fudge was Mini's age.If you think Mini is like Fudge now let me

Double Crossed: Uncovering the Catholic Church's Betrayal of American Nuns

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Been There...Seen That
Title Change
Good Title; Poor book.
A story whose time has come to be told AND don't be put off by the book's cover!
An important story about a little-known subject

Double Crossed: Uncovering the Catholic Church's Betrayal of American Nuns
Kenneth Briggs
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0385516363
Release Date: 2006-06-20

Book Description

This groundbreaking exposé of the mistreatment of nuns by the Catholic Church reveals a history of unfulfilled promises, misuse of clerical power, and a devastating failure to recognize the singular contributions of these religious women.

The Roman Catholic Church in America has lost nearly 100,000 religious sisters in the last forty years, a much greater loss than the priesthood. While the explanation is partly cultural—contemporary women have more choices in work and life—Kenneth Briggs contends that the rapid disappearance of convents can be traced directly to the Church’s betrayal of the promises of reform made by the Second Vatican Council.

In Double Crossed, Briggs documents the pattern of marginalization and exploitation that has reduced nuns to second-, even third-class citizens within the Catholic Church. America’s religious sisters were remarkable, adventurous women. They educated children, managed health care of the sick, and reached out to the poor and homeless. They went to universities and into executive chairs. Their efforts and successes, however, brought little appreciation from the Church, which demeaned their roles, deprived them of power, and placed them under the absolute authority of the all-male clergy.

Replete with quotations from nuns and former nuns, Double Crossed uncovers a dark secret at the heart of the Catholic Church. Their voices and Briggs’s research provide compelling insights into why the number of religious sisters has declined so precipitously in recent decades—and why, unless reforms are introduced, nuns may vanish forever in America.

Customer Reviews:

Been There...Seen That.......2007-04-01

The book is well written, factual, true! It is of great interest for anyone involved in the Catholic Church and the book holds a few surprises for the ordinary Catholic regarding the "nuns"

Title Change.......2007-03-24

I enjoyed this book and found it has useful insights to the changes that took place in the 1960s and 1970s. I think it could easily be titled as "Double Crossed: Uncovering Amercian Nuns' Betrayal of the Catholic Church".

Good Title; Poor book........2007-02-02

I read the book, all 258 pages. His idea for the book is good, but not backed up by any research he did for this book. Much of the writing seems to be stuff he wrote over the years for newspapers. His agenda is clearly evident by his lack of any knowledge of the Catholic church. Basically, his axe he grinds is true blue extreme liberal left, i.e. lack of abortion rights, women should be priests, women should be free, condoms will save the children, and etc.

A story whose time has come to be told AND don't be put off by the book's cover!.......2007-01-05

Being a woman religious and having lived through a good part of the research Mr. Briggs has done, I found what he had to say quite accurate. I found him redundant at times, but his findings are, sadly, true. He has done a very good job researching and telling facts that have needed to be told. I applaud him and I recommend this book to all who want to know about America nuns' experience these passed 40 plus years.
PS Don't let the cover put you off!

An important story about a little-known subject.......2006-12-03

I did personally feel that this book felt a bit academic at times, as opposed to giving us this fascinating information mainly through longer personal stories and remembrances, but writing style aside, it really gets the subject across. The fact that Mr. Briggs put 8 years into this book really shows, not only in the compelling material and telling personal stories, but also in his knowledge of Catholic history and theology in spite of not being Catholic himself. This book was interesting to me as a feminist, as one interested in Catholic history and nuns, and someone who, several times, thought semi-seriously about becoming a nun when younger (the religion I ended up choosing was not Catholicism, so the sisterhood was obviously ruled out for me).

The history of nuns in America is a very long and fascinating one, and the numbers of American sisters steadily grew over time, till their ranks were swelling in the decades just before Vatican II. Even though some sisters might not have considered themselves such (for various reasons that Mr. Briggs explains throughout the book), nuns really were the original feminists. They were liberated women ages before the ordinary secular American women were. They might not have been liberated from things like hierarchical control and institutionalised sexism in the Church, but they were liberated insofar as they were out there working, going to college, getting advanced degrees, being administrators of hospitals, schools, and social welfare agencies, having their own identities instead of being identified through a husband, and being childfree, in an age where pregnancy could be a death sentence for women, particularly before birth control was legal and widely available; nuns could always work and control their own lives because they had no husbands and children. Historically, unmarried women, nuns or not, have always had more power and freedom than married women; only in the past few decades has that begun to change.

