Fiction Literature Books

Wow, where did Yann Martel come from? This author has an extraordinary ability to use the English language to convey thought, emotion, and physical experiences in such a profound way. He turns words into music. The story is both gentle and shattering, both tragic and ecstatic, both carnal and spiritual. I felt as though I was having a firsthand experience right alongside the protagonist, Pi Patel, whose involuntary adventure is both uniquely original and subliminally familiar. I will remember this book fondly for many years to come.

Sometimes a reader is graced with what I like to call:

The right book at the right time.

LIFE OF PI is that book.

If you are in the appetite for a plot driven tale of survival you will find that here.

And if you hunger for a spiritual journey revealing the inner workings of human nature... that's also available at this banquet of fiction.

I read a few reviews of LIFE OF PI... and I am thinking that some of the reviewers did not read the whole book.

Truly.

What a shame.

I love books like this one.

You are taken on a journey, you enter the world of the author, and putting the book down is difficult because you do not want to leave that world.

And the best is yet to come...

I found this to be one of those books that changed me.

His words resonated in my soul.

In a few sentences, Martel gave voice to things I sensed in my life, but could not place into words.

When we read for something beyond mere entertainment...

isn't that what we hunger for?

A chance to see life from a new point of view.

To feel renewed.

A book that will follow you after you have finished it.

A book that MUST stay with you on your bookshelf.

LIFE OF PI is my silent friend now, on a shelf of honor in my book collection.

A new friend who will be there with me on this life's journey...

ready to speak to my heart any time I lift it from the shelf, open the pages, and invite the author to speak to me, yet again.

***********************************************


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Yann Martel

Here is an excellent resource about the birth of this novel written by Yann Martel (and just fascinating in general to any writer about the process of preparing oneself to create a work of fiction). If you plan on reading LIFE OF PI, read the author's notes AFTER completing the book:

http://www.powells.com/fromtheauthor/martel.html

This is a totally different kind of book than I've ever read. As many others have said, this book is written in three parts.

Part One is explaining how the author came upon the story and the childhood of the main character. It gives you insights into Pi Patels life that help you understand the rest of the book. This part is interesting and is helpful in setting up part two.

Part Two tells us how he and his family are on a cargo ship that sinks and he ends up a lone human in a boat with a Bengal tiger, a hyena, an orangatan and a zebra with a broken leg. After the hyena has attacked the zebra and the orangatan, the tiger attacks the hyena. The rest is an adventure of how this teenage boy survives 227 floating in the ocean. Though I must admit parts of this section does tend to drag on, it is not too horrible to keep reading. Especially since you are dying to know how it ends.

Part three offers a second more probable story, that makes you rethink the whole book and will leave you thinking about the book long after you are finished and searching for anyone who has also read it so you can discuss it with them.

This is a great book to read in a book club (and I highly suggest it.) As for it making you believe in God, that is up to the reader to decided!

This is really an amazing story! Completely original in its plot and all the characters on it.... Its really 3 books into 1, the first part being very funny and adorable, the second part being the most amazing experience a human can have at sea... with a TIGER (no more explanation needed)! And then the end, where you are challenged to rethink the whole book, and its up to you in what you believe or want to believe in the end, and maybe that is the 'message' that lingers on after you've finished it.

I remember when I watched the movie 12 monkeys, that in the end you start 'reviewing' the whole movie because you understand that is something completely different, so in a way it was 2 movies in 1. The same happened with The Life of Pi.... I had to re-think everything to make a second interpretation of what I had really read on the first place.

I could not finish it. I did not like the narrative at all. It was slow and just lost me after about 50 pages...

If you are not sure, please check out the book from a library so that you do not waste your money on this book. I regret paying 10 bucks on it...

My daughter really liked this book. I didn't read it so I can't say too much more than that.

