Fiction Literature Books

This book was amazing. I'm only giving it 4 out of five stars because you need to be a fairly well read, a very literate person to understand and read, to truly enjoy the genius that Delillo portrays. It was wonderful. I found myself sad at parts, shocked at others, but mostly just incredibly interested at how Delillo is able to grab that part of life that we all see but don't acknowledge.

Starts off being funny in absurd and macabre ways with blended family, a Professor of Hitler studies and a would be Professor of Elvis and slowly transforms itself into a Kafkaesque nightmare. Much easier to read than his later novels and well worth the effort.

White Noise / 0-14-007702-2

White Noise, arguably Delillo's best work, carefully explores a world where consumerism has, almost literally, consumed us all, to the point where we become empty shells of people.

The extended family in the book have been reduced by consumerism to two-dimensional beings, dependent upon television and other cultural stimuli to tell them how to think and behave. Occasionally, they act out against this emptiness (or is it that a wire has been crossed in the brain?) with idiosyncrasies such as a pronounced preference for the smell of burnt toast, or a tendency to find frumpy jogging outfits attractive. On the weekends, they shop at the local supermarket, under the soporific thrall of the overhead neon lights.

When their consumer culture literally threatens to kill them, via a toxic waste spill on the town railroad, they are ill-prepared to respond and look to their customary authorities (television and radio) on how to react to the emergency. When fire trucks storm through town, broadcasting an evacuation notice, the mother wonders absently whether the evacuation is a suggestion or a command. And in the aftermath of the toxic cloud, even when many have died and many more have had their lives shortened by exposure to the poison, the town feels no outrage, only numbness that what is normally confined to the television news stories nevertheless happened in their idyllic town. Actors themselves, they practice emergency evacuations, determined to perform better "next time".

Despite the shallowness of their lives, they fear death. Some self-medicate with dangerous experimental drugs in an attempt to control that fear. Others take up death-defying hobbies in the hope that this will deaden their fear. They discuss which food preservatives will kill them, whether the phones lines will cause cancer, which yoga poses will prolong their lives, and how to squeeze every drop of life out of their lives. When a character points out how much energy is wasted in daily life (carrying things that don't need to be carried, making extra trips, etc.), another asks what would one do with all the saved energy. The answer: Live longer. In this way, Delillo paints a stunning and frightening portrait of a community that fears death yet has no love for life.

Turn your radio to AM and randomly switch from channel to channel. Record the snippets of call-in questions, sports reports, legal advice, and advertising slogans that follow. Read it as you would a story. It's disjointed, sure, but every once in awhile, you'll find a moment of transcendent brilliance. Like this book by Don DeLillo. He's taken nutrition labels, manufacturer specs, commercials, newscasts, popular music, history, religious polemics (I could go on) and woven his soundbytes into a story of a man and a woman who are terrified of death, a toxic cloud, speculation on the similarities between Elvis and Hitler, and ultimately, the question of meaning.

I can't believe how many negative reviews there are of this book here. Don't listen to these naysayers. This book is unbelievable! Not only is it written in an awe-inspiring prose, but it also has a lot to say. It is a very big book, considering the mere 326 pages of text.

This book reads like an epic, and is critical of media, consumer culture, the modern family unit, violence, fear of death, and probably a hell of a lot more.

An interesting quote from a Delillo interview: " I see contemporary violence as a kind of sardonic response to the promise of consumer fulfillment in America."

This is one of the few modern books to make it on Professor's reading lists throughout the country's campuses, which is saying a lot considering the names of postmodern sensibility- Pynchon, Kundera, Vonnegut, Erickson, Danielewski, McCarthy, etc.

This is the only Delillo book I have read, but I'm psyched to read the slew of others he has-- Libra, Underworld and Mao II, to name a few. Do yourself a favor and read this postmodern masterpiece. This is sure to be talked about in classrooms and coffeehouses for the next fifty years or so. Don't be afraid, accept its' chaos.

Dostoevsky has crafted a monolithic work of literature in every respect here. This book contains all the elements of vintage Dostoevsky--unforgettable characters, a gripping plot, layers of meaning, captivating style and poignant sprinkles of humor. The book is broad in its scope, exploring numerous themes--alienation from society, criminal psychology, poverty, benevolence, confession, spirituality, redemption, love and more. As typical of Dostoevsky, however, it is the spiritual journey of one character that provides the central focus of the narrative. If you don't know much about Dostoevsky, I advise reading some about his life before beginning this novel (a good starting point is wikipedia.org/wiki/Dostoevsky). This novel will take you on a thought-provoking journey about the human heart and experience that you will not forget. Highly recommended.