Topics covered in the book include the habit, unforeseen consequences of Vatican II's call for renewal and re-examination of religious life and the histories of these orders, the horrible poverty many aging nuns have found themselves in, the mass exodus of nuns in the years after Vatican II, nuns and feminism, the backlash against progressive nuns (and feminism in general), groups working for female ordination, and nuns getting advanced degrees. Since no two orders and no two nuns are alike, there are a plethora of viewpoints on these issues. For example, some orders never really had a habit, and there were some orders in the 19th century whose founders got away with never wearing a habit. Many different nuns offer differing viewpoints on the future of the sisterhood in the face of their dwindling ranks and the continued interference from bishops. As Mr. Briggs shows, there's no one clear and simple answer to the question of why there are relatively few nuns under the age of 50 today, and what might be done to attract more young women to the sisterhood. Yes, there are certain areas and orders that do have many fresh-faced younger sisters instead of geriatric retired women, but when looking at the numbers, there's no denying that the vast majority of American sisters are over the age of 50. The amount of young women entering has slowed to a trickle in comparison to the huge amounts of women in their late teens and early twenties who entered in the Forties, Fifties, and early Sixties. A big part of this certainly is because today women are allowed secular opportunities for freedom and liberation, and don't have to be nuns to improve their chances of getting advanced degrees, being administrators, and entering the workforce. Another big part is how at every turn, the Church hierarchy "double-crossed" these women who had given so much for so many years, being unpaid servants and the backbone of the Church, really taken for granted because they weren't ordained and because they were women. Many bishops, archbishops, and cardinals were afraid of these newly-assertive nuns championing progressive causes, questioning the order of things, rethinking their position in the Church hierarchy, pushing for more rights and representation, and openly embracing feminism. A lot of their critics blanketly tossed around the term "radical feminism" when in actual fact most of these nuns were not affiliated with that particular branch of feminism. I guess it really is true that to many people, basic feminist principles and the notion that women are people really are radical. Many women who might have considered the sisterhood were thus dissuaded by seeing how all of these efforts for reform and basic rights were viewed by the higher-ups, attempting to block them and paint them as unreasoning radicals at every turn. Amazingly enough, many of these bishops, archbishops, and cardinals also blamed these women for things like their dwindling numbers and the fact that they were living in poverty in old age and having to beg for salaries. If only they hadn't rebelled against Mother Church, hadn't dropped their habits, hadn't pushed for more rights, everything would still be swell for them.

This is a very important work on a chapter in American history (and Catholic history) that deserves to be better-known, although it's just the tip of the iceberg. Hopefully it will inspire the reader to go and seek out more books on the subject of contemporary nuns and the social and political forces shaping the sisterhood in the past few decades. My only problem with the book, apart from the at-times somewhat academic style (as opposed to a more personal and casual tone to convey the same information) was that there weren't any pictures. It would have been nice to have matched these names to faces.

Million Dollar Habits: Proven Power Practices to Double and Triple Your Income

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Must BUY Book! It is loaded with a lot of information, techniques and methods
Million dollar Habits
Great, Practical Advice
Anyone can do this if they put their mind to it and follow the practices in this book.
I doubled my income this past year following this advice!

Million Dollar Habits: Proven Power Practices to Double and Triple Your Income
Brian Tracy
Manufacturer: Entrepreneur Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1932156704

Book Description

This book provides a proven, practical roadmap to follow and achieve every goal that a person can imagine for himself, and while doing so become an extra-ordinary human being.

Customer Reviews:

Must BUY Book! It is loaded with a lot of information, techniques and methods.......2007-07-26

I decided to buy the Audio book version of the Million Dollar Habits, and this book is loaded with a lot of AWESOME life changing information, techniques and methods.

Brian Tracy will help you improve your emotional and financial intelligence that a lot of people are lacking! Most people make a lot of financial decision based on their emotion, and their emotion gets them into a lot of trouble, like buying a luxury car that they can't afford! They look good but they go no where financially.