I had to add my two cents here. I see all of these reviews from kids or people who bought the book for a kid. I am 25 and am collecting the entire series. These books are beautifully done, informational and just plain fun to read and look through. Anyone with interest in mythology, literature and history would adore this series. It is attention getting for the young, but it is also academic enough for the adults. They are not patronizing or low leveled that would steer adult readers away. The tongue-in-cheek approach of the advertising inside can relegate the book to the younger crowd, but adults-you too can LOVE this book!

My four grandsons are crazy about dragons and can tell you anything and everything about them.So, I knew that this book had to be the one I wanted for them.

My friend bought me this book for my birthday and it was the best gift I recieved. I have always loved dragons and this book provides information on the different types, their habitats, and lots more. I loved the little extras like the dragon scales and the packets of dragon dust and even my four year old loved to look at the beautiful illustrations. This book is perfect for anyone who is fascinated by these mythical creatures.

This book was well worth the buy.
I purchased this book as a gift. The recipient was 7.
Most of the book is still a little much for her yet, but she was beyond excited just the same. There was some that she thinks is interesting now, but as she gets older, there will be so much more for explore in the book. After going through the entire book, you have to remind yourself that dragons truly aren't real!

If you want a new slant on this classic novel, read 'The Ripper Code' by Thomas Toughill. This is the book which reveals that Oscar Wilde was blackballed by the Oxford Union.

There isn't much to say about Wilde's masterpiece that hasn't been said already. Filled with deliciously witty, catty wordplay and bon mots from a day where banter was highly valued, Wilde was skillfully adept at scrutinizing society and all of its flaws. The Picture of Dorian Gray is tragically ahead of its time, its philosophies on aestheticism and art are still relevant today - and will most likely always be. There were a few downsides (as I said, very few), including some dense chapters expelling the virtues, of well, non-virtue. Wilde would swiftly make up for these with delightful conversations taken straight out of the parlors of the age in which he lived. While some of them felt contrived, Dorian's slow decay into hedonism is wonderfully depicted, and the haunting last paragraph of the novel will stick with every reader. The theses the author conveys are spellbinding and dead-on, and the descriptions colored with imagery and allusions referencing Shakespeare and mythology are vivid. Wilde makes one question their own limits and passions, and engages the reader into being an active participant in life and reading.

I would give this 5 stars but its message has been repeated so frequently that it is hardly worth hearing again. In spite of that criticism the characters are interesting enough that it is definitely worth reading

Wilde sees the world more clearly than any writer of fiction in the last century. It is for that reason that his work is so filled with countless paradoxes and contradictions that challenge the mind and titillate the senses. Wilde lived in an infinitely ironic age, when society had grown so influential as to crowd out the individuals that made it up. Today, we have taken for granted this incongruity and so our writers cannot express the kind of irony that Wilde mastered, despite the fact that we all know that something is amiss.

`The Picture of Dorian Gray' is filled with this irony. The plot shows us the ultimate irony of a man giving up his soul for the beauty of youth--the condition that is exalted in the modern age above all else, intellect, truth, justice, life itself. Interspersed are dialogues and epigrams that persist one hundred years later as some of the finest word handling ever recorded. Even a few samples should compel the potential reader:

"The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about."

"Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter."

"A man cannot be too careful in his choice for his enemies."

"The only difference between a caprice and a life-long passion is that the caprice lasts a little bit longer."

"Men marry because they are tired, women marry because they are curious. Both are disappointed."

"I love acting, it is so much more real than life."

- "I am on the side of the Trojans, they fought for a woman."
- "They were defeated."

The mastery of wit that Wilde displays must be seen in its context. He was a decadent as much as the characters he portrays are. Ultimately, the disillusion that the decadent faces comes through in the story and the reader is left with a very uneasy feeling upon completing `Dorian Gray.' Is life as absurd as it seems? Is there a solution? Or are we stuck with a life of paradox? Perhaps our current period of decadence will show us an alternative. Until it does, we can enjoy the astounding word play offered here.

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.