The book arrived in excellent condition. I have not read it yet, but am anxiously waiting to read it. I am very happy that it had arrived in plenty of time.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment is one of the greatest novels of all times. I love this book!

Raskolnikov, the main character in Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, is presented as a pure nihilist. Dostoevsky, through his telling of Raskolnikov's inner struggle and his first encounter with love and compassion, is clearly rejecting nihilism. The murder committed by Raskolnikov might be an act related to utilitarianism, but the great agony and guilt that the main character suffers is Dostoevsky's idea of real punishment that leads the final conclusions that good beats evil, religion beats atheism, and right overpowers wrong.

Granted, Crime and Punishment is considered great literature devoted to the psychology of criminals and their imprisonments within their own guilt. However, the novel is an immature way of stereotyping criminals and simplifying a very complex human puzzle. Dostoevsky attempts to show us that only love, redemption and righteousness will rule, but he over simplifies and generalizes.

Crime and Punishment is another way that Dostoevsky tried to resolve his feelings about chaos and corruption in his society, and solve all dilemmas and conflicts by turning to God, or accepting Christ as Dostoevsky did in reality.

Truly one of the greatest books of all time. This is definately something that is useful in almost everyday life. The struggle between the grand and the ordinary is something that most of us can relate to on an individual level. The translation left a little to be desired but do not hesitate to read this work you will be glad that you did.

Watership Down by Richard Adams is part fantasy, part children's book and all charming. This has become a true classic that is universally loved. Richard Adams first created Watership Down as an oral story for his two daughters on a long road trip. When he was finally finished, they encourage him to write it down in book-form as it was better than almost any book that he read to them each night.

This story is about a group of rabbits. But unlike many fantasies, these rabbits don't do anything they wouldn't normally do except to talk to each other and other animals. Brother rabbits Hazel and Fiver live happily in Sandleford Warren, until Fiver has a premonition that something terrible is going to happen to their home. They convince a group of rabbits to flee Sandleford and seek a new and safer warren. The rabbits go through many travails and Adams details them all in great detail. Perhaps the most dangerous expedition involves the search for female rabbits to help populate their new warren. The rabbits have their own language, Lapine, and Adams provides a glossary of Lapine terms at the end. This edition also includes a new introduction where the author tells how he came to write this book.

I'm not much of a fantasy reader, but I grew very fond of Hazel, Fiver and their companions.

I've waited for years to read this book, and by and large it didn't disappoint. Great story, interesting characters, largely fast flowing plot, and mostly a good metaphor: the metaphor of breaking from the herd, breaking from the old way, treating life as an adventure to be tackled, and taking risk and using ingenuity to accomplish a mission. I loved all that, and loved its message about the complacency of hutch rabbits (average humans!) - and how weak and lost we become when complacency takes over.

BUT...

The metaphor of the story ultimately breaks down because it becomes a "happily ever after" story. The whole purpose of the rabbits' ultimate mission in the second half of the book is to find ways to attract or procure female rabbits so they can mate, have babies, and just...ultimately live average, complacent lives. I admired their ingenuity in achieving this end, but what kind of message is this "end" in our modern world? Just more dating, mating, and procreating - exactly the complacency that is KILLING OUR PLANET.

It's time for a new way: forget breeding like rabbits, stop the cycle of overpopulation, stop the spread of our species into new untamed lands, and instead scale back. Go within and heal our ancient wounds. Had the book had this message I would have liked it a thousand times more.

Two other criticisms: 1) I found the mythical rabbit-and-God folktales within the book, the ones the rabbit storytellers told, to be EXTREMELY DULL. Once I realized they were not remotely an intrinsic part of the story I skipped them - whole chapters - to no great loss. That sped things up a lot. 2) The literary quotations at the beginning of each chapter were distracting and irrelevant, so after a few chapters I mostly ignored them.

I had never read this book in highschool like i had heard that many people had. I am kinda sorry i was not able to when i was younger. Oh well. I am only about 3/4 of the way through this book and it is hard to put down! Very interesting. Very different. I recommend everyone give it a read at least once in their life. Worth it all the way.

This is my all-time favorite work of fiction. It works perfectly on so many different levels: an adventure fantasy, a cautionary tale about basic nature, a lesson on the meaning of true friendship and leadership. Only a few novels can you say actually changed your life, and I can see I am not alone in saying that it changed mine.