If you are really serious of trying to improve your financial life, this book is must read! Thank you again Brian Tracy for putting together a great program like this one!

Must buy!

Million dollar Habits.......2007-05-14

This audio Book really helps to focus your mind on wealth creation.
Every time you listen to it you pick up something new.
My Advice is to have your pen and note pad ready to jot down the ideas.

Great, Practical Advice.......2007-03-29

This is an interesting book in that it takes a look at the little things we do every day...our habits... and points out how those little things add up to what makes our lives prosperous and extraordinary or average. Tracy addresses everything we do from how we think about money to what we eat and if we do or don't exercise. Since I own my own coaching business and coach other business people, I especially liked the chapter on marketing and sales. His 7 P Formula was really helpful for those who think marketing and sales are beneath them or too difficult. The final "P" is people. First, last and always, we must be about people and how we treat them. If for nothing else, I give this book a high rating. Even though it is about becoming wealthy, Tracy makes clear the truth, that without people an good relationships everywhere, the millions won't bring what you really want them for: to be happy.

Anyone can do this if they put their mind to it and follow the practices in this book........2007-01-10

Brian Tracy shares proven power practices that you can turn into habits that can help you become a millionare or be succesful. Changing habits is a hard job, identifying what those habits need to be and replacing bad habits with habits that can help you be succesful is no longer a mystery. Brian will give you tips, ideas and specific steps you can take to make a huge change in your life. I have taken many of his ideas and tried them and I can tell you that they work. Try it for yourself and you will see a big difference in your quality of life.

I doubled my income this past year following this advice!.......2006-10-13

While there is much new information in this book, what hit me on the head like a baseball bat was all of the things that I already new but wasn't doing and never made them habits. It's not what you know, it's what you use. Tracy has a way of hammering this.

Some people didn't like the book? That is there opinion and choice. But I have to wonder how they are doing financially and what they do with their time?

The Games Black Girls Play: Learning the Ropes from Double Dutch to Hip-Hop

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The blurbs from the back of the book...

The Games Black Girls Play: Learning the Ropes from Double Dutch to Hip-Hop
Kyra Gaunt
Manufacturer: NYU Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0814731201
Release Date: 2006-02-06

Book Description

“Fusing academic prose with vividly rendered memories, Gaunt's journey is refreshing. . . . Gaunt successfully lifts ignored girls from obscurity to center stage. . . . With The Games Black Girls Play, Gaunt has created a necessary space for translating black girls' joy in a society that typically overlooks it. Hopefully, others will take their turn and jump in to keep the games going.”
—Bitch

"In thoughtful and affectionate prose, Gaunt makes plain how the schoolyard syncopations of body and voice are both oral-kinetic play and improvised lessons in socializing girls into the unique social practices of black urban life. . . . The Games Black Girls Play is a smart, delightful and witty polemic of attributions; a cultural benchmark of the complex web of history, race and gender to suggest a `gendered musical blackness' and an `ethnographic truth' linking the `intergenerational cultures of black musical expression' as embodied in the infectious playfulness of black girls."
—Black Issues Book Review

"Very informative and insightful. . . . A valuable source to add to one's collection."
—AllHipHop.com

" The Games Black Girls Play not only makes the point that black girls matter, but that the games, thoughts, and passions of black girls matter in a world that regularly renders black girls invisible and silent. Gaunt brilliantly argues that the culture of black girls is a critical influence on contemporary black popular culture."
— Mark Anthony Neal, author of New Black Man: Rethinking Black Masculinity

"A particular strength of Gaunt's text is the ethnographic dimension of her discussions. The reader is privy to the personal musical and cultural experiences of African American females of varying ages (including Gaunt herself)."
—New Black Man Book Review

”It is written in an accessible style and the inclusion of personal musical and cultural experiences and histories of a variety of women, including the author, adds to the appeal. The infectious playfulness of the topic and Gaunt's own personal style and passion shine though.”
—Journal of Folklore Research

When we think of African American popular music, our first thought is probably not of double-dutch: girls bouncing between two twirling ropes, keeping time to the tick-tat under their toes. But this book argues that the games black girls play —handclapping songs, cheers, and double-dutch jump rope—both reflect and inspire the principles of black popular musicmaking.

