Fiction Literature Books

I'm honestly torn -- I wanted to be able to give this book a higher rating, really I did -- but the fact is there's only so much clever I can take. And "clever" began to feel like the point of Pessl's weighty tome less than a quarter of the way through.

I did so love the way she used Major Western Works of Fiction as chapter titles and then married her narrative within said chapters to the themes of those same Works. It was kind of fun to connect the themes, but I will say that I would have found it irritating had I not read a lot of those books and short stories already. As it was, I found myself using Spark Notes online a lot to read about the plots of those books i hadn't read, just so I'd be able to "get" it. Overall, though, that aspect of the book worked for me.

What didn't work was the citations every third paragraph or so (The Elements of Style, Strunk & White, 1935) which, while amusing at first, became irritating (see Blistering Diseases and Dermatological Irritations, Frewer, 1989) in short order. Eventually, I stopped bothering to read them at all.

Pessl also has a mad love of similes, and seeds them liberally into her text, like a farmer with a malfunctioning John Deere spreader. Or a demented Johnny Appleseed, suffering from an undiagnosed case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Or maybe a field of dandelions all gone white at the same time, then buffeted by hurricane force winds. Perhaps I've made my point. It gets OLD after a while, Marisha, and seems more like you're trying to impress the reader with your creative writing skills than trying to paint a vivid word picture for him. It's all style and no substance; more Martha Stewart pretty than Paula Deen scrumptious, if you know what I mean.

And let me say a word or two about the characters here: I could not care less about any of them, with the exception, shockingly, of Jade, whom I found more interesting than all the rest of them put together. The Narrator, Blue (and I actually know a guy whose legal name is "Blue," so I'm not going to quibble over weird name here, although I gotta say, the fact that NO ONE in the entire book has a remotely common name is more than a bit strange. Milton??? C'mon.). . . .Anyway, Blue and her dear ol' dad, Gareth Van Meer, the itinerant professor, seem to think that they are so far above everyone else due to their intellectual "superiority" that it becomes nauseating at times. The fact that dad takes time to denigrate the doctor and nurses who are taking care of Blue in the ER after a traumatic event speaks volumes. Sure, it illuminates Gareths's character a wee bit, but seriously? Pretty sure that wouldn't be my first concern. Me, I'd be grilling my kid about what happened like a short order cook doing up a patty melt in a greasy spoon. Oh, sorry. Apparently I'm vomiting similes now. Who knew it'd be catching?

But I digress. There is so little character development for some of the major characters -- mainly the Bluebloods -- that they aren't even caricatures, they're silhouettes (Oh, God, I can't stop!!!! Help me, please!!! I'm starting to remind myself of Dr. Phil.) Ahem. Anyway, a little secondary character development would have been nice. You'd think that there'd be room for it in FIVE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN PAGES!!!!, no? Blue's character was so far removed from reality that I just couldn't swallow it. Yeah, she's incredibly smart, yeah she's brought up to despise those not as smart as she and dad are (i.e., everyone else on Earth, apparently), but she's supposed to be a teenager, for God's sakes. Where are the hormonal outbursts, where is the lack of good sense, where's the shoving aside of what your conscience tells you you "should" so you can do stupid stuff to fit in?

Well, I could go on. Unlike Pessl, though, I won't. Read it if you're into literary allusion and themes, don't if you like character development and anything related to real life. There's some smart word play and amusing chapter titles, but Special Topics, in the end, is too clever by half.

The opening of Pessl's novel completely engaged me, with a level of with and intellect I've not encountered in ages. I'm a fan of self-consciously clever writers like Robertson Davies and Wodehouse, and was excited to have found a new author who might join their ranks.

Well, I gave up on this book last night. I was halfway in, and realized that despite the cleverness of the protagonist's observations, I simply didn't care what happened next. This is due largely to the fact that although the protagonist is immensely clever and quirkily observant, she almost never actually says or does anything, instead propelled by the speech and actions of the clique she's fallen into. And since none of the clique are empathetic characters, I just didn't have enough to care about. Plus the overall pace of the book becomes painfully slow - I felt like I must be nearing the end, and saw by the placement of my bookmark that I was only near the midway point. She was just taking way too long to say way too little, so I pulled the plug.

It's disappointing, because Pessl is one of the smartest and wittiest (and yes, there's a difference) writers I've encountered in years. Amazingly talented, really. I just hope she finds something more compelling to say with all that talent.

I considered not writing this review, but I changed my mind when I thought about how helpful this could be to readers such as myself. I would consider myself to be an avid reader. I have read books from many genres, and though I have my preferences, I will try to read outside my preferences. This book however was way over my head. I could not follow the storyline. I found myself going over and over pages again, and still not understanding the direction. I did not feel any sort of flow. Occasionally I found myself laughing at a line here and there, but that certainly wasn't enough for me. I think the author tried too hard to show off her intellectual skill and forgot she was writing a novel worth reading. I know this sort of novel must belong to a genre, but I think, in future, I will avoid that genre. I prefer to be entertained by, engrossed in, and excited by a novel. I did not experience this with Special Topics...