One encouraging word to the new reader: ease into the story, it reveals its charms and characters in due time. And before you know it, you'll wish it were 400 pages longer! Watership Down is truly one for the ages.

This strikes me as definitiely a "book of its time". First published in 1972 (after being rejected by 13, count 'em, 13 publishers), it is written on a "young adult" reader level and is basically a formalized cobbling together of stories the author told his children on tedious car trips. Each chapter is preceded by a literary quote, which after the first 20 or so becomes a bit precious and eventually pretentious. Obviously, it has quite a following, but it seems to me to fall into the same category as books as diverse as "A Wrinkle in Time", "Stranger in a Strange Land", "Atlas Shrugged", or perhaps less complimentary, "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" (which itself was published 2 years before this). All have their fans, most of whom first read their book at an impressionable age, and who seem more passionate than the material objectively deserves, because the story has some resonance for those readers. Those fans all find some sort of inspiration, or really self-confirmation, and tend to get irate if YOU don't "get it" too. Frankly, it struck me as an overly-twee cross between "The Hobbit" and Beatrix Potter. (And please, I *did* enjoy "The Wind in the Willows".) The female rabbits ("does") are essentially non-existant in the first third of the book, and are much-sought-after non-entities in the rest, useful only for perpetuating rabbithood (didn't know THAT was a problem....) The "lupine dictionary" ought to be a litmus test for potential readers: if this strikes you as charming, or clever, or creative, give the book a try. If you think that is just a mite affectatious, and have a hard time with rabbits having "names" like Hazel, Buckthorn, Pipkin, and Dandelion, I think you'll be happier with a "pass".

Prior to a planned trip to Boston, I purchased Make Way For Ducklings for my grandchildren who were three and a half and five and a half at the time. Their mom was running in the Boston Marathan. Knowing that we would be taking them to the Public Gardens and they would see the "ducklings"..this was a perfect history lesson written so well for little ones and adults to learn...Highly recommended

This book is simply sublime. I had it as a child, got it for my own children over 25 years ago, and now am buying a copy for my new grandson. Everything about this book is wonderful!

This classic picture book details the lives of the Mallard family in the Public Garden of Boston. This is an excellent read for kids of all ages, and is a good introduction to Caledecott books.

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard explore all the nooks and crannies of Boston and the Back Bay, before settling on the perfect place to raise their family. A true love letter to the Boston of 60 years ago (complete with Irish cops!), it is a classic that speaks to people from everywhere, and families worldwide, on the love and nurturing that parents show for their children.

This book was read to me, and I read it endlessly to my little sister and my daughter. Now I am reading it to my great-nephew, age three and a half, who fell instantly in love with it. He always lets out a little "whew!" of relief when Mrs Mallard and the ducklings make it through the gates of the Public Gardens. After about the fourth reading (there were two on that particular day) we went to a little park nearby where he insisted on playing out the story with me, complete with Mr and Mrs Mallard's dialogue. It is a ritual now.

This is an astonishingly involving book for small children. There is a practical but manageable level of threat (of traffic, which is very real and genuinely important for three and four year olds) with the assurance of adult help when it is needed, and the constant reassurance that they are being looked after. And adults can read it forever without getting bored!

Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter is a tale of secret love, adultery, and sadness. Every person should read this timeless American novel at some point in their life. The strength of Hester Prynne is unusual for novels composed during the time this was published, and is therefore a revolutionary literary work. My only complaint is the length of "The Custom House," however horrible this sounds, I would just skip it, it does not add to the plot of the novel anyway.

I read Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter for my Advanced English 11 class. This is not a book I would normally have picked up and read, but I am glad that I read it.

The Scarlet Letter deals with themes of love, society's oppression, secrets, a character finding herself, as well as numerous other classic literature themes. I found the book itself to be challenging to read, but I liked the story. Hawthorne explores when feelings and passion conflict with religion, which was fascinating to consider from a religious perspective.

Although I did not enjoy the book much at the time I had to read it, it proved to be quite useful when I took the AP Literature and Composition Test this year. When I had to choose one book to frantically review the day before the test, this is the book I chose. Sure enough, this is the book I used for the AP test as a reference.

This is an essential book for anyone taking AP Literature.

I enjoyed this book a lot, once I got past the slow parts. Hester Prynne is found pregnant out of wedlock. Since she won't reveal the identity of the father, she is forced to wear the Scarlet Letter "A" on her chest for the rest of her life. She gives birth to a girl and she changes her life around, so at the end of the book, people refer to her as "Angel" instead of "Adulterer."