The Games Black Girls Play illustrates how black musical styles are incorporated into the earliest games African American girls learn—how, in effect, these games contain the DNA of black music. Drawing on interviews, recordings of handclapping games and cheers, and her own observation and memories of gameplaying, Kyra D. Gaunt argues that black girls' games are connected to long traditions of African and African American musicmaking, and that they teach vital musical and social lessons that are carried into adulthood. In this celebration of playground poetry and childhood choreography, she uncovers the surprisingly rich contributions of girls' play to black popular culture.

Customer Reviews:

The blurbs from the back of the book..........2006-02-16

"By placing black girls at the center of her analysis, Kyra Gaunt challenges us to be ever mindful of the importance of gender, the body, and the everyday in our discussions of black music. The Games Black Girls Play is an exciting and original work that should forever transform the way we think about the sources of black, indeed American, populat music. This is a bold, brilliant, and beautifully written book."-Farah Jasmine Griffin, Columbia University

"The Games Black Girls Play not only makes the point that black girls matter, but that the games, thoughts, and passions of black girls matter in a world that regularly renders black girls invisible and silent. Gaunt brilliantly argues that the culture of black girls is a critical influence on contemporary black popular culture."
- Mark Anthony Neal, author of New Black Man: Rethinking Black Masculinity

Notes from Underground; The Double (Penguin Classics)

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Two literary gems from the pen of pyschological realism master Fyodor Dostoevsky
Existentialist Literature
A few comments and an interesting fact
Contrasting Tales
Mixture of literary and philosophical value

Notes from Underground; The Double (Penguin Classics)
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140442529

Product Description

Unabridged audiobook in MP3 format.

Customer Reviews:

Two literary gems from the pen of pyschological realism master Fyodor Dostoevsky.......2007-07-11

Penguin classic has included two of Fyodor Dostoevsky's greatest short pieces of fiction in one volume.
"Notes from Underground" was published in 1864 shortly before the novelist produced his classic novel "Crime and Punishment". This shorter work informs the characterization of Raskolnikov in "Crime and Punishment." The anonymous narrator presents himself in print as a person who is deeply disillusioned with his life. He is a failure in life, love and quest for meaning in a St. Petersburg fog of bureacracy and poverty. He meets a prostitute named Lisa but she disappears in a swirling St. Petersburg fog. He views himself as an "insect". The work is a precursor of such works as Franz Kafka's "Metamorphosis" in which the main charcter is turned into a beetle. Dostoevsky is not for those seeking a cheerful, sunlit read on a lovely beach! The narrator of the tale is very skeptical of human goodness. He is distrustful of everyone believing that life is a succession of troubles until the final chapter ends in the obscurity of the grave.
The early story "The Double" is the most interesting of the two included in this Penguin Classics Edition. The tale focuses on a nonentity named Golyadkin who is tortured by the appearance of a man who is his exact image! (He is called Goldyadkin Jr!). Golyadkin is a wretch of an individual. He reminds this reader of a character out of Gogol who specialized in portraying the lives of St. Petersburg's poor caught in the web of Tsarist governmental ministries. The tale ends in a macabre way as Golyadkin is taken away to what is, probably, a mental institution.
Does Golyadkin Jr. exist or is he a figment of the imagination of Golyadkin Sr? We not know. This tale is written as the fog of St. Petersburg wraps the main character in obscurity and despair.
These two tales are good introductions to Dostoevsky's shorter fiction. The themes evident in these tales are:
a. A feeling of despairing anomie
b. A person who believes he is trapped like an insect in the webs of modern society.
c. A belief that life is difficult, complex and often confusing to ordinary people.

Existentialist Literature.......2007-05-31

Dostoyevsky's 'Notes from Underground,' is often called the first truly existential work of literature in the history of the west. Yet I think it is read today for the very seem reasons we always read Dostoevsky: for his command over intensity, his genuine and masterly sense of atmosphere, and his ability to psychologize those who are suffering. 'Notes from Underground,' is a true masterpiece in that it recreates the truth of genuine alienation and hatred. It laid the basis for all great works of existential art to follow, from the Stranger to Taxi Driver. Truly a dark gem of European literature.