On the Road is an amazing book in many ways. It is remarkable in that it doesn't have a plot, so much as events which don't have much in the way of interconnectedness. On the Road is a book of people and places, showing Kerouac's love for travel and his skill for making memorable and dynamic characters. Despite this lack of plot, On the Road is an interesting book, owing to the memorable characters which inhabit it. It is the erratic actions of these characters which drive the book forward, and create the most meaningful moments in the book.

I found some parts of the book to be slightly dull and lacking energy. Because of the lack of interconnectedness, I felt that some parts of the book lacked relevance, but to anyone who has this problem, I recommend that they continue on to the end, because Kerouac saves his greatest gem of pure lonesome beauty for the last two pages in a section which is impossible to disappoint.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever wanted to travel independently, without a plan, escort, or money. It is a book which will be loved by some and hated by others; it has the greatest chance of appreciation by those who would be willing to hitchhike or sleep in public places.

In addition to the story itself, the Introduction by Ann Charters is an insightful look at the influences on Kerouac and the atmosphere of the times he lived and wrote in.

Call it being kind of modernized, but how can anyone follow this book? The writing doesn't flow naturally. It's like a bad fanfiction.

This book is special to me, as I live in the city and drink in the bar where Kerouac once graced with his presence. I read this book in the thick of the semester so it took me longer than usual to finish, but it was by far the best novel I have ever read. You will learn in the forward by Ann Charters that Kerouac spent seven years "on the road" but took only three weeks to type the preliminary version of his novel. Kerouac was an alcoholic and part-time dope-fiend, which I strongly feel contributed to his excellent writing ability. I've read the book two more times since I bought it.

Oftentimes I've heard so much about a writer's amazing talent only to be disappointed when I get around to reading his/her work. Ayn Rand falls into this category to a degree and Bukowski falls all the way into it--but not Kerouac.

I don't know if Jack captured the heartbeat of a generation. I don't know if Jack motivated even one person to actually get "on the road". I do know that this is a book written with the skill of a master storyteller. Jack didn't try to convince you of anything--the philosophy contained in On the Road was haphazard and disjointed. What he did was simply tell a story that reads like prose poetry--or maybe it reads like jazz put to words. Simply put, it is just a joy to read this novel because it tells a story in a way that draws you in and lets you live it as well.

You may never actually get in your car and drive to the end of the road but this is the next best thing.

I've tried to read this book at three different points in my life. I read it again recently, thinking that I was too young to get it when I read it as a teenager and that this time around it would make sense. I still can't stand this book. Basically it's a bunch of drug-using, abusive, adulterous, self-centered, arrogant, pseudo-intellectual eggheaded jerks trying to freeload as much as they can with no regard to anyone or anything but themselves. No wonder this book was so popular with rock stars. If the American Dream is indeed what this book purports it to be, no wonder this country is so messed up.

I absolutely loved this book. I had to read it for my class, but I wanted to read it again the second I got done. It was the first book that I read that I got emotional about. I really recommend this book.

my book came today, and it looked perfect EXCEPT the top right corner had signs of wear and possible usage. Along the whole top on the back half, it's black and some of the pages are worn down like maybe it touched a sander for a second. Overall great book great shipping, just slight damage!

This book was amongst one of the very best books i have ever read. I honestly must say this books looks so well into the boys lives. The Choosen is amazingly insightful and Chaim Potok just has an amazing way with words. If you're looking for a book that will keep you drawn into the story, this is it. You will want to read it a million times.

The Chosen is a book that will, not only produce a full, rich, exhilarating experience, but stays with you for quite some time. There can be no doubt that this book, along with its author have reached the pinnacle of the literary world and achieved what few books can: Masterpiece. The book is set in Brooklyn and the premis is of two young boys who have traveled very different roads, who have seen life through very different views, come together at a baseball game where these two unlikely souls form a close friendship that lasts a life-time and shapes their path toward manhood. The time is set just prior to WWII and Reuven and Danny are Orthodox Jews who will capture your hearts as Chaim Potok pens his masterpiece. This is definetly one book that should find a home on everyone's must read list.