This is a timeless tale because the situation could easily happen in any time period. When we do something wrong, the way we live our lives afterwards is the determining factor of our moral character. One event does not define us. It's our entire lives that should be taken into account. I think that is Nathaniel Hawthorne's point. Redemption is possible for anyone, regardless of their sin. Also, the father who remained unknown to the society but not the reader, suffers enormously because he doesn't confess. This is a good point. When we hide our sins, the only person it ultimately hurts, is us.

I completely agree with most HS students that this book should be optional reading for them because HS teachers should very well know that there are many different minds that need very different kinds of reading material and exposure to variety is not always a good thing that's why you end up having reviews of books like this by some HS students who puke on it rather then have savored it like I did. My reasons for really loving this book is because of the historical/puritan life and manners I like to read about, I love human struggle and the need to understand inner feelings of character, and I like knowing about how communities deal with religious matters. Can you blame me for being such a sentimental person? Yes, the book is written at the 5th grade level, and some people still do read at that level so this may be a reason why it's survived for such a long time. In any case, don't have it on your book shelf if it's not your cup of tea; with me, it will always be a treasure.

I think the many readers who were forced to partake of this classic were angry at their English teacher for making them read a book so wordy, detailed, and archaic in language. Many of the reviewers' complaints are about the author's style, which is definitely an acquired taste. Hawthorne doesn't merely give you a scene; he tries to tell you what time it is, how and why it is happening, and what each character is thinking as they enter the room. In this way, this can be a turn off to a leisurely reader; it may even be a turn off to an avid reader. The bottom line is that The Scarlet Letter, maybe more so than any other classic, is definitely a matter of style. I tend to admire the book because I can over look some of Hawthorne's unorthodox styles and look for a deeper meaning; if you happen to feel this way, great, if not, then maybe it just wasn't your kind of book.

The main subject in The Scarlet Letter is sin--but not only the sin of adultery (Hester and Dimmesdale). There is also the sin of jealousy and revenge (Chillingworth) as well as the sin of hypocrisy and gossip (Puritan community). Hawthorne's opinion of the hypocrisy of the Puritans seems to be illustrated in the opening scene with Hester coming out of the prison door we hear the Puritan women making besmirching comments about Hester, and one even wanting death for Hester because of her sin--this reaction from a do-good community! The main crux of the story though, as alluded to, is about Hester and Dimmesdale's sin of adultery, and, more importantly, how each of the two protagonists deal with their sin. While Hester's sin is spread out in the public eye of the New England community, and she is shamed publicly, Dimmesdale's sin is hidden, as no one except he, Hester and Chillingworth knows about it. In this way, there are two very paths that follow for Hester and the Reverend Dimmesdale. Hester, after her initial public humiliation and shame, begins life anew, and is able to find a hobby (that of a seamstress) to make ends meet, and her suffering seems to make her able to take on the challenges in life. She is able to deal with the questions and mischievousness from her daughter Pearl, and seems to implore Dimmesdale, who is obviously overcome with guilt, to forget their sin and live free. Dimmesdale, on the other hand, takes his sin very harshly, and not only feels he must punish himself for it, but physically becomes a shell of his former self. Still, Dimmesdale has a remarkable power to still give amazing sermons to the community, even with guilt. Chillingworth, Hester's ex-husband, enters the scene early in the book, and begins to "peck" away at Dimmesdale, knowing full-well that he can break him down mentally and physically with such a weight on his shoulders. During the scenes where Chillingworth is probing the mind of Dimmesdale, there seems to be a symbolic parallel between Chillingworth and the devil (there are several references to Chillingworth being the "black man" in the novel). Dimmesdale can't save himself physically, but he can spiritually. Hester emerges as the novel's hero, mainly because she sheds her former faults, and becomes a stronger person in the process.

The Scarlet Letter is definitely "heavy" reading. It might take you a few times to get through a few of the chapters. But, alas, persevere, and you may find it worth reading. And, take some advice: skip the introductory chapter "The Custom House" and just begin reading with "The Prison Door." I can give you a quick synopsis of the introduction: Hawthorne wrote a book about two people who sinned by committing adultery, and the Puritans weren't happy. As much as people say this book is outdated, it really isn't. I mean, public scandals are a part of our culture just as much as they were then. Hester Prynne is that public scandal, the story you hear on the news or other media outlets. Public infamy, as well as changing public perception, seems to never go out of style.