There's not much I can say that hasn't been said, but I would like to reiterate that there's a lot of good material here--it's just that there's even more bad material. The overall impression is that the author is smug and self-indulgent, eager to demonstrate both academic and pop-culture fluency. The frequent similies are downright stupid; the book would be better off without them. Someone's glass of iced tea was "like a sweaty upper lip." Or the other way around, maybe--I don't remember. Condensation. Who cares? What does it have to do with anything? Why do we need pointless details about EVERY character who makes an appearance in two of the novel's 500+ pages?

The constant name-dropping and fact-dropping also wear on one's nerves. For all Pessl's supposed learnedness, she didn't do her homework on the basic character details like names and ethnicities. Gareth Van Meer is a German? How did he end up with a Dutch surname and the first name of a Arthurian Round Table Knight? And last time I checked, ze Germans have trouble wiss ze voiceless dental fricatives. Speaking of names containing sounds not native to the person's language--Geneva (presumably pronounced with a J sound) as a Russian Jewish woman's first name?! Russian women's patronymics and surnames sometimes end in -eva, but that doesn't make Geneva Russian, even if you pronounce it with a hard G. Speaking of patronymics, why does Blue's mother not have one, and instead have the Spanish/English middle name Alicia, AND have only a nickname (Natasha) for a first name?

Another pet peeve was the book's obsession with Harvard. As a Harvard grad student, I can attest that many if not most people who go to Harvard for undergrad are riddled with insecurity for the rest of their lives and need to remind people constantly that they went there. (Of course, grad students are not immune. I go there, did I mention?) I pegged Pessl to be one of these, but a little biographical digging proved otherwise. Considered alongside the copious academic citations, are these references supposed to make the book a love letter to the academy in general? Why? Everyone in the academy hates it... So, I'm not sure why she goes to such pains to tell you how good Harvard is. Don't tell all the tourists in the Yard, but on the whole, the place is just average, or even a little below. Kind of like this book.

The protagonist describes a tumultuous year in high school with a remarkably unique voice. The plot has an unexpected twist at the end and is generally entertaining throughout. Ultimately, however, this book is a bit tedious and self-absorbed. Good, but not great.

Truly a masterpiece and definitely one of my favorites from Bukowski. Very exciting and refreshing read that will provide you with a glimpse into the world of an addict writer and his encounters with women.

I saw Barfly and didn't like it, and Factotum too for that matter. With so many raves about the author, I thought I should try the books. Now, I can be a misogynist, but the "fictional" accounts of a guy getting drunk and mistreating women is not interesting. It is too much like "real life" going from one episode to another without a real narrative thread holding the book together. Finally it ends, with the character nor the reader having learned anything, or having changed at all. There are so many other talented writers out there, you don't need to waste your time on Bukowski.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R27PF6CT4ON2CQ This book is a jolly good time and I hope you like the review.

There isn't anything I can add to what has already been said, and better than I could say it anyways. But I noticed one review a guy said not to let your wife read it. WRONG. I'm 26, a wife, mom, so on and so forth, and I'm the Bukowski reader in my house. I picked up Post Office and was hooked, and before I'd even finished I got Women, Factotum, and Dirty Old Man. I had only hoped they'd be as good as Post Office, but Women was even better. Just wanted to raise my feminine little hand and say "Yes, some of us women do get it!"

"Women" is author Charles Bukowski's semi-autobiographical novel that revolves around Henry Chinaski, a 50-something poet. Henry's finally beginning to experience some professional success, and he's milking it for all it's worth by indulging in alcohol, blowing his money at the track, and sleeping with as many women as he can get. I lost count of the number of women Henry has sex with in this book, but it's astronomically high, and every sexual encounter is described in very graphic detail. However, this isn't just a run-down of all the women Henry's been with. It's also an honest look at a life that's a lot less fulfilling than it may look on the outside, and a man who's actually a pretty sad case.

I enjoyed "Women," but not as much as I thought I would. This is the first Bukowski novel I've read, and I had very high expectations, but they weren't quite met. I love the author's writing style and Henry is a fantastic character, but he really doesn't seem to evolve much over the course of the novel, and things just got a bit monotonous after a while. Also, I had a hard time believing that a dirty old man like Henry could have all these beautiful women competing to be with him. Still, Bukowski is a very unique writer, and I was impressed enough by this book that I will definitely seek out more work by this author.

I ordered this book and received it very quickly. The book came in new condition as described. Thanks!

