Average customer rating:
- Two thumbs up!
- Delightful reading
- WOULD THE REAL WILL SHAKESPEARE PLEASE STAND UP
- OK plot but characters were totally unbelievable
- DaVinci, Shakespeare, who's next?
|
The Book of Air and Shadows
Michael Gruber
Manufacturer: William Morrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Christine Falls: A Novel
ASIN: 0060874465
Release Date: 2007-03-27 |
Book Description
A distinguished Shakespearean scholar found tortured to death . . .
A lost manuscript and its secrets buried for centuries . . .
An encrypted map that leads to incalculable wealth . . .
The Washington Post called Michael Gruber's previous work "a miracle of intelligent fiction and among the essential novels of recent years." Now comes his most intellectually provocative and compulsively readable novel yet.
Tap-tapping the keys and out come the words on this little screen, and who will read them I hardly know. I could be dead by the time anyone actually gets to read them, as dead as, say, Tolstoy. Or Shakespeare. Does it matter, when you read, if the person who wrote still lives?
These are the words of Jake Mishkin, whose seemingly innocent job as an intellectual property lawyer has put him at the center of a deadly conspiracy and a chase to find a priceless treasure involving William Shakespeare. As he awaits a killer—or killers—unknown, Jake writes an account of the events that led to this deadly endgame, a frantic chase that began when a fire in an antiquarian bookstore revealed the hiding place of letters containing a shocking secret, concealed for four hundred years. In a frantic race from New York to England and Switzerland, Jake finds himself matching wits with a shadowy figure who seems to anticipate his every move. What at first seems like a thrilling puzzle waiting to be deciphered soon turns into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse, where no one—not family, not friends, not lovers—is to be trusted.
Moving between twenty-first-century America and seventeenth-century England, The Book of Air and Shadows is a modern thriller that brilliantly re-creates William Shakespeare's life at the turn of the seventeenth century and combines an ingenious and intricately layered plot with a devastating portrait of a contemporary man on the brink of self-discovery . . . or self-destruction.
Customer Reviews:
Two thumbs up!.......2007-09-30
Having read Gruber's first two books Tropic of Night and Valley of Bones I wasn't sure I was ready for a third. The first two having left me a bit nonplussed. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy books and movies that take a detour around reality but those two books made a right angle turn somewhere and I'm not sure I'm over them yet!
TBoAAS is a whole other beast. Slow moving, tedious at times, it none-the-less hooked me and drew me in until I could not walk away. I felt that that the first 2/3's of the book moved at a glacial pace. Which is great if you want to fully involve youself in the characters and the plot. At some point, which I can't precisely pin down, the pace picked up and hauled me, open-mouthed, to the final pages.
Honestly, who would have thought combining a self-absorbed, womanizing lawyer (a heavy lifter, literally, to boot) with a dreamy young man who believes life is literally determined by the movies and setting them on what may or may not be a wild goose chase for an unknown Shakespearean manuscript could prove to be so entertaining?
As a mark of how well done the book is, I shed a few tears at the end, not because it was sad but because the story was over. To date only two other writers have affected me that way.
You don't have to be a literary, artsy type to get into this story, btw. You DO need to persevere long enough to let the story get hold of you. Then you're stuck. Happily so, I might add.
Delightful reading.......2007-09-28
What a wonderful, amusing book. It reminded me of Saul Bellow's Herzog combined with a much smarter version of The Davinci Code. It gets a wee bit confusing at the end as layers of intrigue are peeled away, but still a delightful, fresh voice.
WOULD THE REAL WILL SHAKESPEARE PLEASE STAND UP.......2007-09-28
It appears that all writers are fascinated with the genre of "what if" fiction and Michael Gruber is no exception. In the Book of Air & Shadows he asks the reader "What if a couple of modern day antiquarian bookstore employees (Albert Crosetti and Carolyn Rolly)accidently discover letters and cyphers purportedly written by an intimate of William Shakespeare alluding to the existance of a hidden Shakespeare play written in the Bards own hand? Building on this first what if, he continues to tease us with more what if's. What if an Intellectual Property lawyer were to become involved in the question of potential ownership of the manuscript. (Is it really finders keepers). What if pursuit of the manuscript resulted in the brutal murder of a Shakespearan scholar? And so it goes.
In a chronicle liberally peppered with offbeat characters in unlikely situations, complex codes, and illuminating historical information, Gruber interweaves stories of detection, deception, and a few pithy observations, i.e. "We sometimes fall in love with unsuitable people, which is why Cupid carries a bow and arrows and not a clipboard with a stack of personality tests".
Suggestion: Before you begin this book, all prospective readers should get out their high school copy of the Canterbury Tales and read a couple of excerpts so that they are up to speed and prepared for the writing style put forth in the "Ciphered letters" and "The Bracegirdle Letters" chapters.
Air & Shadows would not be a contender for any literary awards, but in general, it is a satisfying read for a lazy afternoon.
OK plot but characters were totally unbelievable.......2007-09-08
I think the plot and the storyline was well developed and the idea of a lost Shakespeare manuscript great. However, the characters annoyed me. Every character was so much to the extreme: three siblings, one a gorgeous blond model, the other a former heavyweight Olympian-turned lawyer, and the third a former prison thug-turned Jesuit priest. Not to mention the Nazi mom and Jewish dad. The other characters were similary extremists and I thought it was not believable the way every character was written so exceptionally. Other than that, good plot, though a little too much diversion into the main character's sex life and various other musings.