Amazon displays links, editorial descriptions and user reviews for the actual mass market paperback on the web page for the Bloom's Guide. Basically, the Amazon web page for the Bloom's Guide is selling Harold Bloom's in-depth, college level analysis of the book, not the book itself.

Yet, the identical information shown on this product page is displayed on the mass market Chaim Potok book pages - there is no distinction that these are two different books.

This was very misleading to my 15 year old high school student who needed the actual book for a school assignment and we purchased the Bloom version by accident. Bloom's analysis is of no use to her as it is over her head and won't help her achieve what her assignment entails.

Very disappointed in Amazon - I hope they fix this.

This is the first magic school bus book we got. It is written for 4-5 years and up to 3rd grade. I was expeting it to read easier, but got use to it and enjoyued it. There are lots of bubbles or boxes on each page. They all have very intersting tidbits & information, but is is hard to know what to read first. Good intro to the solar system, although they are drawings and no pictures. Also, note that Pluto is no longer classified as a planet as it says in the book!

This book came out when I was pretty young, and it got me interested in astronomy since the age of five. Now planetary science is my career, and I put that down in part to the influence this book had on me as a kid! :)

the magic school bus get lost in space is a very good book read it all the time you will love it

All the magic school bus books are fantastic. This one is no different.
It is great for learning about the solar system.

My 5yr old son is a huge fan of Magic School Bus series.
Especially, Solat system and human body are his favorite among them.
He memorizes the order of all the plantes in the Solar system. Draw pictures about it and make planets with playdough. Great book!

Charlie Gordon is a mentally retarded man. He doesn't realize how broad life can be. Working in Donner's Bakery is all Charlie knows. When Charlie is chosen as the first, along with a mouse named Algernon, to have an operation to increase hi IQ, his eyes open wider to see that life is as big as you make it. He learns all about the world and his scarring childhood.
Charlie soon learns that he is surrounded by narcissistic people, and even though it was Charlie who had made a breakthrough, those people were still going to take credit for his newfound purpose. So Charlie decides to go out on his own in New York City, housing Algernon. His IQ becomes high, but emotionally Charlie is trailing behind.
When his IQ reaches to a level that is above those who taught him, Charlie ends up isolating himself. While Charlie becomes one of the smartest men in New York, he still isn't wise enough to see life outside of his own little window. But what will become of Charlie when it's time to hand his body back to the original Charlie Gordon?
Charlie experiences all of growing up, getting out on your own, experimenting with your sexuality, finding out who you are, dealing with incompetence, and finding it in yourself. Charlie must learn who he is before his hourglass empties.
Flowers for Algernon is a fabulous book. One to five, I give this book a six. It is recommended for anyone and everyone over the age of 12, because there are some explicit scenes. This book taught me what it's like to be an outcast, and in a quick changing environment. Also, I learned that who you are, is who you are. You can't change that, so don't even try. Daniel Keys is phenomenal at describing each scene. You'll think you're sitting in the laboratory or on Charlie's couch the entire time! Flowers for Algernon is good for both educational reading, and it's great for pleasure.

I read this book as required reading the the 8th grade and I never did stop loving it. My classmates loved it too but to be fair, a lot of them wouldn't reread it.

So when I came to Amazon, I was overjoyed that Flowers for Algernon received so many 5 stars. But at the same time, I was incensed that there were actually people who hated it. I know everyone's entitled to their opinions so I decided not to judge them till I understood why they hated the book.

Apparently, the biggest beef they had with the story was that it "didn't have enough action." WHAT THE HECK. This book is not meant to be an adventure story where the suddenly smart protagonist is going to become a superhero and beat up villans. It shows the raw emotions of Charlie and how the people around him are like. It shows the ordinary, mundane, every day life of a normal man, depsite his unusual circumstances. People, even if something big happened in your life, you'd eventually get used to or over it and spend your days doing the same things. That's what the story's like.

