Fiction Literature Books

The book was very insightful. Matter of fact I reread it again because I enjoyed it so much.

Nell Stark GREAT JOB!.

I was delighted by this book, the second I've read from this author, and would possibly give it 4-1/2 stars. She has a definite talent at creating vivid, three-dimensional characters with clear motivations, then sticking to the rules of their psychologies as she explores the depths of their emotions. In this book she deftly wove stresses and challenges of being a college student with that of managing the drama of friends, roommates and family. The book operates on many emotional levels, from the very personal, internal journey that Sarah is on to overcome the natural fear and hesitancies that being thrown out by her family and dumped by her girlfriend cause, to the slightly larger world of the Rhode Island college campus and the student organizations Sarah joins, to the national political scale, as Sarah works with the Free Rhode Island group to prevent a proposition to define marriage as between one man and one woman, as well as prevent any civil unions, from passing.

Sarah is the emotional center of the book, with everything revolving around her and her earnest attempts to make the world a good place for herself and her friends, including a documentary Rory is making for a film class, but Rory provides an able foil, both contrasting with Sarah and complementing her as they form a bond that transcends either friendship or lust. And there are many other supporting characters as well, all well-drawn, who impact the story in meaningful ways.

This author creates compelling characters with a story to tell, who stand out as individuals, and ultimately triumph by leaning on one another. She captures both the uncomfortable and often thrilling sides of discovery one lives through in college. I would definitely recommend this book, well-paced, well-plotted, taking on some timely political issues in a personal way, but ultimately being a touching romance, and look forward to more from this author in the future.

I found this translation eminently readable. While I agree that the use of endnotes rather than footnotes leads to inefficient turning of pages, the substantive content of the notes added a great deal of context to the translation as a whole and made for an enjoyable and educational read.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3G8H2WCBZ1009 The Histories (Penguin Classics)

This book is required for anyone interested in historiography or history generally. I will keep my comments brief:

1. One of the first known writing of history.
2. A comprehensive study of the then known world (though there are errors and problems in it).
3. All scholars of history have to read it.
4. All scholars of the ancient world have to read it.
5. Want to study the ancient world? - You must read this book.
6. Want to study the history of Western or world civilization? - You must read this book.

These are my opinions. Having said the foregoing, like most any work of history, there are errors in it, and it also has a mythological outlook (action or agency by the gods), and other flaws. See my review of Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides corrected some of the "errors" of Herodotus' outlook on how historical events are influenced by unseen agents (like gods). If you are studying how history was written over time, you should start with Herodotus. I do not believe his work is excellent from an historical-fact point of view. It is however instructive on historical methods used at the time - at least used by him - who is known as the "father of history," and as the base starting point when studying the evolution of how human history is written, and has improved over time. If you have to choose between reading Herodotus and Thucydides, read Thucydides.

`After the capture of Babylon, Darius invaded Scythia.' Thus commences book four of the Histories, and if these are the kind of words that set your pulse racing, your eyes going all dreamy, this book is for you.

The ancient Greek historian's famous opus has an impressive geographical and chronological spread, and this, together with its precedence over most recovered documents of its type, explains why it is regarded as so important. Herodotus relates over a century of Persian expansion, including the Egyptian and other conquests, from about 600 BC, and of Persian conflict with the Greeks, culminating in his compatriots' victories at Salamis and Platea. As it is explained in the notes and introduction, much of his account has been reaffirmed by modern historical and archaeological research, some of it over earlier condemnations, though much is also being questioned.

Indeed, intriguingly, this rings both as history as we understand it and as something else. Herodotus explicitly aims to make an objective and truthful account, unlike other chroniclers of antiquity (for example Egyptian) driven by religious, political or artistic imperatives. He traces facts to sources and steps back when sources conflict. This is familiar. But in other ways, his book is from a culture very distant from ours. Herodotus believes in oracles, in the premonitory value of dreams. It doesn't shock him that a queen might give birth to a lion, or a god strike down an army to protect a sanctuary. Hubris is always punished, and disregard for the warnings of fate, or the desecration of temples. And descriptions are inflated for effect. For example, Herodotus has five million Persian subjects crossing the Hellespont; this probably exceeded the adult male population of the Persian empire, and modern historians have the number at 100,000 to 200,000. In many ways, the Histories are myth, epic, as much as history, and they probably tell us as much about the ancient Greeks and their beliefs as about what happened in the Persian wars.