DaVinci, Shakespeare, who's next?.......2007-09-04
A plot involving the potential discovery of a lost manuscript written by the hand of the one and only WS is about as derivative a tale of the DaVinci Code as one could concoct, but the proof is in the blood pudding. Gruber has assembled a plot and a take on the thriller genre that is both genre busting and literary enough to form a whole new category of fiction: the Litmysthriller (just watch, some author is going to use that on Book TV and I'll get zilch).
Albert Croscetti is a young bookbinding apprentice whose appearance at once draws the conclusion that he'll be the dupe (you are correct sir!) but he drives the third person narrative for half the novel, excepting the first person account of Jack Mishkin, Esq., philandering IP lawyer (how convenient) and big, rich lug (how dreamy). The discovery of hidden letters indicating a lost play by Stratford's own sends the story into overdrive and Mishkin, who's a dope for women and awash in cash, just happens to have a best friend who is an anointed expert in the Bard, and whose dad is a former Nazi married to his mother, a Jew. Irony abounds as Mishkin becomes enmeshed in the Croscetti affair whose witting accomplice, one Carolyn Rolly leads everyone astray in a search for the most valuable lost and found item since King Tut.
Gruber is expert at pulling together the threads of the story into a coherent mess of affairs pitting father against son, the sons of Stalin against a grandson of Hitler, and keeps the attention of this reader as the plot spools out of control, nipped and tucked only at the dénouement(a favorite Gruber word). The Book of Air and Shadows is expertly written and the plot, although fantastic and a bit far fetched, well construed. I enjoyed it much and will search for more Gruberlitmysthrillers to come.
Book Description
In a heartrending and astonishing novel, Eggers illuminates the history of the civil war in Sudan through the eyes of Valentino Achak Deng, a refugee now living in the United States. We follow his life as he's driven from his home as a boy and walks, with thousands of orphans, to Ethiopia, where he finds safety — for a time. Valentino's travels, truly Biblical in scope, bring him in contact with government soldiers, janjaweed-like militias, liberation rebels, hyenas and lions, disease and starvation — and a string of unexpected romances. Ultimately, Valentino finds safety in Kenya and, just after the millennium, is finally resettled in the United States, from where this novel is narrated. In this book, written with expansive humanity and surprising humor, we come to understand the nature of the conflicts in Sudan, the refugee experience in America, the dreams of the Dinka people, and the challenge one indomitable man faces in a world collapsing around him.
Customer Reviews:
a powerful telling of one refugee's story and how it fits into a broader disaster.......2007-09-29
Over several years, a refugee (named Achak) from Sudan who has resettled in the United States (one of the "lost boys of Sudan") told his story to Dave Eggers. Eggers wrote a novel based on the story, and the result is excellent. Leaping back and forth through time, the fictional Achak tells of how he is forced from his village by the Sudanese civil war, travels hundreds (thousands?) of miles on foot from country to country and refugee camp to camp, and then how he arrives in the United States and adjust to life there.
Several times early in the reading I wondered, Why didn't Eggers just write the story of this guy's life rather than a novel "based" on it? Eventually I could see that the novel allowed Eggers to bring in characters, sub-stories, and dialogue to teach us not only Achak's story but also about the broader conflict, the other Sudanese conflict in Darfur, and the problems encountered by a broader net of re-settled refugees. Eggers seeks to (and I believe manages to) give enthrall us with Achak and convey an impressive amount of information at the same time.
I found one of his narrative devices mildly distracting: Achak narrates from the present-day, resettled in the USA, and most of flashbacks are in the form of his mentally telling people around him his story. For example, he meets someone at his work and imagines telling them about the time his buddy got eaten by a lion. But that's a quibble.
The audiobook reading by Dion Graham (published by BBC Audiobooks America) is very well done.
Note on content: Much of this book takes place in a war zone, so we see violence and intense human suffering. And in the USA, there is a mugging that involves lots of strong language (all in the book's first 50 pages).
Straightforward, Unpretentious Memoir.......2007-09-27
I'm a fan of Eggers, and even though I'm not crazy about how the precious and overly self-aware syle of writing in AHWOSG has seeped into literature, I think he has been an important influence. I was pleasantly surprised at how well he avoided his trademark style in this novel -- not that it's a bad thing in other contexts -- but because it wouldn't have worked here. As a result, this is a kind of sparsely (and well) written story. The only thing I thought was a little contrived was the device used to tell the story, which is that Valentino is telling his story to his captor in a robbery, and then some others. They aren't listening, so he's kind of recounting the story to the reader as though he was talking to the captor. I suppose it makes it more interesting than a simple straight-out memoir, but it's a little contrived. The fact that the modern day asides are so short is evidence that they could have just been cut out altogether. (One could say it's just creative, I suppose).
I found the story very interesting, and I would not have made it through any form of nonfiction about the same topic. THis is a credit to Eggers. The character development is credible, and the way he weaves the question "What is the What" through the novel is compelling and profound. It's very well constructed and told, and could be read by a wide age range. It's also fairly evenhanded in its treatment of the politics, and never gets preachy or self-important. (He in fact debunks many of the exaggerated stories of the Lost Boys, which I thought was a pretty brave thing to do).
If you are a fan of Eggers, you will appreciate this book unless you're just in love with his schtick, which is absent. If you're one of the haters (people love to hate AHWOSG, it seems), you might want to give this a try. I think Eggers will go down as a very important writer and this is very well done. And the profits go to charity!