And another thing - the sexual confusion is natural. After becoming more intelligent, the protagonist is of course going to experience the emotions he didn't during puberty.

Also, many of the reviews seemed to be written by kids who just resented the fact that they had been required to read it. Who'd rather play video games or read "great" literature such as Breaking Dawn (which has way more sexual content, to no one's surprise).

There, rant over.

It was a provocative and well written book. Both my teens also read and enjoyed it. I cringed at the look into how society treats mentally challenged individuals. The main characters have to make incredibly difficult and thought provoking choices. I cried at the end. It is short but has enough meat to be a great book club choice.

For the longest time I believed this was the worst book ever. After reading A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, I now realize it is the second worst book ever written. In both stories, nothing happens that is worth mentioning. It's just that kind of book that is critically acclaimed for how well it is written. However, the story is poor. I wrote better stories when I was in first grade.

Basically, things happen in chronological order as they would in real life. However, they are not connected. It's true that in real life not everything is connected. However, if I wanted to experience real life, I wouldn't read it, I would live it. The point of a book should be to tell an interesting story. That is not what this book does.

"Norma Screamed at her: "Mother! Put down that knife!" Seeing Rose standing there with the knife brought back a picture of that night when she had Matt take me away. She was reliving that now. I couldn't speak or move. The nausea swept over me now, the choking tension, the buzzing in my ears, my stomach knotting and stretching as if it wanted to tear itself out of my body. She had a knife, Alice had a knife, and my father had a knife and Dr. Strauss had a knife..."

The book Flowers for Algernon a science fiction novel by Daniel Keys is very intriguing, it begun with the surgery of 32 year old Charlie Gordan. Charlie lives in the suburbs of New York in the 1960's and is mentally challenged adult. With an IQ of 68 the surgery is meant to increase his intelligence by and almost triple his IQ. Once Charlie and his doctors notice a change in Algernon the lab rat who first had the operation they wonder if the same complications could turn up in Charlie. Will Charlie's IQ continue to sky rocket or will everything go very wrong? Could this hurt his relationship with the women he loves? Read FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON to find out!

I think that this story was so meaningful because of the strongly implied theme. That theme was that scientific advancement was not always positive. Scientist should realize that advancements are not always the best for human-kind and they don't have the right to change fate. Personally I strongly enjoyed this novel because it states a belief that I value. Science advancement I was delighted by this novel and think that anyone looking for an interesting book that changes the way you think about yourself, others and the world, then this would be a great book for you.

I tried twice and both times was foiled by it's monotony. It needed thinning / weeding out. It was like a slow train ride across a desert with the occasional oasis.

If I ever make it to the used book store I'll see if I can find a different title by Stegner and try again.

I read Angle of Repose many years ago for the first time, and was astounded then as now by its power. Stegner continues to be one of the least recognized of our great American novelsits. Angle of Repose and Crossing to Safety are masterpieces that should be on everyone's list.

I enjoyed this long, ambitious book. It has a lot of the characteristics of a romance novel, but it is a great deal more than that. The author is dealing with bigger themes within the context of fiction. I liked the changes between contemporary times, (1970 to be specific) and the pioneer times. Reading the book in 2008, you realize that what was contemporary when the book was published is now historical and it provides the reader with a different experience than readers in 1971 had. The book is long, but the technique of first person narration from the main character's point of view, the main character's version of his grandmother's life, as well as letters the grandmother wrote break up the novel. I hope I'm not giving too much away when I say this book might be subtitled "A Series of Unfortunate Events." Things don't seem to work out for these people and it is up to the reader to determine exactly why. I was particularly enthralled by the parts that took place in real locations like Leadville, that I could locate on a map. Every reader might not be drawn into this novel, but I was intrigued by it.

When I began reading this book I had a difficult time getting into it. I am happy I pushed myself past the first 100 pages. Angle of Repose is without hesitation my favorite classic. It's no mistake it is considered one of the best books of the century. The end of the book took me by surprise and reduced me to tears.