I always loved history in school, so it seems a bit strange that I'm finally coming back to read some actual documents that were written in the time periods I'm interested in. I picked up this version of "The Histories" at a museum, after spending the day looking at ancient Greek and Roman artifacts. I didn't really know what to expect.

What I discovered was a grand set of stories about different cultures in the ancient world. I wasn't expecting to delve into the folk lore of Egypt, the kingdoms of the Scythians, or the creation of the Persian Empire. I did get more of what I expected as well: stories of the Greek city states banding together to face the Persians, and the causes of this epic conflict. On top of all that, I also got a bunch of mythic stories, tales of oracles, even a bit of information about Heracles that I was never privy too. Herodotus takes many different elements that would be outside of a modern history and weaves them all together and in a compelling fashion. The block of history he chooses to examine is also presented in a way to fits his thematic ideas of destiny, conflict and hubris. His stories illustrate his views and inform at the same time.

Of course as a modern reader, I began to seriously doubt some of his claims (even without the notes). But I soon got over the idea of reading a true history. After all, what history written by any person could be "true"? As long as a writer has a perspective, there will always be bias in the writing. Instead, I enjoyed the stories that were being told.

This version of the book includes a clean and easy to read translation by Aubrey De Selincourt. In addition there is an excellent introduction by John Marincola that explains a bit about Herodotus and points out some of the themes of the work. There are extensive notes at the end of the book, which will require at least two bookmarks (one for the place you are reading and one for your spot in the notes). These notes give a bit more information either provided by modern authors, later ancient authors, or archeological evidence. There is an extensive list of books for additional reading, a time line of events covered in the book, a list of the kings of key countries, a glossary, a table of monetary values and four maps. The maps are very helpful, but not as detailed as I wish they could be. The notes often point out other books with more detailed maps (especially of battle sites).

All in all, this was a great book for a first time reader of ancient history by an ancient historian. I definitely recommend this edition to anyone looking to jump into ancient Greek history. Just know going in that this is Herodotus' version of events.

The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain is fun to read and see what a master has had to quip about many daily things. It is always fun to see what Twain has to say. Dover makes very afforadble little books so we all can read the classics for less.

Not only is the book small, somewhere between a pack of smokes and a wallet only thinner, it really doesn't capture the wordsmithing Twain was noted for. Damn shame attempt at revenue generation.

This book of quotations contains many observations dressed with great wit, humor and smarts that perhaps many can relate, but very few can put into words as only Twain can.

Great for a coffee table book. It is full of the character of Mark Twain.

The book contains Mark Twain's wit.

It was much smaller than I expected.

Early readers, slightly advanced readers, this fairly short book is interesting and informative. If your kid needs to grasp history a little better, this is a book to look at. It's done in a way that kids enjoy and actually pay attention to. Worth the money, easily.

Hi!:) This book is nice and informative without being too long and boring. It will most likely appeal to children around 5 or 6 through about 9 or 10. After that, they may want to read another, more in depth biography about this remarkable and fearless sailor and explorer.
The illustrations are realistic and well done.
I, as a parent, felt that the ending was a bit weak, but children will certainly gain a better understanding and clearer picture of the explorer, and his sacrifices, upon reading this book. Wording is simple and uncomplicated. A step 2 book.
Good information, good book!~

This is a well written book on how to write your characters. I found it really helpful when it comes to making my characters fuller.

This is one of the best books in the series of Elements of Fiction Writing. Besides all the good information it provides, it inspired me to write more than I have while reading other books. This is a good one.

A well written, easy to read tool. Wish I had the use of it years ago.

Orson Scott Card is a master story teller, so it's great to learn from him. It's one of the basic books for learning how to construct your characters. You'll need others though, like The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes and Heroines (Paperback)
by Tami D. Cowden

One of the best books on writing I've found so far. Detailed, clear, encouraging. Other reviewers complain that it is too "formula." It's not- it's usable. Big difference.