A good book that gets better with diatance.......2007-09-08
There have been enough African horror stories in recent years to constitute a genre - the heart of darkness narrative. Most readers turn to these tales with a mixture of humane concern and prurient fascination. Back in Conrad's day, the European or American narrator generally found himself caught between warm fuzzy liberalism and the horror. In recent years, African narrators, often children, have been the ones whose innocence has been challenged by horrendous deeds and bestial actions done in the name of liberation but in the service of greed. The thin line between naivete and cynicism is particularly treacherous for writers who lived to tell the tale, but haven't had enough time to fully see their experience in perspective. By working with Dave Eggers, Valentino Achak Deng filters the story of his years as a lost boy, and thus provides the reader a chance to get close to him. I tend to shy away from confessional narrators like Ismael Beah, whose A Long Way Gone was too direct for my taste. I appreciated his tale, but it seemed too naïve.
The magic of What is the What is impressive. By creating creaky framing devices (the break-in of Part 1) and historical coincidences (the death of Diana Spencer and the destruction of the twin towers occur on significant days in Valentino's life), Eggers reminds us that this is a fiction based on a real life and actual incidents in Sudan's history. In the process of peeling off the artifice, the reader paradoxically draws closer to the young man who narrates the story. He preserves some mystery because we know that we don't know all that he might have said. We long to see him more clearly, just as we gaze at the drawing on the cover and wish that his eyes and features weren't obscured by shadow. But Valentino is himself trying to uncover the mysteries of fate, self, and the elusive "What," which seems both mystical and concrete.
There were times when I wanted more historical detail - religious conflicts and the promise of oil wealth explain the problem in broad terms, but Sudan has been part of public discourse for so long that one longs for more nuance. However, Valentino is not a political scientist, and the balance between naivete and knowledge is delicate. Eggers provides promising leads for the reader who wants more history. I loved the way the past and present narratives intertwined to make us sympathetic to Valentino's need for love and affection. His relationship with Tabitha was particularly affecting because we first experienced her in America and only gradually learned about the origins of their relationship. After he leaves his hometown to journey across Sudan with the Lost Boys, we forget about his parents for a long time, but we feel their absence keenly. Deng and Eggers have created a story rich in emotion and human feeling, no small task when facing the horrors of Sudan. In the end, we only know a little more about the situation in Sudan and Darfur, but we feel as if we have a Sudanese friend. And yet we can't even recognize his face or say for sure if his name is really Valentino Achak Deng.
A thought provoking and enjoyable read.......2007-09-05
Dave Eggers' What is the What is a fictional, yet truthful account of Sudanese refugee Valentino Deng and his life throughout civil war stricken Sudan and the United States of America. Eggers' retelling of Deng's life is not one of a robotic biography, but rather a fluid reminiscence interspersed with moments of the present and laced throughout with Eggers' own voice. The story is simultaneously frightening and beautiful, a feeling created by a combination of Deng's personal strength and Eggers' unique sense of timing and dark humor. This voice pokes fun at the ironies between Deng's life in America and Sudan. For example, the American Deng works the front counter at a health club in a county where almost 60 million people are overweight but while in Sudan he tried to get an extra ration card because food was scarce. There doesn't seem to by any anger at these ironies, Deng appears to be more confused by them then anything.
The plot is exciting enough to hold one's interest and be fun, yet still contains enough truth and soul to it to make you really think about Deng's plights during his journey. It is the ability to maintain this balance which truly takes the book from an interesting tale to a piece of literary art. The story itself is not only beautifully written, but expertly paced; on multiple occasions I found myself ready to put the book down for the night and turned the page to discover that I was at the end of a chapter. It is those little things that make the book an absolute joy to read. Also, I feel that I must mention the hardcover art is absolutely beautiful and protected the book from harm when I spilled a cup of tea on it, which is something I was pleasantly surprised by. What is the What is an great thought provoking, yet very accessible read, and I would recommend it to everyone.
MUST READ.......2007-09-04
The book was recommended by a Bible study leader and it did not disappoint. I learned so much regarding the past and current situation in Sudan (not necessarily the point of the book) that I am now embarrased about my previous ignorance. This book changed the way I look at the world. I highly recommend it!
Average customer rating:
- I feel validated in my disappointment...
- Enjoyable erotica
- Absolutely brilliant
- A solid piece of erotic fiction
- Not what I hoped
|
Lost Girls
Alan Moore , and
Melinda Gebbie
Manufacturer: Top Shelf Productions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover Comic
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300
ASIN: 1891830740 |
Book Description
For more than a century, Alice, Wendy and Dorothy have been our guides through the Wonderland, Neverland and Land of Oz of our childhoods. Now like us, these three lost girls have grown up and are ready to guide us again, this time through the realms of our sexual awakening and fulfillment. Through their familiar fairytales they share with us their most intimate revelations of desire in its many forms, revelations that shine out radiantly through the dark clouds of war gathering around a luxury Austrian hotel. Drawing on the rich heritage of erotica, Lost Girls is the rediscovery of the power of ecstatic writing and art in a sublime union that only the medium of comics can achieve. Exquisite, thoughtful, and human, Lost Girls is a work of breathtaking scope that challenges the very notion of art fettered by convention. This is erotic fiction at its finest. Similar to DC's Absolute editions of Watchmen and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Lost Girls will be published as three, 112-page, super-deluxe, ovesized hardcover volumes, all sealed in a gorgeous slipcase. It will truly be an edition for the ages.
Customer Reviews:
I feel validated in my disappointment..........2007-09-11
When I first read Lost Girls, I was so deeply disappointed in the flat, amateur artwork that it took me a while to realize how flat and unexciting the storytelling is as well. I can't believe that the book made it to production with the ridiculous dialect Alan Moore assigns to Dorothy, which is tremendously distracting in and of itself. I was expecting a magical experience from this collaboration - and to me magical doesn't mean it can't also be creepy and disturbing, which Lost Girls definitely is - but found this book to be the least imaginative of any Alan Moore I've read. At one point I thought the creepy factor might be clouding my view, but after reading other reviewers' comments, I felt validated to see that others share the same opinions about its shortcomings.