...the false arch may be as much as one can expect in this life." Stegner summation of his novel's themes contains this essential sentence. Two lines, leaning against each other, without the uniting keystone, form their own angle of repose, a term derived from geology and mining, but as he says, has it own meaning when applied to human relations. Repose which is an acceptance of our fate.

There are several themes that Stegner skillfully handles throughout the book. The central one is certainly the relationship of one man with one woman. An ill-starred marriage of a woman with deep roots in the East, pretensions to, and accomplishments in their high society to a laconic man whose work is of the West, mining and irrigation. The story is told from the viewpoint of their curmudgeonly grandson, who at 58, as a cripple with deteriorating health requiring much care, and has therefore earned his ill-tempered outlook "honestly." He is reconstructing their grandparent's story via letters that the grandmother had written to her best friend "back East." As the story unfolds, we also learn that an aspect of the grandfather's fate with women is reflected in the grandson's fate.

The story is told against the vast panorama that is the West as the frontier draws to a close. The background is a realistic one, not the fables of Hollywood, as the family moves from California to Colorado to Idaho, with a detour via Mexico. Hard economic conditions are their constant accompaniment, along with the hope for amelioration via meaningful work. One of the sub-themes is the whimsy of Eastern capital which can make or break the efforts in the development of the West. Other components serve to authentic the experience, including the majesty of the land itself, Chinese and Mexican immigrant labor, the Powell survey, and the necessitated obsession with water. Stegner knows his science, medicine and geology, and the reader is treated not only the basis for the title to the book, but also the "Doppler effect," which Stegner says has its human applications; the diseases and accidents of the time, along with childbirth, and the physical aspects of both mining and irrigation.

Stegner alternates the late 19th Century story with the life of the grandson, "threatened" by an "old folk's home" in Menlo Park, at the beginning of the `70's. The grandson, Lyman Ward, is clearly hostile to the social changes of the `60's, expressing a preference for the social morals of the Victorian era. Stegner however uses Ward's temporary assistant, Shelly, a student at UC Berkeley, as an effective foil for many of his opinions. Lyman is alienated from his own son also.

All the major, as well as many of the minor characters, are flawed, but Stegner tells their stories with much empathy for the human condition. His prose is wonderfully fresh. The story (ies) are revealed with just the right touch of "dramatic tension."

I was surprised by the comments of some of the other reviewers, who thought Stegner too verbose, or even boring! Clearly it is not a "quick, fun read", and thus not for everyone, but with his skills he could easily have continued for another 200 pages before exhausting his themes or my interest.

At the end it is impossible not to hope that he would, indeed, be a bigger man than his grandfather, breaking that endless cycle of "Plus ca change...."

Angle of Repose is an essential American novel.

It's seldom that I root for the evildoer of a novel or movie, but Dostoyevsky definitely had me doing it with "Crime and Punishment". Early in the novel, impoverished student Raskolnikov murders two innocent older women in order to make a quick buck (and also for deeper reasons revealed later in the novel). We then accompany Raskolnikov through the tumultuous aftermath, during which his feelings towards his evil deed revolve between complete indifference, intense guilt, and a rational desire to hide from the law. A formal investigation by the city, led by the effusive and enigmatic detective Porfiry Petrovich, comprises much of the novel.

It's interesting that by a couple hundred pages following the murders, I'd begun to stop thinking of Raskolnikov as an evildoer but rather as someone who was simply insane half the time. At some point I began to sympathize with him and by the end of the novel I was positively rooting for him to escape apprehension and punishment. This is a testament to Dostoyevsky's skill at rendering his characters' thoughts and beliefs so well that the reader internalizes them to some degree.