I say that it take a certain kind of genius to breakdown intuitive concepts into usable parts. Character is intuitive, it's all about understanding human beings and there is nothing simple about that.

Buy it. You'll be nodding you head the whole time in agreement. And you'll also be kicking yourself that you needed so much help with something so familiar to you- people. Worth every penny.

Wells' tale of the future of mankind is both highly entertaining, and a valid critique of the rigid social class system associated with capitalism. Wells was so far ahead of his time, that this tale is actually not the least bit dated. Despite being written over a century ago, Wells' scientific theories are still as believable and sound as they were in 1895. If you have even the slightest interest in Science Fiction pick this one up, its a concise, highly captivating read

H G Wells has awakened the world with his art of tale through the travel of time. He is the inspiration of every time travel writer in existence today, with no exception, myself included. Along with great classics like Twenty-thousand Leagues Under the Sea, I remember the first time reading these classics. I was in awe. Though time travel, a genre given life by H G Wells is the ultimate epic sci-fi adventure. The very idea of time travel has opened the eyes of every imagination in my soul. The ramifications are endless. H G Well's Time Machine is my favorite, all time story. Even when you think of how the future looked as grim as it did thousands of years from the story line's origination, one only needs to remember that this tale is merely one possiblity of billions that could be changed with a simple act of maybe a push of a button or even less. I believe THAT was the message Wells was revealing to us all. This is a very well written story that I highly recommend to anyone of any age or time. This very book was my biggest inspiration since I was first able to read.

I enjoyed this book. It's about a man that we only know as the "Time Traveler" who obviously invents a time machine and he goes into the future and ends up meeting up with the friendly Eloi, and befriends Weena, an Eloi. While he is with the Eloi his time machine goes missing. He finds the Morlocks, which Wells describes as ghostly apes. They are the reason that everything works so well for the Eloi, but they only prove as food for the Eloi.

In the end he gets his time machine back and hurries back to his own time to tell all of the other scientists about his journey. This is how this book is written, in first person, the point of view of the time traveler.

If you liked War of the Worlds than this is a must read.

Wells, H.G. Time Machine, The
December 1992, Tom Doherty Associates,LLC.

As I stated in my other reviews, I normally don't enjoy science fiction novels; this book I had to read for school. As I read what I expected to be a boring and unentertaining novel, my opinion changed, and I became more open to enjoying the story. I found that it was an enchanting novel that no one should pass up. H. G. Wells made the story come alive and he made the setting, set in the future, somewhere you feel could possibly exist as his descriptions are so vivid and his wording fanominal. Read this story and your beliefs on time travel and the way earth will turn out in the future will change. H.G. Wells gives you somthing to ponder while you enjoy the sentences that flow together like the river he describes. H.G. Wells makes an unknown world seem familiar and is an expert in his proffesion. I guaranty this book will send powerful astonishment and awe up and through your mind.

I am sure that you have seen the movies that have been made from this book, there are quite a few and most of them are very entertaining. Unfortunately none of the movies that I have seen have captured the social meaning behind this book. Certainly they have the adventure part down pat, but the rest of it is changed, for the times I'm sure. I would advise those of you who love Sci-fi to read this book, and to those of you, like myself who have a hard time getting into that genera, look at this as a classic and read it anyway.

The unnamed inventor of a time machine, known only as the traveler, leaves his home to travel forward through time. Seeing drastic changes in the world he finally settles on a distant future to get out and explore. He quickly meets tiny humans which he refers to as the Eloi. They are fair to look at, complete ADD cases with little to no true knowledge or skills. The Traveler attempts to communicate with them and has some difficulty. He spends a great deal of time in this futuristic world and discovers that the Eloi are not alone in this new world, and that their counterparts are far more sinister.