Enjoyable erotica.......2007-09-01
OK, some will balk at the premise. We all know Dodgson's Alice, Baum's Dorothy, and Barrie's Wendy as little girls, in the familiar fictions built around them. This takes the fiction a step beyond, imagining the girls as grown women, thrown together in an isolated resort on the eve of the first world war. Alice, the grande dame, stands aloof from political unpleasantness. Wendy is wed to an industrialist more interested in armored boat hulls than in breakfast (or in her). Dorothy appears as a plain old farm girl, who can't imagine that grand duke Ferdinand might affect her little life. Geographically isolated at this odd resort and culturally isolated by their individual circumstance, they break their personal isolation in each others' company.
They succeed, and break each others' inhibitions as well. With Moore's script and Gebbie's delicate colors, we follow a delightful debauch. Alice takes the two younger ladies under her opium-scented wing, for languidly choreographed affections of the sapphic kind. Dorothy brings her farm-girl awareness of livestock breeding to her human relations, male and female. Wendy, the ignored housewife, blossoms under any attention at all. Other characters round out the goings-on with straight, gay, and solo loving. The happy and consensual tone could appeal to readers who've been turned off by harsher kinds of erotica, and Gebbie's delicate artwork treats it all with lucious respect.
Make no mistake, this is smut. Decide whether that's what you want. It's good smut, though, of a female-friendly kind - the kind that also appeals to men tired of all that negative imagery. If you often find your genitals requesting the company and comfort of your hands, this could be a story for them to read to each other.
-- wiredweird
Absolutely brilliant.......2007-08-10
A must-read for anyone who can handle it -- this is not "erotica," this is porn. The stories and illustrations are EXTREMELY graphic. Some of them are unbelievably hot, some are unbelievably disturbing, many are both. Not all the sex in this book is fun.
It's also a brilliant piece of literature. What Moore did previously with League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, he does again here, on a grander and more ambitious scale. He deconstructs these tales with a ruthlessness that is both horrifying and inspired.
A solid piece of erotic fiction.......2007-04-02
While the art style may not appeal to everyone, "Lost Girls" is certainly worth a look if you like erotic fiction with a little more substance. The books provide an amusing interpretation of the "real" events behind "Alice in Wonderland", "Peter Pan" and "The Wizard of Oz". While the first two books do not appear to be particularily thought-provoking at first, they set the stage for some potent character development in the third book, when the formerly frivolous stories are cast in a harsh, new light.
Of note is that while events take on a darker tone in the third book, "Lost Girls" does not contain any particularily violent scenes. Unlike in most adult media, the focus of these three books is not the gratuitous depiction of extreme sexual acts, but raising questions and telling a solid story with believable characters. Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie have done a great job, showing that pornography doesn't necessarily belong in the gutter.
All things said, "Lost Girls" is a charming, bittersweet tale about saying goodbye to your childhood, leaving your make-believe world and growing up, and well worth the price.
Not what I hoped.......2007-03-06
I thought it was boring and a bit pointless. The illustrations were childish but the story line was interesting if a little disjointed. I wouldn't recommend these books unless you're somewhat innocent and looking for a thrill.
Average customer rating:
- "It's all broken ..." (possible spoilers)
- His Best Yet
- Not nearly deep enough for me
- Incredible Ride!
- An average sci-fi thriller (2.5 out of 5 stars)
|
Deep Storm: A Novel
Lincoln Child
Manufacturer: Doubleday
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0385515502
Release Date: 2007-01-30 |
Book Description
Twelve-thousand feet beneath the Atlantic Ocean . . .
scientists are excavating the most extraordinary undersea discovery ever made. But is it the greatest archaeological find in history—or the most terrifying?
Former naval doctor Peter Crane is urgently summoned to a remote oil platform in the North Atlantic to help diagnose a bizarre medical condition spreading through the rig. But when he arrives, Crane learns that the real trouble lies far below—on “Deep Storm,” a stunningly advanced science research facility built two miles beneath the surface on the ocean floor. The topsecret structure has been designed for one purpose: to excavate a recently discovered undersea site that may hold the answers to a mystery steeped in centuries of myth and speculation.
Sworn to secrecy, Dr. Crane descends to Deep Storm. A year earlier, he is told, routine drilling uncovered the remains of mankind’s most sophisticated ancient civilization: the legendary Atlantis. But now that the site is being excavated, a series of disturbing illnesses has begun to affect the operation. Scientists and technicians are experiencing a bizarre array of symptoms—from simple fatigue to violent psychotic episodes. As Crane is indoctrinated into the strange world of Deep Storm and commences his investigation, he begins to suspect that the covert facility conceals something more complicated than a medical mystery.The discovery of Atlantis might, in fact, be a cover for something far more sinister . . . and deadly.
Like Lincoln Child’s spectacular bestsellers coauthored with Douglas Preston (The Book of the Dead, Relic), Deep Storm melds scientific detail and gripping adventure in a superbly imagined, chillingly real journey into unknown territory. Child is a master of suspense, and Deep Storm is his most ambitious novel to date.