I found the Double, by contrast, to be rather tired and uninteresting. Perhaps it is because Kakfa and Freud has handled the theme of the doppelganger far more interestingly. I found it difficult to get into this one. It seems to me that the translation rang a little flat in comparison to Notes. Nevertheless, its an entertaining read, though one could never put it in the same class as great Dostoyevsky.

A few comments and an interesting fact.......2004-03-01

Dostoyevski's underground man character, although conceived in 1864, presages by more than 50 years the alienation and disaffection that became so widespread in the 20th century, especially in the so-called "lost generation" that grew up between the two world wars. As such, it became the pattern for generations of other literary anti-heroes whose existential angst was to reverberate through literature for the next hundred years and beyond. Overall, still a great classic and one whose philosophical and literary influences still resonate today.

Dostoyevsky is of interest for another reason that has only recently come to the attention of medical science. Based on the notes in his diaries, Dostoyevsky may have had the very unusual neurological condition known as temporal-lobe epilepsy. This form of epilepsy produces no motor convulsions or seizures as in the classical Jacksonian epilepsy that is so well known. Rather, the effects are on the person's mental and emotional state.

In his notebooks Dostoyevsky reported experiencing visions and emotional states of such an intense nature, saying that that were so ecstatic that one would be willing give up one's life to experience it one more time, that it seems likely he did indeed have this rare neurological syndrome. It can produce intensely vivid imagery and visions, and ecstatic and euphoric emotional states. However, in some cases, it also produces uncontrollable rage and violence, but it appears that Dostoyevsky had the more pleasant and benign form of this disease.

Having studied the excerpts from his diaries describing these experiences and compared them to contemporary patients who have been diagnosed with the disease, the evidence seems compelling to me too that he did indeed have this condition. How it ultimately affected his writing I don't know, but perhaps this will be something that will enable us to gain further insight into his writings in the future.

Contrasting Tales.......2003-11-26

The book comprises two novellas.

"Notes from the Underground" is a strange, puzzling tale, a confession of an unnamed character. He rails against traits in modern thought which attempt to rationale human existence - this, in his view, is essentially futile in that it cannot alter humankind's true nature. Yet the paradox is that if humans adhere to their true nature, then their atavistic brutality and destructiveness come to the fore. As if to illustrate this, in the second part of the novella, the character acts in a deliberately cruel manner to other characters in the novel. "Notes" is more of a philosophical piece than a novel of entertainment. Nonetheless, it's interesting in that it might at least partly open the way to interpretation of Dostoyevsky's later works.

"The Double" on the other hand, is pure entertainment. The official Golyadkin's life is destroyed gradually following the appearance of his double. The story is either a nightmare, or an puzzle (is there really a double, or does the double represent the other side of Golyadkin's nature?). "The Double" is written in a lively style (or it might be better to say is translated in a lively style) which makes it a pleasure to read. Yet, due to the fact that many other writers (such as RL Stevenson and Kafka) have explored similar themes, it might seem a little familiar.

G Rodgers

Mixture of literary and philosophical value.......2002-02-26

"The Double" is a delightful tale written very much in the manner of Gogol. In his "Lectures on Russian Literature," Nabokov says, "The very best thing he [Dostoyevsky] ever wrote seems to me to be 'The Double.' It is the story -- told very elaborately, in great, almost Joycean detail ..., and in a style intensely saturated with phonetic and rhythmical expressiveness -- of a government clerk who goes mad, obsessed by the idea that a fellow clerk has usurped his identity. It is a perfect work of art, that story ...." But Nabokov does not think so well of Dostoyevsky's other works. He finds his work wanting both in art and in genius. Dostoyevsky was too much influenced by mystery and sentimental novels.

Perhaps Nabokov's dismissal of "Notes from Underground" is appropriate from a purely literary point of view, but the novel is of interest from a philosophical point of view. In the first part of the novel, the narrator is speaking to an imaginary audience. The narrator is obsessed with free will and is at pains to argue against the Enlightenment view that freedom and happiness are complementary. He is spiteful, not from some personality disorder, but rather from his philosophy. The second part involves detailed, and at times humorous, remembered humiliations. And then the noble prostitute. As Nabokov says at this point, "The conversations are very garrulous and very poor, but please go on to the bitter end. Some of you may like it more than I do."

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