One of the biggest changes made in the movies is the cause of the split between the Eloi and the Morlocks. It is very interesting to read Well's actual reasoning, which is the separation and elitism between the social classes. This becomes more defined and is the actual basis of the entire novel. Rather than being a true Sci-Fi book, this really is about Victorian Society and what it would look like if left unchanged for 800,000 years. Because this book only vaguely touches on the science involved, it is likely to never be outdated. Though this is not a fast read by any means, it is a fun and meaningful one. I don't know that I would hand it to a 10 year old because odds are they would be bored before he even leaves for the trip. However if you can take a deep breath and leave our societies mindset behind (the theory that everything needs to be exploding and that we all need instantaneous gratification at all times) this is a brilliant piece of fiction that spans several genres and is in fact as timeless as the Traveler.

This book is very sexually explicit.
If that bothers you than steer clear of buying it.

I loved it! It was great to read a 'no holds barred'..raunchy and very sexy honest book.
I thought the author created 2 real characters with great dialogue and storyline.
There is no excuse or reason given here for the amazing sex these two women delve into - there shouldn't be.
I'm so glad Bold stroke published this one and didn't hide her in one of their collection books.
Way to go Meghan! Can't wait for your next one.

This book is great if you don't mind books without character development or plots. I was very disappointed.

I read this book in one morning. It is very well written and very steamy. You will not want to put this book down. I have recomended this book to all my friends. I will not let anyone borrow it or sell it because it is definately a book I plan on reading over and over.

Since there is a description of the book and others have written about it also, I'll skip that and just say: This book is so hot it will scorch the eyes right out of your skull! What a pleasant surprise. I have never read anything by this author and ordered it on a whim (desperate for something good to read). The description intrigued me enough and am I ever glad I took a chance. I've since ordered Infinite Loop by the same author, but haven't started it yet.

I loved the characters and was sucked into the story from the opening line (and if you've read it already, you know what I mean *wink wink*). Considering almost the first half of the book takes place in an elevator, with only the two main characters present, I was very impressed by the author's ability to keep my interest. I am one of those readers who tend to skip over things that don't look important, but I read every single word in this one (some parts I read more than once).

This is erotica with a bit of kink thrown in for good measure. Excellent read and I can't wait to read more by Meghan O'Brien! Highly recommended!

There are already many reviews which list the virtues of the book in terms of hot, hotter, and hottest. And they are all true! Hot it is!

I'd just like to add that it's a dynamic, entertaining read, and the one reason I'm not rating it 5 stars is because it's a bit two-dimensional for my tastes. Personally, I don't think the characters are so very well developed per se, what's fantastically well developed is their sexual persona, which happens practically within a bubble (and I'm not talking about the elevator!), there are no friends to contextualize the relationship, their "work" world is referred to but never brought to the forefront, the family angle is barely touched upon but not really explored...

I did have a LOT of fun with it, and I really do recommend this book for hot, fast-paced enjoyment, but in my humble opinion 5 starring a book requires a bit of extra work in terms of "rounding up" the story.

When you are the inspiration for a Jurassic Park character (or at least I think he was), then you immediately capture my attention. I'll buy your book, even if its subject matter is generally outside my interests.

Stuart Kauffman seems to have been at least partially the inspiration for the interesting chaotician character "Ian Malcolm" in Jurassic Park, and I thought his real life ideas would be as interesting as his fictional incarnation's ranting on chaos theory.

Not quite. At Home in the Universe *sounds* a lot more interesting than it *was*. It's plodding and jargon-heavy. Reading it felt like a burden, and I didn't come away feeling more informed or that I had encountered something thought-provoking.

Kauffman also frequently inserts random drivel about nature being sacred despite the falsehood of religion. Not only is that absurd on its face (sacred is *defined as* "set aside for religious veneration"), but what the hell does it have to do with his ideas about complexity and emerging order?

It strikes me as extremely disrespectful to mount attacks on your readers' religious beliefs, or narcissistic to assume that they would be the same as yours. We'd expect that kind of think from The God Delusion or God is Not Great, but atheist vitriol is way off topic here.

I see this as a worrisome, almost cancerous trend in the scientific community of the past 15 years or so, where the equations atheism=science and science=atheism actually sounds sensible to large swaths of people, who somehow can no longer distinguish between philosophical and methodological naturalism.