3 ½ stars

This true classic works on many levels: Gothic horror, rapid-fire humor, cultural philosophy and history, and psychological insight into the author himself. Wilde, an openly practicing if not openly admitted, homosexual was as much a celebrity for his wit and lifestyle as he was an acknowledged artist in his own time.

But Dorian Gray, his masterpiece, shines early on with epigram after epigram that leaps off the page with instant recognition (oh, so it was Oscar Wilde who said that!). But then the story turns serious as it considers the deep subjects of perception and reality before twisting off the edge into pure horror.

Sure, the story is simple to the point of cliché today, but only because it was so well told by Wilde. The subject of a flattering portrait is granted his wish that he might stay the same while his portrait ages. The visual ravages of time on canvas are mere mirrors of the ravages of sin on the human soul that the youthful and beautiful exterior hide. The contrast and the guilt continually drive Dorian Gray to lower depths of human depravity.

While mild by slasher standards, the horror is real and shocking in true 19th century Gothic style. Woven throughout, and surprisingly unsubtly to 21th century eyes aware of homosexual lifestyle, language, and art, is the book's obvious homosexual theme. It is curious and truly unbelievable from our vantage point today that there was any question of Wilde's sexual orientation, and that he went to such lengths to attempt to defend himself from the accusation.

Oscar Wilde's classic gothic tale of a man who is granted his wish to remain forever young is still a fine and compelling read. Dorian Gray is captured at the height of his physical charms in a painting and soon discovers that the corruption of his body and soul is reflected in the painting while he retains his youthful attractiveness. His life becomes one of increasing debauchery and narcissism.
The most quotable of authors, Wilde uses a friend of the young man to deliver an endless collection of axioms and witty observations that add another dimension to the plot.
As Gray becomes more convinced of his invincibility he grows more callous toward others and his actions become less human and more monstrous as the story progresses.

Other reviewers have already covered the plot of Dorian Gray as well as the numerous reasons why you should read the book. I've contented myself with providing you a list of epigrams contained in the book I found especially wisdom-filled or humorous:

"The moments were lost in vulgar details. It was with a renewed feeling of disappointment that she waved the tattered lace handkerchief from the window, as her son drove away."

"...to be highly organised is, I should fancy, the object of man's existence."

"'To be good is to be in harmony with one's self. Discord is to be forced to be in harmony with others.'"

"'There are only two kinds of people who are really fascinating -- people who know absolutely everything, and people who know absolutely nothing.'"

"There is always something ridiculous about the emotions of people whom one has ceased to love."

"'...there is a fatality about good resolutions -- that they are always made too late.'"

"Sometimes, however, a tragedy that possesses artistic elements of beauty crosses our lives."

"But he never fell into the error of arresting his intellectual development by any formal acceptance of creed or system, or of mistaking, for a house in which to live, an inn that is but suitable for the sojourn of a night, or for a few hours of a night in which there are no stars and the moon is in travail."

"When a woman marries again it is because she detested her first husband. When a man marries again, it is because he adored his first wife. Women try their luck; men risk theirs."

"I like men who have a future and women who have a past."

"She lacks the indefinable charm of weakness."

"It is said passion makes one think in a circle."

"'All ways end at the same point, my dear Gladys.' 'What is that?' 'Disillusion.'"

This is a beautiful and witty tale about a depraved man. His ugly soul is mirrored by his ever-changing portrait while he retains his youthful visage. Suspenseful throughout. A classic.

Is your soul a good bargaining chip for perpetual youth and beauty? Young Dorian Gray was led to believe so and impulsively struck that bargain. "The Picture of Dorian Gray" is the story of his decline into depravity following that ill-advised trade-off. The story is well-known in popular culture. An artist becomes obsessed with his young model's attractiveness. He and his jaded friend compete for influence over the young man. The friend corrupts young Dorian, encourages him to embrace a life of sensual pleasure and to prize his own beauty. Dorian exclaims that he resents the portrait because IT will keep the freshness of youth -- then the fateful words, that he would give his soul if the picture could decay instead of his own face and body.

Be careful what you wish for! Over the next twenty years Dorian sinks into the depths of moral slime and watches the hidden portrait show all the signs of that immorality, while his own face and figure keep the blush of youth.

Along with the adulation of youth and beauty, Oscar Wilde delves into the theme of art as morally neutral, a principle of the aesthetic school of thought. Can art be moral or immoral? Should it teach us, improve us? That was the common 19th century view but the school of aestheticism believed that the arts had no role in moral enlightenment. The preface of the book lays out this theme in a series of proclamations.