Customer Reviews:
"It's all broken ..." (possible spoilers).......2007-10-04
One of the more idiotic characters of the book keeps uttering this, and boy how right he was. There were a number of just plain holes in the plot. Here's a little one. A character who's role was to just be murdered sets up a meet with a bad guy at a gas station. He has the air compressor tire pump with him. He invites the bad guy into his car. He gets into the car and shuts the door. He *still* has the compressor hose in his hand. Did he thread it through the open window before getting into the car? Who knows? Somehow it ends up being long enough for his killer to take from him, jam down his throat, and turn on.
Here's another one. The bad guy later has to insert an encoded message into an image file. All he has to work with is a dumb terminal with no hard disk. So he writes a program and, uh, *compiles* it, then runs it. First, what dumb terminal is going to have a compiler? Second, if you compile a program you have to save it somewhere. Well where do you save it if you don't have a hard disk?
The book is full of little pieces of foolishness like this. For instance, 2 miles down in the ocean, there's a flash of light, and the ocean bottom is packed with all the funny looking denizens of the deep. If you're going to write a book you should know a little about the location of your main action. Like: the deep ocean isn't just packed full of funny looking fish.
Last one: all marines are violent robots who follow their evil overlord to death without individual thought ... especially the "special ops" ones.
Anyway I could go on, but you get the idea.
His Best Yet.......2007-09-13
This is Lincoln Child's best book yet! I have read every book by Child and his co-author Preston. Loved the imagination that went along with the story, you could almost feel yourself down at the ocean floor with all the characters. The ending, I hope, leaves room for a continuing novel.
Not nearly deep enough for me.......2007-09-12
An adventure unfolds in the deep sea several miles below an oilrig in the north Atlantic in Lincoln Child's Deep Storm, where a phalanx of scientists, doctors and marines in a massive seabed complex prepare to excavate a great discovery, perhaps the greatest discovery of all time, we are told.
And thus the adventure unfolds; it unfolds and unfolds and unfolds and yet, sadly, it never really arrives anywhere special; the author's attempts at any sort of real depth flounders despite his crisply written pages. Yes they are scribed with scalpel-sharp techno description, jam-packed with medical and science fact. But in all honestly, the wealth of research packed into the novel does nothing to develop the spirit of the main character, Peter Crane a navy doctor who's been dispatched to the undersea science complex to help solve the mystery of an outbreak of mysterious illnesses. In fact, none of the characters pop to life in Deep Storm.
The narrative leads Crane and the reader into first believing that Atlantis has been discovered, but that notion is soon dispelled when further investigation reveals that the top-secret mission is actually a dig for some alien technology buried some 600 years ago just inside the Mohorovicic Discontinuity, or "Moho" as it's called, the boundary between the earth's crust and mantle, which under the sea is not as deep as in other areas. It's still deep enough to be causing all sorts of problems and mishaps. For starters, the medical outbreak, (mental disorders mostly, which, for story purposes is quite lame) might be due to the depth or the alien technology or something else. Then there's a saboteur aboard (of course there is, it's one of the elements you need in every undersea tale). There's also a mystery involving some miniature alien technology that appears to be transmitting a binary code warning: do not dig here, danger to the solar system!
Throw into this mix a caricature naval commander hell bent on carrying out the mission at all costs even if it means losing every man and woman on board or, worse, blowing up the entire solar system. But in the end, Crane saves the moment. The earth and the solar system live to see another day. Although in the final page, Child's lays down yet one more spin on the tale: perhaps it isn't over after all. This is an okay read but it's clinical and dispassionate in style. If Crane's character had been built upon, if the author had tempered his urge to reveal all that he'd researched in favor of some heart and passion, if he'd penned it with his partner (Thunder Head, Preston and child, what a ride!) it could have been great. Into the Abyss
Incredible Ride! .......2007-08-11
Ok... so I started reading this and said "been there...done that" then suddenly the story started to morph and one of the wildest and most exciting rides I've been on for a quite a while unfolded! Great read! Well written! Lincoln's best since Utopia (which I also recommend!!)
An average sci-fi thriller (2.5 out of 5 stars).......2007-08-10
Looked mildly interesting and had decent reviews (and a discounted hard cover price), so I picked it up. Not bad, but not great. Holds your attention once it picks up steam in the last third of the book. A totally preposterous dramatic crux, but hey it's sci fi, what do you want?? Perhaps some of the earlier Child/Preston books are better reads...?
Book Description
Imagine a young boy who has never had a loving home. His only possesions are the old, torn clothes he carries in a paper bag. The only world he knows is one of isolation and fear. Although others had rescued this boy from his abusive alcoholic mother, his real hurt is just begining -- he has no place to call home. This is Dave Pelzer's long-awaited sequel to A Child Called "It". In The Lost Boy, he answers questions and reveals new adventures through the compelling story of his life as an adolescent. Now considered an F-Child (Foster Child), Dave is moved in and out of five different homes. He suffers shame and experiences resentment from those who feel that all foster kids are trouble and unworthy of being loved just because they are not part of a "real" family. Tears, laughter, devastation and hope create the journey of this little lost boy who searches desperately for just one thing -- the love of a family.
Customer Reviews:
The brave boy.......2007-05-25
I recommend this book because it is very interesting,and you do not want to put it down.In the book, I learned that I have a good life and that I should be thankful for everything I have after seeing what Dave has gone through in his life. I would read another book by this author because all of the books are sequels and at the end of each book you are left hanging and wondering what will happen next. These are some things about the The Lost Boy.
Dave's story helped me during really tough times........2007-04-18
As a foster parent who accepted only one child at a time, I needed all the inspiration I could get. Dave's story not only inspired but also encouraged me. It is full of truths that make us aware of how blessed we are. Anyone who is interested in helping abused kids should read this book. With Great Mercy author.