It seems to be the flip side of the gradual degeneration of Christianity into a right wing political movement. Now millions of Americans see no difference between "likes Jesus" and "votes Republican." I don't know what these changes mean, but I do think the implications are wholly negative and its sad that Kauffman's books has to reflect so obviously on the state of affairs.

Actually the books is an outcome of scientific experiments in a computer lab. Differently from other reviewers, I want to notice that the facts of chaos exist in every where such as in Nature or in A Company.
Writer shows that everything in the world can be reduced to a series of chemical reactions. Chemical reactions can generate a complex system such as life from dead. He argues also the equilibrium of life and dead from the view of the number of kinds of molecules and the number of kinds of outcome from these molecules create or which are already in the system.
He also like many chaos theorist says that small changes in the system make big changes in the whole. (Explaining evalution). By some evidents and using probability, he shows that life on earth is the expected.
The books most important view is explaning everything as chemical reactions. And I believe this is the right thing...At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity

In this book, Stuart Koaffman opens new doors to us. Through the theory of the chaos, proportions fractals and their networks boulinas, give an interesting speculation us on the origin of the life, the complex systems and the societies. It is hour to be on the awares and to try to focus to us in new horizons. This book took to him of the hand by these new horizons. It is hour to know our house in the universe...

Stuart Kaufman's At Home in the Universe is a lay redaction his scientific hypotheses from his Origins of Order, a rich, fascinating, sophisticated, and complementary set of hypotheses added to Darwin's theories of evolution. For the moment, at least, they are the promising fruit of speculative or theoretical biological hypotheses (with physics, chemistry, geology, paleontology, mathematics, game theory, and economics thrown in), but they go a long way to filling in many of the gaps that strict Darwinists seem content to ignore. And some of his hypotheses, he readily admits, are heretical.

One of the obvious problems, if not primary one, that Kaufman sets to answer, Is how can natural selection work, culling the fittest to survive, without something to act on? In other words, natural selection operates on the already existent (i.e., regressive engineering), not in the formation of the entity itself. Another problem is that 4 billion years, long as that is, is still not sufficient time for natural selection to have acted through a totally random, step-by-step process in determining today's survivors. Even 100 billion years would not be enough. Another problem is how could so many species have come into existence and failed to survive (99.9%), leaving a mere 100 million for the present, in the span of a mere 4 billion years (mathematically impossible on Darwin's theories alone).

The central theme of Kaufman's work is Self-organized Criticality, a scientific twist on the notion of irreducible complexity (from the Discovery Institute's lexicon, no less), where a minimal degree of inherent complexity in a subcritical-supercritical phase transition is what spontaneously orders the animate world and generates and sustains life in accord with other, as yet, unknown, but implicit laws. From the moment that a sufficiently critical diversity of molecules reached the ideal phase transition, life itself was "spontaneously generated" as inevitable, not by accident. Once life appeared, the acts of natural selection, adaptation, coevolution, evolution of coevolution, cellular, morphological, and physiological differentiation, ontogeny, niches, populations, stable cum-chaotic dynamics, etc., could operate, but in addition to forces beyond natural selection. And while speculative, apparently many scientists share Kaufman's intuitions, inferences, and insights.

But the "other" force or forces is not mystical, much less divine, even if they may be truly awesome. Rather, it is in the nature of the universe, and more particularly in our evolving earth, that these implicit laws work in tandem with Darwin's laws. At this point, these laws are posited from the empirical knowledge we do have, but have not yet demonstrated in the scientific manner to make them even hypotheses. But Kaufman's speculative biology is not a whimsical or arbitrary metaphysics, but logical inferences based on laws and facts already in place. Having done the easy work (thinking the notions of what these other general laws of nature must be like), now science must work in earnest to confirm or reject his speculative hypotheses.