The entire book, like all of Wilde's work, is packed with "sound bites." The corrupting friend, Lord Henry Wotton, is particularly prone to Polonius-like declamations, and Dorian tells him, "You cut life to pieces with your epigrams!" In fact Wilde does that, ripping into polite society and the opium dens of London alike.

"The Picture of Dorian Gray" is Oscar Wilde's only published novel. It first appeared in a magazine in 1890 as a shorter work, and was later expanded and edited to remove some of the more blatant homosexual references. His writing is exquisite, his themes repugnant but (dare I say it?) edifying. "What does it profit a man ..."

Highly recommended as a true classic of modern literature. I read this book when I was young and thought I understood it. Now that I'm not so young, I'm sure that I don't.

NOTE: I listened to this book on CD, not tape, but I chose this product link because it's the same production. The Brilliance Audio Library Edition, read by Michael Page, was incomparably presented and added a great deal to my enjoyment of this absorbing book.

Linda Bulger, 2008

This is the first book by the 2008 Pulitzer-winning author of "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao." It's a collection of short stories that are set between the 1970's and 1990's in the Dominican Republic, the Bronx and in a variety of Northern NJ towns.

In "Ysrael," two brothers walk to another town in the DR to see a boy who wore a mask (because his face had been eaten off by a pig when he was a baby).

"Fiesta, 1980" is about a party in the Bronx that Yunior, the narrator in several stories in this book and the primary narrator in Oscar Wao, and his family attend. In describing his aunt's place, Yunior says that it had "been furnished in Contemporary Dominican Tacky" (pg. 32).

In "Aurora," a small-time drug dealer tells the story of his relationship with a female heroin addict. "We all do s*#@ like this, stuff that's no good for you," he says (pg. 50).

"Edison, New Jersey" is a story about two pool-table deliverymen. Wayne is in his late 30's or early 40's. His partner describes him as "a big goofy guy - I don't understand why the girls dig his s*#@. One of those mysteries of the universe" (pg. 125). They deliver the tables and work in the showroom as the narrator relates the story of his recent break-up: "We stopped playing only when it started to go wrong for us, when I'd wake up and listen to the traffic outside without waking her, when everything was a fight" (pg. 132).

"Negocios" is the story of Ramon, who moves to America in the 1960's, leaving his wife and children behind him with the promise that he'll bring them over when he makes enough money. It's narrated by his youngest son, Yunior, who describes his father as "real good at planning and real bad at doing" (pg. 196). Ramon's story is one of hard work and occasional bad luck. Eventually, he marries a citizen in order to become a citizen himself, and he struggles with the guilt about his family that is still in the DR. The story ends with Yunior having a conversation many years later with Ramon's second wife.

Diaz's stories are filled with hard realization that the American dream for most immigrants is really an American myth - many more stumble along than succeed. NJ is a bleak place for these characters and their generational stories.

I loved this book and actually re-purchased it in the spanish translation as a gift for a co-worker. It is poignant and thoughtful and sincere and just a great read. It can be read from first to last page, but nothing is lost jumping around from one short to another.

Although I greatly enjoyed The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, I was never able to get excited about Drown. It may be due to the fact that the main characters were so unsympathetic - in several instances their actions made we want to shout at them in anger and frustration. The book is well written, but somehow failed to draw me in as a reader.

For a first published work this is a wonderful collection of short fiction. It sometimes feels as though multiculturism is a literary fad as there are so many popular books released with collections of American fiction from the new arrival perspective. Much of it is good, Diaz is very good. These stories describing youthful experiences in both the Dominican Republic and urban New Jersey resonate with atmosphere and character.
They are not uniformly of the best quality. There are times when the stories feel less than fully developed but overall Diaz displays a great feel for setting and writes about people that draws the reader into their world , just possibly wishing there was more.
Look forward to reading his novel.

This book came highly recommended by an avid reader and author whom I greatly respect. We share the same passion for Tim O'Brien, Kurt Vonnegut, Chuck Palahniuk, Jack Kerouac, etc etc...

This is the worst thing I've ever read in my life. This "honest" "boldness" comes off cheesy and repetitive. This reads like Carlos Mencia re-writing John Leguizamo's first HBO special. This is infuriatingly bad.

I can't believe this drivel has such great reviews! I also don't see how sprinkling Spanish words among 5 sentences is anything creative or honest. There is no intelligence behind these words - just a regular story.

I get it - he had a tough life. Wow. Refreshing.