The story continues.......2007-04-14
Dave Pelzer gives a wonderfull account of his experiences of foster care in this sequel to A Child Called "It": One Child's Courage to Survive. In this book you begin to see the transition to a "normal" state of being, but it is not without it's problems.
My Hat Goes Off To Dave Pelzer.......2007-04-06
All of Dave Pelzer's books are absolutely by far the best books I have ever read. I couldn't put them down!!!
Best book!!!.......2007-04-06
Do you want to know how it feels like to have your parents not love you? Well thats how a little boy named David (the main charactor) feels in this story. David Pelzer is a young teenager who only wants the love of his parents, but his mother, doesn't love him... She keeps David in the basement, and she rarly ever feeds him!!!! Once David id put into foster care, he has to go to court, and the judge gets to chose whether to keep him in foster care, or to release him back to his parents. The judge chooses....... Well to find out you have to read this amazing book.
Dave Pelzer has written more books besides this one.. The Lost Boy is part of a three-part series... That includes A Child Called "it," The Lost Boy, and A Man Named David. I really think that Dave Pelzer is a great and wonderful Author.
This book will really make you cry and become very mad at the same time.. If parents read this book they will see what some parents really do to there kids. I would extemely recomend this book to others, becuase it is an adventure of one boys determination to find love. I think this book wouldn't be a good book for kids under 13, becuase it has some pretty foul language in it and they might not understand what is happening. When you start reading this book, you won't want to put it down until your done reading it..
Average customer rating:
- Another enjoyable Artemis adventure
- The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer
- Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony
- Keep them coming!
- a next one?
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The Lost Colony (Artemis Fowl, Book 5)
Eoin Colfer
Manufacturer: Miramax
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)
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The Arctic Incident (Artemis Fowl, Book 2)
ASIN: 0786849568
Release Date: 2006-09-12 |
Book Description
Ten thousand years ago, humans and fairies fought a great battle for the magical island of Ireland. When it became clear to the fairy families that they could never win, they decided to move their civilization underground and keep themselves hidden from the humans. All the fairy families agreed on this, except the eighth family, the demons. The demons planned to lift their small island out of time until they had regrouped and were ready to wage war on the humans once more. However, the time spell went wrong, and the island of Hybras was catapulted into Limbo, where it has remained for ten thousand years. Now the tainted time spell is deteriorating and demons are being sucked back into the present space and time. The fairy council is concerned about this and is monitoring any materializations. But when the spells deterioration accelerates, the materializations become unpredictable. Even the fairy scientists cannot figure out where the next demon will pop up. But someone can. Artemis Fowl, teenage criminal mastermind, has solved temporal equations that no normal human should be intelligent enough to understand. So when a confused and frightened demon pops up in a Sicilian theater, Artemis Fowl is there to meet him. Unfortunately, he is not the only one. A second, mysterious party has also solved the temporal equations, and has managed to abduct the demon before Artemis can secure him. Once again, Artemis will have to pair up with his old comrade, Captain Holly Short, to track down the missing demon and rescue him, before the time spell dissolves completely and the lost demon colony returns violently to Earth.
Customer Reviews:
Another enjoyable Artemis adventure.......2007-09-26
I found certain aspects somewhat predictable, but it's nice that Artemis has met another genius to contend with. Can't wait for the next one!
The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer.......2007-09-10
As usual Eoin Colfer takes us into the world of the Elves with our No1 criminal Artemis Fowl.But is the young lady who appears in this book to be his nemesis or love interest.You wont find out till the end.
Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony.......2007-08-31
I enjoyed this book as much as the other books. I couldn't put the book down. I would recommend this book to anyone to read.
Keep them coming!.......2007-08-23
This last adventure was just as intriguing as the other ones, yet the climax really surprised me. I genuinely recommend this book, as well as the rest of the Artemis' series. To be honest, I started reading them a couple of years ago, to cover the space between Harry Potter's books. After the second one, I just got fascinated with the plot and the characters. Harry, you do have quite and adversary there!
a next one?.......2007-08-15
is there really gonna be another? i felt like he finished with this one...
the first and this one are definitely the best in the saga
amazing franchise a must read
you will never put it down, mark my words
Amazon.com
Daniel Mendelsohn's The Lost is the deeply personal account of a search for one family among his larger family, the one barely spoken of, only to say they were "killed by the Nazis." Mendelsohn, even as a boy, was always the one interested in his family's history, but when he came upon a set of letters from his great uncle Schmiel, pleading for help from his American relatives as the Nazi grip on the lives of Jews in their Polish town became tighter and tighter, he set out to find what had happened to that lost family. The result is both memoir and history, an ambitious and gorgeously meditative detective story that takes him across the globe in search of the lost threads of these few almost forgotten lives.
A whole culture lies behind the story Mendelsohn tells, and a lifetime of reading as well. For our Grownup School feature, he has given us a tour of some of the books behind his own, in a list he calls 10 Great Novels of Family History, the Holocaust, New York Jewish Life (And Other Things That Helped Me Write My Book). And you can watch his own moving introduction to the book in this short video:
Watch Daniel Mendelsohn introduce The Lost: high bandwidth or low bandwidth |
Book Description
In this rich and riveting narrative, a writer's search for the truth behind his family's tragic past in World War II becomes a remarkably original epic—part memoir, part reportage, part mystery, and part scholarly detective work—that brilliantly explores the nature of time and memory, family and history.