I found the Penguin edition translated by David McDuff to be very readable, not stilted at all like I'd heard that many translations of Dostoyevsky into English can be. In addition to many humorous turns of phrase that came through fine in the translation, dialogue in general seemed to flow naturally. The sense of oppressive gloom so prevalent in Dostoyevsky's works seemed to also be faithfully replicated by McDuff, as was Dostoyevsky's detached matter-of-fact style of narration. Of course, it's difficult to remain cheerful when reading about murder and people driven to desperate measures because of the abject poverty they're in.

A must read for fans of serious fiction prepared to step away from the lighthearted for a while!

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!

The novel is a very good one, and compared to the crap that passes as literature these days it is a classic, however, it is not a great piece of literature. The book has too many manifest flaws, such as being far too long, far too `talky', and most of all, aside from the belief that it's a `Christian tract', the biggest misread of the book is that it is somehow a work of `social realism'. Nothing could be less true- it is primarily a work of symbolism. This is evident from its title, as the very punishment referred to is not that of the legal variety, but that of internal guilt. Yes, when it was first published, in pre-Freudian 1866, it may have seemed a work of psychological depth, but even compared to the fiction of Anton Chekhov, just a few decades later, it is utterly Neolithic in its approach to the human psyche....If Dostoevsky's novel can be considered great, by some, it is not because of the things he intended within it that manifest its greatness, but that which was unwitting, and beyond him at the time, such as the real key to understanding the work, its great insight, that people do not change at a fundamental level. I was recently watching the Up documentary film series, by Michael Apted, on DVD, and those films are premised on the very notion that Crime And Punishment is, the Jesuit saying of `Give me the child till he is seven, and I shall give you the man.' We do not glimpse Raskolnikov at seven, but given what we know becomes of him it is not difficult to extrapolate that he was as amoral then as his twentysomething self appears in the book. If Dostoevsky intended this work to be an allegory on Christianity's redemptive power he clearly failed, so I posit that that was not his intent at all, and that the psychological and ethical stasis of most human beings was his major theme.

Regardless, the book is not a great piece of art. It contains great moments, some brilliant writing, and is a very good work of art, however primitive, but it is certainly not great. A modern reader can simply not ignore all its manifest flaws, such as the awkward and heavy-handed symbolism, the stilted and unrealistic dialogue, which reinforces the truth of the characters' symbolism, as it veers between mawkishness during some of the death scenes and Raskolnikov's several confession scenes, and preachiness in many of the philosophical engagements.
Another problem with the work, one not in the actual work, but in its willful misinterpretation by critics with axes to grind, is that, aside from the confusion over the literary value of the work, all the poor theories regarding psychology and the fundaments of criminality have somehow found their way into pop culture, and done much to lead people astray in their ideas of true good and evil. Yet, the many fundamental questions that Raskolnikov deals with are never directly addressed, and are only used as a flawed premise for the main action of the novel to go off on. Raskolnikov ponders why those who have power or mass murder in war are labeled heroes, gain fame and respect, have paeans and monuments made for them while the low born, who have to struggle with and against each other, are jailed if they kill. In Part Five, Chapter Four, he rationalizes not confessing to the murders by using this defense: `What wrong have I done them? Why should I go to them? What should I say to them? That's only a phantom....They destroy men by millions themselves and look on it as a virtue. They are knaves and scoundrels, Sonia! I am not going to them. And what should I say to them- that I murdered her, but did not dare to take the money and hid it under a stone?' he added with a bitter smile. `Why, they would laugh at me, and would call me a fool for not getting it. A coward and a fool! They wouldn't understand and they don't deserve to understand. Why should I go to them?' This is a philosophically legitimate point, yet, instead of plumbing this, and applying it to the social caste he exists within, Raskolnikov flies off into mere pop sociological dementia with his ideas on supermen and exceptionalism, never realizing that exceptionalism in one or two fields, no matter how exceeding, brilliant, nor gifted, does not imply any sort of reciprocal ethical exceptionalism.