The key word and concept throughout this humorous, heady, and exacting exposition is "complexity" and within the manifold complexities of lives, environments, and mutually intersecting dynamics is a spontaneous order that arises "for free" that in turn sustains stable and steady systems just at the subcritical-supercrticial phase transition (e.g., horizon, or "edge of chaos"). Another key word and concept is "dynamic." Steady-state and homeostasis are often thought of as a static plateau, but that is mistaken, as such states are actually in a fluctuating dynamic at the phase transition between equilibrium (death) and disequilibrium (disorder). Indeed, on many different levels, living organisms are born, dwell, and die precisely at this phase transition between the subcritical (stasis, moribund) and supercritical (chaotic, disordered) states. And the key thesis is that order ("for free") is embedded in the delicate balancing act precisely at this phase transition.

Kaufman extrapolates some of these implicit biological laws and applies them to human cultural and technological advancement. The "fit" is remarkably uncanny, helping us to understand some of the dynamics of technological improvements (and diminishing returns), innovation, extinction, and spontaneity of the economy. Perhaps the most salient features are the concepts of "dynamic" and "spontaneous."

Moreover, if an analogy can be drawn from the biosphere and ecology to the social and political realms, the overwhelming preponderance of biological evidence screams complexity, diversity, and interdependence of organisms and their environments, which arise spontaneously and reciprocally to each other, in a constant dynamic that is vibrant, active, and always on the threshold of "chaos," but retains some stability through change. It is only those social and political forms that are "adaptive" that are socially and politically the "fittest," and democracy and market economies are obviously the most adaptive mechanisms to adapt to changing human needs.

Frederick Hayek addressed himself to these very issues over 50 years ago, and called the market economy and democracies "spontaneous" associations, in contradistinction to "planned" economies and governments. The former "adapt" to changing environments and circumstances, while the latter lack flexibility, and thus do not easily yield to adaptive mechanisms. "Planned" economies attempt to calculate rationally human desires, motivations, and needs in either an abstract or a priori fashion, then calculate the mode of production, the degree, and whether to accommodate, as if some "Absolute Human Mind" could anticipate all contingencies and changes by a simple mathematical formula. The problem is that bureaucrats are notoriously theory-laden and too calculating to include, much less advance, diversity (think Medicare Part D for "planned" absurdity). In practice, socialisms impede innovation and stifle ingenuity. With no means of adaptation, there is no "fittest," much less any mechanism to adapt to the actual dynamics of the world.

Communism's planned economy is an extreme case of an irrational calculus asserting what the government will allow, applying the lowest-common denominator as a criterion of sufficiency. We all know of the U.S.S.R.'s food lines, limited products, forced housing, inferior merchandise, and minimal labor investment. But even weaker forms of the rational calculus, such as socialism, does not do much better. At least their democracies allow policies to change, even if it becomes years for government to adapt to the new exigencies. Even the most socialized societies have "capitalist" outlets, to provide some barometer of social wants and meeting them. Social insurance makes sense on many fronts, but social or state "planning" of economics has rotted state and worker. Kaufman's biological analogies explain why.

Postscript: Kaufman's book is a provocative, challenging, and fascinating (sometime heady) read. Even if all of his hypotheses in the abstract are found to be untrue, at least he captures the reader's imagination, and asks the questions that most of us non-dogmatic Darwinians have raised for some time. In a time when the "easy" and "orthodox" are all too convenient for slipping under the rug, Kaufman's questions (and suggested answers) go the the very nexus of the difficulties. His suggested answers are at once perhaps too simple, on the other hand, perhaps too complex. What is refreshing, above all, is that he's not afraid to ask, and even less fearful of suggesting solutions. Thank gawd for the Sante Fe Institute, where brave and curious minds still ask questions.

Stuart brings the science of complexity and complex adaptive systems to a broad range of topics from evolution to business to learning curves. The book is masterly written to allow you to skim over the formulas without lossing the excitement or to dig into the technology to understand its broad application.

Tambu, as the storyteller in this book was able to tell the story in a way that made the reader realize what is good and bad about colonization of third world countries and the lasting effect it can have on the country and the people that are colonized. I know because I am from a country that was a British colony.