The Lost begins as the story of a boy who grew up in a family haunted by the disappearance of six relatives during the Holocaust—an unmentionable subject that gripped his imagination from earliest childhood. Decades later, spurred by the discovery of a cache of desperate letters written to his grandfather in 1939 and tantalized by fragmentary tales of a terrible betrayal, Daniel Mendelsohn sets out to find the remaining eyewitnesses to his relatives' fates. That quest eventually takes him to a dozen countries on four continents, and forces him to confront the wrenching discrepancies between the histories we live and the stories we tell. And it leads him, finally, back to the small Ukrainian town where his family's story began, and where the solution to a decades-old mystery awaits him.
Deftly moving between past and present, interweaving a world-wandering odyssey with childhood memories of a now-lost generation of immigrant Jews and provocative ruminations on biblical texts and Jewish history, The Lost transforms the story of one family into a profound, morally searching meditation on our fragile hold on the past. Deeply personal, grippingly suspenseful, and beautifully written, this literary tour de force illuminates all that is lost, and found, in the passage of time.
Customer Reviews:
A very powerful, wonderful book!.......2007-10-01
The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million
I read a lot (about 1-2 books per week) and this is by far the best book I have ever read. It is SO powerful and poignant. It is a book about healing from the horrors of the holocaust, how it affected the family of survivors and their descendants here in the US and how one descendant, searchin for his lost relatives helped start the healing process. This book is also very good for those interested in genealogy work.
I got lost reading "The Lost".......2007-09-24
The book seem to mesmerize me with its many fragile old photos. I soon found myself frustrated and lost due to the author's lack captions for the photos -- frankly, it was maddening. Oftentimes photos were not even placed within the text properly.
This book was in desperate need of a good editor: (1) organize the photos, (2) edit the rambling run-on sentences, (3) get rid of the overuse of parenthetical remarks, etc.
At first I read the biblical sections and enjoyed reading about Rashi, etc. but later on I skipped these portions because they dragged the pace of the story and could not hold my attention.
This was one of the most frustrating books I have ever read and the victims were buried twice: first in Eastern Poland and then within this book with its myriad details and a most obsessive, jumpy and horrible author. Sorry... that's how bad this experience was for me. This guy desperately needed an editor.
Where oh, where is Elie Wiesel when I need him?
Don't waste your time........2007-09-22
This book is entirely too slow. It seems to just repeat the same thing in every chapter. I agree with the the other review that says this is just an extended guide on Jewish genealogy. Very disappointed.
A Must Read.......2007-09-16
This is a page turner with characters that every Jewish baby boomer will be able to identify with. On every page you will find one of your relatives, friends of your parents or the parents of your friends. It is beautifully written and difficult to catagorize. It is neither a mystery or a memoir, a history or a biography, but it is all of the aforementioned. I found myself very emotionally involved in the story and I even found myself and my parents in the book. Read it.
Works on several levels.......2007-09-01
This is an interesting personal story, genealogy guide, Holocaust story, and travel guide. I agree with most of the reviews -- an amazing tale.
The chief weakness is the editing. The author's sentences are unnecessarily long and complicated. Many are dense and almost inpenetrable. The story needed to be trimmed of some of the mind-numbing details -- probably 200 less pages.
And while I loved the cover art and binding, the photos are too small and blurry. Some maps would have helped as well.
But overall a GREAT read.
BTW -- For those inspired to explore their Jewish family roots, The Avotaynu Guide (2005) is a great starting place.
Book Description
Lively...illuminating. A refreshing example of scholarly detective work.--Kirkus Reviews
Customer Reviews:
Following a trail.......2007-06-27
Scholars doing research on a subject often uncover information the leads to a different path. Most scholars will ignore that information to finish the work they started, but other scholars follow that path to see where it leads. Thus it was for John Robinson, the author of "Born In Blood".
Mr. Robinson doing research about the Peasants' Revolt in England in 1381 uncovered information about the Knights Templar and subsequently their connection with the Freemasons.
Mr. Robinson, who is not a Freemason, took the information he gathered and presented it in a well written book. The facts uncovered and the conclusions reached will get both Masons and non-masons to look at the world's oldest and largest fraternity in a new, more positive, light.
GREAT.......2007-04-10
I am pleased to read another book that is not set to trash history makers but instead to make some sense out of the ignorance of many for the benefit of a true free society.
A Fascinating Read, But............2007-03-18
I have read and re-read this work a couple of times. Robinson writes a fascinating account of the Knights Templar and what may have happened to them after the Order was suppressed. As has been noted in most of the previous reviews, the author writes a good story. My gripe with it, and I say this both as a Master Mason and also as one who majored in History and minored in Bio Sciences in college, where are the footnotes? The references, the research notes to back up his statements? Without this supporting evidence that can be checked by other researchers, the work borders on being largely just speculation. I realize that much of the history of Freemasonry was never written down, and thus opens it up to a lot of speculation about its possible origins. A more recent work, The Secret History of Freemasonry, may actually be closer to the truth of the matter in that the Templars were patrons and financial backers of much of the great cathedrals and fortifications built during the two hundred years of their existence. And thus they would have had extensive connections to the operative masons who built these structures, and some of the refugee knights might have sought refuge within the stone mason guilds. Paul Naudon, the author of this work, backs up his work with numerous references -- something that unfortunately Robinson, now deceased, failed to do. So enjoy Born in Blood, but take it with a grain of salt.
A most plausible view of history.......2007-02-11
Maosn's, of which I am one, have an enigmatic past. In 1717 the United Grand Lodges of England (UGLE) suddenly appeared. Yet Masonic Lodges had existed for a long time. Why go so public that year?