I can see him sitting down one night "Ay esse... I had a tough layhf, lemme write about eeeeeet"

Shut up.

This is a wonderful treasury of stories and pictures designed to keep young children amused and entertained. Gentle lessons in how to be polite and be a good member of a household are delivered with humor, questions to the reader, and brightly colored illustrations.

I used to read this book to my sister when she was very young for hours on end. My 2 1/2 year old son discovered it in our bedroom a few months ago, and now it has become, in his words, our special book, and we read from it night and day! It delights me that he enjoys it so much, and I enjoy reading it with him, and rediscovering my favorites.

This is a book I will likely be sending for Christmas gifts this year!

Love Richard Scarry, but the illustrations in this publication are a bit dull/faded. There is a lot of content here, but still I was disappointed by the faded look. I recommend Richad Scarry's 'I Am a Bunny' Board Book which has superior color and my baby loved it at 3 months! Her first favorite book!!!

I'm very glad to see this back in print, but there are at least a couple of changes between this and the 70's version. First and foremost, the story of Pierre Bear has been replaced with "Good Night Little Bear." I strongly suspect that it was to 'modernize and politically correct' the book. But, I do think that Good Night Little Bear is a better story all round, so no real complaints.
Also, some of the stories and nursery rhymes are a bit abbreviated. E.g. the kittens and the mittens, and for reasons I can not figure out, the illustrations are about 10% smaller than in the Best Nursery Rhyme book.

Also, for the I am a Bunny book, I certainly think it's worth getting the book itself. The unique format makes it really stand out, and the pictures fill the pages entirely, with no distracting empty space.

This book was one of my main teaching aids growing up; however, my child will need some time to understand Richard Scarry's concept (along with some of his other books as well) of combining several theories and objects on one page that can confuse a young or developmentally challenged child. Not saying that it's impossible, but would take time. I say let them get interested in colors and basic shapes first, then direct them to the pictures and start introducing them to what they are by definition. Not only are there definitions and body parts and other concepts, but short and concise stories too if you can capture your child's interest long enough to sit still to listen to your reading and place the story with the pictures in a concept that they understand. LLO'C

Parents who grew up with Richard Scarry's books and who are nostalgic about his wonderful characters may be somewhat disappointed with this book. Some stories are taken from the delightful Richard Scarry's busy world (which appears to be now out of print and only available used on amazon for $124). Apart from these, the other stories are in a style which is very different from the Richard Scarry's books which I grew up with.
Until they come out with a reprint of Richard Scarry's Busy world, I would recommend "What do people do all day", or "Funniest storybook ever", where you can find all the familiar characters such as the cat family, lowly worm etc.

This was my first introduction to O'Connor's work. Had I known how thoeoughly I would enjoy, I would have read her years ago. I grew up in the South and always thought I got a pretty good education. But I was never introduced to Flannery O'Connor's work. From the dark and stark nature of her unique characters, I suppose I can see why she might have been excluded. Her work shines a bright light on the flaws and foibles that make us human. She does not show the lovely views of gentle Southern living with mint julips on the veranda. She shows the frustrated rednecks and misfits of rural life. A truly excellent read.

Thomas Merton said of O'Connor that when he thought of her, he did not think of her in terms of her peers in contemporary fiction (i.e., Hemingway, Faulkner, Steinbeck) but rather, he thought of Sophocles or Aeschylus.

This compendium more than validates Merton's assessment -- after the American Empire passes, O'Connor's achievement will remain as its literary zenith. It's doubly strange, too, both for the form in which she specialized, and the content of the works. Americans (always poor judges of their own culture's worth) normally speak in terms of "The Great American Novel" --"The Naked and the Dead," "Ravelstein," "Moby Dick," "The Great Gatsby," even newcomers like "The Bonfire of the Vanities, ", "The Corrections" and "Infinite Jest" are mentioned as contenders for the title. And the content of most candidates for anything "great" or "American" must always involve wealth, splendor, orgiastic sex or consumption of some kind. O'Connor's characters, for all their supposed grotesquerie, are far less exaggerated or caricatured than any others in American fiction.

Furthermore, unlike the other authors mentioned above -- particularly unlike Tom Wolfe -- she was never in search of the "thousand-footed beast," that all-consuming rig veda of a novel. And yet, in her own, simple, steady way, she outpaces the Mailers and Franzens and their febrile journalism. O'Connor is the consummate artist craftsman, who sees her art for what it truly is -- "reason in making" -- who finds reason in the created world, and informs her creations with a parallel, answering reason. Her mental eye is unwavering, like the beam of a lighthouse -- it is always pointed at truth.