I find myself frustrated with some of the more negative reviews here. I understand the argument that the novel is more into telling instead of showing, but I tend to disagree a bit. The novel hinges on the pretext that the central characters are cerebral, and that their intellectual complexity is misunderstood by colonial doctors. For me, the action that was taking place in the mind, whether we saw it or were told about it from an outsider perspective (that of the narrator, who is often an outsider and an observer), was very powerful.

Generally, it has taken me a little while to adjust to African novels, which I read intermittently throughout high school and college, but this one is a wonderful place to start for people who do take time to adjust to the more traditional style. Since the narrator has a Western education, the novel reads more like a Western novel...in a way, this makes the story much more heartbreakingly real, but it also makes it accessible to Western audiences. I highly, highly recommend it.

The voice of the narrator, plantive and engaging, retrospective and sensitive, is the jewel of the story. Although her lovely spirit and shrewd perspective on people/relationships propelled me through the book at a rapid pace, I found the plot quite empty. The story line, mostly founded on mundane details of her challenging daily life, feels dull and predictable. However, in spite of the lack of plot, the most important aspect of the book-- its main value to many readers-- is its thematically rich stew of commentary on gender roles/relations, sexuality, race, class, poverty, family dynamics, love, education, etc.

I gave book 3 stars because, although i fell in love with the narrator, the plot was too meandering and vacant to really make a good story. I also felt the ending, like the plot, was sort of half an ending and very lacking. In the end though, the story, themes, and the characters were so rich that they will stick with me for quite a while.

Read this book if you fulfill at least one of the following:

1) You want to read a tale that tackles intimate yet universal themes
2) You want to hear the too rarely heard voice of an african woman
3) You want a book that is poetic and academic at the same time
4) You are looking for an emotionally intricate read of personal dynamics
5) You need a speedy read for an airplane ride, book report, etc
6) You love books with insightful, shrewd observations of very real characters and family dynamics

Frank T. Scruggs, M.A.
Book Review
October 11, 2007



Nervous Conditions

I really enjoyed reading this book and of the details she wrote about this family reminds me of my own. As an African-American growing up roughly in the same time period I could see how both
Nyasha and Tambu just becoming into a political awareness would begin to see the world take on a new shape.

The strength of the African family is that the extended family is viewed as a unit within the larger society with legitimate head. As in the book as in my own family, problems were mediated by the
Elders of the family and each person functions as a part of the unit demonstrates a commitment to the group as opposed to the individual.

The plan to educate the children in order to help provide for the future benefit of the family shows the adherence to perpetuating the family group (first through Nhamo then Tambu after Nhamo's death. As I
said before as an African American, I don't think we're as far removed from African culture. I think that the author also wanted to demonstrate that the characters Maiguru and Babamukuru benefited a great deal living in England and learning about British culture. The author also show that Babamukuru and Maiguru were already rooted and grounded in the African culture and education, the experience and contact with the distant British culture therefore one could say to be a growth experience and an expansion of their knowledge.

Upon return to Africa, Babamukuru wanted and expected Nyasha to act as an African girl which she was incapable of doing because she was socialized into a British girl. The character Nyasha was in her early formative years and lost her African culture after assimilating into the British culture. The fight between Nyasha (when it became physical) is also representative of the clash between distant cultures where one culture tries to subject the other culture. The fight broke out when Babamukuru began to beat Nyasha but she decided to fight back (she rebelled against his authority). It also shows that in Nyasha it is a defense of which she is and on the part of Babamukuru, it is to subject her to his will. In culture clashes, the dominant culture uses power and authority to maintain its hegemonic relationship with different cultures (e.g., Britain and her colonies, America and her protectorates) quite often through economics and or violence and military force. From my perspective, I' think that the clash between Nyasha and Babamukuru serves as a metaphor of the clash between the British and African cultures.

The character Tambu grew up as an African girl and remains grounded in African culture therefore when she makes contact with the European culture she grows and remained African unlike her cousin Nyasha. Nyasha is not really part of the British culture and not quite African either. What she does have however is an awareness of the social ills brought about by colonialism. This awareness, I think, brings about sadness caused by the isolation from both worlds while living among those steeped in the African culture. It is this very isolation and sadness that causes her to rebel against her assimilation and mourn the loss of her African culture, which was her birthright.