John Robbinson set out to answer a simple question. How could the English Peasant's Revolt of 1318 been so well coordinated and executed in an era parish laws, illiteracy, and servitude? It took him, quite by chance from that revolt to Freemasonry. This book is well researched and well thought out. What he does, and what I find most fascinating, is to use the language of the Knights Templar- French, to support his thesis. Certain words recording in the reports of the uprising are generally ignored because when thought of as English, had no meaning.
His conclusion is fascinating and in a much better class historical writing than Holy Blood Holy Grail. A good read. It could serve as outline for a great epic movie.
While I do not subsribe to the Templar - Masonic School of origins, I do believe that he is correct on the Templar-Peasant Revolt connection.
(I prefer the enlightment - civil society school of thought: see books by Margaret Jacobs Ph.D) .
Born in Blood by John Robinson.......2007-01-03
Well written history and content of Free Masonry. Some of it is speculatve because the world simply doesn't know the early history of the Masons.
Book Description
From the lost ancient art of towel folding (yes, there is one, and it does stem from ancient times) comes the newly revived and hot trend The Lost Art of Towel Origami.
Filled with hilarious completed-project photographs and step-by-step instructions and illustrations, this book will provide hours of entertainment. Stun your company by skillfully creasing and crinkling your linen into works of art. You've got everything you need, right in your own bathroom.
Creations include:
" Elephant
" Monkey
" Luscious Lips
" Skyscraper
" Ladybug
" Palm Tree
You'll never look at laundry the same again with The Lost Art of Towel Origami. The absolute perfect coffee table (or, ahem, bathroom) book is bound to get you and your guests folding masterpieces.
Customer Reviews:
The Lost Art of Towel Origami.......2007-07-06
I was very interested in learning Towel Origami. The size of the pieces and the number of towels needed to create them made the task almost impossible.
Good book, hard to do.......2007-06-08
The book is well written but I think you must need special towels to make the figures work.
There are better towel origami books out there.......2007-05-18
I bought this book after getting into towel origami on a Carnival Cruise. This was disappointing. There were some okay ideas but all in all I would spend the $$ buying the Carnival Cruise towel origami book instead of this one. I bought this thinking that there would be ideas for a towel wedding cake. Thier version isn't near as pretty as the ones that I found searching online. Skip this one and buy the cruise one on EBAY.
Lot's of good Examples!.......2007-05-16
This was a great purchase. The guides and examples were easy to follow and very colorful. The book was a hit!
The Lost Art of Towel Origami.......2007-05-12
I thought the instructions were vague. They don't give you towel size and/or detailed instructions. It seems like they skip a few steps. I could only do two out of the whole book and was disappointed in my purchase.
Book Description
The Alliance has been fighting the Syndic for a century-and losing badly. Now its fleet is crippled and stranded in enemy territory. Their only hope is Captain John "Black Jack" Geary-a man who's emerged from a century-long hibernation to find he has been heroically idealized beyond belief. Now, he must live up to his own legend.
Customer Reviews:
One of the better military science fiction reads........2007-10-02
The book starts out with Captain 'Blackjack' Geary being handed command over the Alliance fleet as the fleet commanders leave to discuss terms of surrender with the Syndic fleet. You soon discover that Geary was found en route to the battle scene in an emergency escape pod and revived. He had been frozen for nearly a century. His captaincy was granted posthumously as the Alliance believed he was dead. He had become a legend in the Alliance for his courageous stand against the first Syndic attack and now was a living legend among them. The Alliance-Syndic war was still being waged from that original battle. Losses of command personel were so severe over the intervening years that battle strategies and tactics were mostly lost and battles consisted mostly of charge the enemy until destroyed. The surrender negotiations were a deception in which the fleet commanders were slaughtered. Captain Geary's first mission is to try and rescue the fleet as surrender terms are too grim to accept. For the rest of the book Captain 'Blackjack' Geary must deal with the misconceptions of his legendary figure and try to keep the fleet alive as well as together.
It was hard to put the book down once I started reading it. There is so much poor science fiction out there that you read a page or two and put the book away that its refreshing to find one that is such and easy and enjoyable read. Its certainly not in a class with Frank Herbert's Dune series or Gene Wolfe's Long Sun series but its a good read.
Good Easy Read.......2007-09-18
Good Easy Read with mostly action and no lovey dovey scenes that feel awkward in sci fi books. If you like this, try Scalzi. Internal monologue of the main character might be a little unconventional and weird but it works in this book. Will read the sequel.
Disappointing.......2007-09-13
The book was fine. It sounded a lot more interesting than it was. The story is not compelling, but it is reasonably well-written and the characters are not completely shallow. I probably won't buy the next books in the series unless I am totally desperate. I simply see no reason to. Will the Lost Fleet get home? Of course. So what's the point of reading the other books?
Outstanding Space Opera.......2007-09-06
Very much in line with David Weber's works, this is excellent space opera. Black Jack Geary is a likeable and interesting character. Sometimes the characters are a little cardboard or one-dimensional, but overall this is good, fast-paced action with an interesting plot and lots of conflicts, both internally and externally.
There are plenty of reviews here that cover the storylines, so I'll just throw my hat in the ring with a 5 star review and recommend it if you even remotely like Weber's sci-fi.
EXCELLENT SPACE ADVENTURE.......2007-09-05
I won't go into details- many already have...What I enjoyed about this book and book 2 is that it reads smoothly- a Story- not a textbook with lots of scientific "data" and convoluted made up equations...just enough "space talk" without drowning the reader in it! ..I know many will dismiss this book because it lacks what I call the Headache feature-overdose classroom syndrome...I buy a book to READ not study and discect!- escapism at its best, Thank you -and this one nicely fits the bill....smooth transition from Dauntless to book 2 Fearless and I am looking forward to book 3
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