For that reason, O'Connor will probably never have the same popularity in this land of artifice and subterfuge that those others listed above will enjoy. History, nonetheless, will give her the laurels.

One does not read Flannery O' Connor for feel good endings. The characters feel incredibly real, in that their innate psychology is so easy to realte to. Whether it be the old man who lives vicariously through his granddaughter and tries to shape her to be just like him to the proud intellectual who gets outmaneuvered by a crooked Bible salesman, it's disturbing in the fact that you've felt some of the same feelings as some of the despicable people that populate her short stories.

The prose is incredible, and vividly shows that South in a time of rampant racism as well as transition to a more technological age. If there was one complaint, it would probably be that almost all of her stories have a tragic ending, and becomes a little predictable after a while. I consider myself pretty jaded, but a lot of the time it was cynicism for cynicism's sake, even if the underlying message spoke something all too true.

I suppose Flannery O'Connor has her own genre, and the reader gets it aplenty in The Complete Short Stories of Flannery O'Connor (550 pages of it). Even if you do not share her version of Thomistic philosophy, or care too much for the unique American southern fixation with exaggerated characterization, there is much to enjoy here. Some stories, like the heavily anthologized A Good Man is Hard to Find, is heavy handed and obvious. It is the less known stories where the punch is packed, like Enoch and the Gorilla and The Displaced Person. O'Connor has an uncanny way of making the obvious and banal evil; she takes the Catholic fixation on the fall of humanity and its need of redemption seriously, and in this collection the state of this state is unusual, exotic, page turning.

"Grace changes us, and change is painful."

O'Connor, a delicate Southern Catholic who lived a third of her life ravaged by lupus, was certainly acquainted with pain. Her stories reveal this much. Many readers and reviewers may wonder if she doesn't take a bit of artistic license with her definition of "grace," though. Considering her religious ideologies (which aren't hard to figure out, even after reading just one of these deliciously dark little tales), her unsubtle brutality isn't so unexpected. Look God directly in the face, the Bible says, and it completely and utterly destroys you.

It's safe to say that even if her characters don't always get an unobstructed view of their Creator, they all at least catch a glimpse. O'Connor is not shy about her beliefs, and in fact, her unswerving social sensibilities are part of what make her writing so delectable. Read closely, because every single detail is important and potent. And just like the Bible she adheres to so fervently, the endings to her stories are forecasted unapologetically by every word that comes before them.

This in no way ruins the power of those conclusions. Read a hundred interviews with a hundred writers, and I guarantee you that many of them will mention, as inspiration, "A Good Man Is Hard To Find." Sit down for twenty minutes with the hilarious and heart-breaking "River," and ask yourself if your foreknowledge didn't rob the final lines of their shuddering ferocity. Visit "A Displaced Person," meet "Enoch and the Gorilla," stay for awhile with "Greenleaf," and take a good long look at "A View of the Woods." You may find yourself wondering if there is any compassion and hope in O'Connor's world, but you'll never doubt that it is full of meaning, full of necessity, and full of heavenly fire.

There's a legitimate beef some may have with this collection. "O'Connor has written an amazing story," one of my friends once said. "I just don't know why she chose to write it thirty-one times." It's fair to say that O'Connor doesn't stray much from her predictably gruesome formula. But while her themes never change much (purification through fire, self-knowledge gained via self-destruction, and the immolations brought on by racism and doubt), her telling of them is so fine and so stark, the details themselves are what really showcase her writing's true brilliance and beauty.

This collection is arranged in chronological order, and it is part of the treat to see her ideas age as she does. Her final story, the aptly titled "Judgement Day" is a revision of her first story, "The Geranium." The differences between the two show most openly where O'Connor hides the hope and faith and love that many feel is missing from all the works between. O'Connor, like the God in which she believed, seems too ready to expose her characters to an amazing amount of pain and degredation. But if you look close enough, if you read every sentence carefully, you'll see that she makes necessary every sacrifice, every drop of blood, every harsh, scalding ray of sun. In an era now where authors tend to shock for shock's sake, O'Connor stands out as a timeless reminder that as senseless and vicious as life's stories may sometimes seem, there is still the chance that behind it all lies a deeper, knowable truth. That truth may come at some great costs, but, O'Connor seems to say, it is better to buy with your flesh something lasting and real, than to sell your soul for even a whole world of lies.