Overall, I think this is an excellent novel. I found the book quite riveting and dynamic. I also think that anyone interested in cross-cultural communication, anthropology, sociology and family would enjoy this book and benefit from the ideas that the author seeks to convey.

This novel is loosely autobiographical and takes place in the 60's and 70's in colonial Zimbabwe, then called Rhodesia. Tambu is a young girl from a very poor rural family. She is forced to live in the shadow of her favored older brother. Tambu begs her lazy sexist father to be able to attend school like her older brother but he feels she should stay home and learn to cook. Tambu is determined and goes to great lengths to earn the money to pay her school fees. She hits pay dirt when her jerk brother, who has taunted her and rubbed his privilege position in her face, suddenly dies. Tambu gets to attend the mission school in his place. There she teems up with her cousin Nyasha. Nyasha's father is head of the mission school, is the most well educated villager, and real tyrant. Nyasha's family has recently returned from England where her father completed his master's degree. Nyasha is seen as a snob by the locals because she has forgotten the Shona language and dresses like a Brit.

Tambu is very aware of just how "privileged" she is to be her uncle's charity case. As she witnesses her cousin Nyasha's rebelliousness Tambu's feistiness dissipates. Unlike Nyasha Tambu's position is precarious and she decides to survive by keeping quiet and trying her best not to cause any discord. Tambu has a rude awakening as she learns that her elite education sets her apart from her compatriots, but she really doesn't fit into colonial set either. She also must confront the realization that education is not a cure for sexism and racism.

The issues of colonialism, sexism, racism, hypocrisy, and the pros and cons of education are subtly and skillfully examined through the eyes of two teenage Zimbabwean girls. I did a graduate class project on this book. There are a lot of critical commentaries regarding this novel on the Internet. Dangarembga has also written several plays and films. There is another novel by a Zimbabwean author about girls and education called Zenzele by Moraire. Zimbabwe is also having a lot of problems right now, mostly thanks to a lunatic dictator. There are many organizations trying to help. If you want to help do an Internet search for "Zimbabwe, women, and education."

This was recommended by my nephew and nieces as the most informative book about puberty (when I asked them). It is really good. It is to the point, but keeps it lighthearted. It addresses a lot of good questions and worries kids have but won't ask. I HIGHLY recommend it.

I used this book w/ both my boys and it was fine, but I didn't love it.

The first half of the book is all "We're going to talk about puberty", "puberty is what we're going to talk about", "get ready to talk about puberty" - etc. I grew bored and so did my kids. It's like a novel with 7 prologues.

The second half of the book finally gets into some well-presented and age-appropriate information - about breasts, erections, periods, pimples, wet dreams, masturbation, etc. These topics are covered in what I think is just enough detail - with cute pictures to alleviate tension and about 2 pages on each topic. I give the second half of the book 5 stars.

One thing I didn't like is that the book assumes a level of knowledge. What I mean is, it goes right into talking about how semen want to get out of erect penises to go make babies, without covering how exactly babies are made. This book is for 9 - 12 year olds who should have some basic knowledge but I think a brief refresher (instead of all the filler in the beginning) would be good.

A word about ages: My oldest got a lot out of this book at 10. My second son was far too immature at 10 and giggled until I finally put the book away and waited a year. Obviously, a parent must use their judgment with regard to what ages they should present this book to.

What can I say, this book arrived promptly, in great condition, just what we ordered. Our 10 year old was already going through changes, and it helped out a big lot, THANK YOU

I remember when I was a little girl and my mom reading this book to me. I purchased it for my daughter so we could have "the talk", which she felt was torturous, but I still think that the book is great! Easy to read, relevant information without being overwhelming.

This is a great book for children nearing or into puberty. We bought it for an autistic child and it is truly great. It covers all the facts and expresses a complicated subject in a simple, child-like manner easily understood by any child from about age 7 or 8 and up. This is the only book I have encountered that I would recommend for any school-based sex education curriculum. Any parts that might be considered "explicit" are quite tastefully handled without watering down the subject.