Yet, throughout the book, despite moments of brilliance, whenever Dostoevsky gets too close to the core, the nub of what the book is really about, he backs away. Whether because he lacked the answer or lacked the desire to deal with its clash with his own belief systems I do not know. But it is a flaw, and one that results in banal and bland sermonizing, such as that which ends the book in a very trite Hollywood film fashion:



He did not know that the new life would not be given him for nothing, that he would have to pay dearly for it, that it would cost him great striving, great suffering.

But that is the beginning of a new story- the story of the gradual renewal of a man, the story of his gradual regeneration, of his passing from one world into another, of his initiation into a new unknown life. That might be the subject of a new story, but our present story is ended.



To end, Crime And Punishment is certainly a milestone work in the development of both Dostoevsky and the art of the novel, but a work's cultural or artistic import is not equivalent to its artistic excellence. Therefore, while it may be a great representation of its time, artistically and culturally, it is not a great book- neither as a social tract nor as a novel. It reads more like a mid-stage version of better models to come, which is exactly what it really is. The very fact that such gross misreadings of it has taken root is a testament to the laziness of most readers, and the unwillingness of most to think for themselves. It is this problem with readers, their own anomic stasis, writ into the larger society, that Dostoevsky actually deals with. Raskolnikov, however, still smiles.

I was truly pleasingly surprised when I received this book. It was much more than I expected for the price I paid. It is definitely a book I will pass down to my children.

This was a gift so I didn't read it, but the recipients of the book were delighted with it. The cover was beautiful and would make an excellent coffee table book. The delivery was speedy.

I grew up reading Martin Gardner in Scientific American, and although I didn't get interested in Lewis Carroll until I saw the original "Alice" manuscript in a display at the British Library, I've been a fan of children's stories all my life. Having Gardner expound Carroll is (dare I say it?) pure genius. I have a number of annotated works, but I think this is the only one where the notations come close to outweighing the actual text being explained. That goes to show not only how deep the rabbit hole goes, but how much deeper someone like Gardner can dig, and how many rewards can be granted by the author who invites his readers to dig deeper. As I've noted in my other reviews of these annotated works, this one is very attractive on the shelf, easy on the eyes, and thoroughly enjoyable. Pick this up and start throwing out expressions, like, "If you don't jabberwock, I'l smack you in the lobster quadrille!"

If you really want to go beyond the "children's story" side of "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There", this is an excellent resource. With the help of the notes, the "nonsense" of this tale makes more sense. And you get all that along with reproductions of John Tenniel's fantastic illustrations, including a section in the back with his preparatory pencil sketches. Buy it, and smile like the Cheshire Cat.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, along with its sequel, Through the Looking Glass and what Alice found there, where done by a person ahead of his time. His name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, pen name, Lewis Carroll.
Both are in this modified annotated version combined with the original illustrations by John Tenniel, but not only that, also have the suppressed episode "The Wasp in a wig" in Through the looking glass. Intended for children, this particular book will delight adults as well because it has annotations and information making this even more enjoyable. The information and comments given mostly by Carroll's biographers/scholars/researchers help you understand the meanings behind the puns, word plays, poems, conversation and situations going on behind Carroll's mind (though nobody knows in fact the purpose of the author's intentions, but the annotations or comments were made by hard research or extracted from the author's original manuscript, so they are quite accurate). Mind that this is very useful because most of AAIW and TTLG were made from private jokes, puns, word plays and Victorian manners that not all people knows about. Some were made for England native people, and even further, only friends and collegues of Carroll can understand them. This books are the essence of imagination and fantasy, opening doors to a LOT of authors that in some way or the other included in their works some of Carroll's ideas/themes... so having explanations alongside the story will definately help you to have a better grasp of such masterpiece that had transcended over the centuries.
This book is the one to go, unless another updated version comes along. It has everything you want... both books included with explanations and Tenniel's illustrations... it can't get better than that! :-).
Oh!... btw... handle with care. The book is a bit fragile, specially the dust cover jacket.

~ Life, what is it but a dream~