The book is well written, written perhaps as an exercise in writing in the second person. As a story though it is thoroughly predictable and utterly dishonest. McInerney tapped into a particularly scene, probably researched in the pages of New York Magazine and The New Yorker's "Talk of the Town" pieces. It was embraced at a time when the publishing industry was desperate for new voices that would appeal to young readers, reared on the superficiality of TV after-school specials. Why I don't think this book will have lasting appeal is that its observations are actually reflection, heard second hand or experienced vicariously. (Reports to the contrary, the book was not a contemporary, urban, "On the Road." The writer was always and remains a poseur. Which is to say though seductive on the surface--the reader is led to believe he or she is given a privileged peek into the hip New York of the early 80s--the book is notable for its lack of authenticity. "Bright Lights, Big City" made McInerney a literary star although he never produced another book actually worth reading. Read the book for its style and the New York "touch points," but otherwise it is a waste of time.

Writing in the second person can be draining - the constant balance between the character and the reader and having to maintain both the distance and the familiarity is something few writers tackle other than in short stories (Junot Diaz is the perfect example). But Bright Lights, Big City manages to produce the first "great" second person narrative that I can think of. From the very first pages where McInerney throws us into New York night life, we are confronted with a character who is both strange and familiar who is moving in a New York that is both strange and familiar. As a fact checker at a major publication who is getting over the fact his wife, who happens to be a model, has left him, the protagonist struggles with a dual desire to be isolated and comforted by others.

What is most striking about this book is the prose. It is both clean and smooth and has a way of moving you back and forth between action and description. This book can be read in a single night and you find yourself so attached to this guy who is as messed up as can be, yet you feel so sorry for him as he confronts his brother, uses more drugs than you can imagine, and struggles to write a novel. He is the anti-hero spawned in a world after the Beats made names for themselves, and I can honestly day that this novel may be a stronger piece of fiction than On the Road or even Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me.

This is a gem and should be treated as such.

This is a pretty good first novel and is intriguing insofar as it shows the themes which engage McInerney's later works. This reads a bit like Holden Caulfield getting his first job in the big city. And it also reminds me of JP Donleavy's extraordinary novel, The Ginger Man. One can see hints of Fitzgerald and almost make the case that McInerneys novels simply keep re-telling Gatsby. Such, at least, seems to be the case after reading The Good Life and Brightness Falls, the latter of which is an American masterpiece. There is something universal about this bright, young man taking his bright ideals into the crucible of New York where they are pummelled after much heartbreak into reality. The public perception rarely seems to match the private persona, either in you or in others. Despite the heaps of artifice which you pile upon upon yourself to keep the dogs at bay, it's all still self-deception and it never fails to disappoint. I wish we had seen more of Tad Allagash, the Falstaff figure whom Dunleavy uses so brilliantly to bring out the comedy of his protagonists in so many of his novels. I enjoyed the second-person narrative voice and it was bold to start a literary career by depolying such a technique. I really think that if you want to get the best of Jay McInerney, you need to read Brightness Falls. But this accessible, brief, first novel will lead you ineluctably to the real brilliance that awaits you in Brightness Falls.

Jay McInerney's funny and smart debut "Bright Lights, Big City" was published about 25 years ago. The current Vintage Contemporary edition features in its cover a drawing of a men entering the Odeon and the Twin Towers in the background - as if we all needed to remember this was a book written much before the loss of the innocence.

The set is New York in the middle 1980s, when AIDS wasn't the issue and the city fuelled with cocaine and neon. That decade always seem to be something lost in time. And literature and cinema handles it this way. "Bight Lights, Big City" is sort of a lighter and smarter cousin of "American Psycho", which handles the same generation. But McInerney's prose is much well handed and his narrative more effective than Breat Easton Ellis'. The novel is entirely written in the second person, and it feels like `you' is just one more character.

Rarely did a writer capture the 1980s zeitgeist as McInerney. We see his nameless protagonist frantically crossing the city after drugs, women or something he lost in his life and doesn't know. The plot unfolds in a New York minute. The writer has the ear for capturing vivid and believable dialogues, while creating interesting characters.

However fun it is to read "Bright Lights, Big City", it is impossible not to notice that it is above all a sad story. The main character is only going through the motions, just the course life takes. He never takes the plunge to change his destiny. Could he if he tried? Maybe so. We'll never know. But what we do know is that McInerney has written a novel that will last for ages. When people in the future wonders how the 1980s was like

A great book for kids 5 and under, it covers the basic information kids need to know about how babies are made, okay/not okay touches and families. Its fun cartoon illustrations make it an engaging read for the preschool set.

I love the drawings of naked boys and girls that show how we are alike and different. At this age, kids are very curious about body parts, both public and private, and this book gives them a safe place to check out the opposite sex.

Remember to read it yourself before you read it to your kids - maybe even out loud. Saying "penis enters the vagina" gets easier the more times you say it!

We purchased this book to read with our 10 1/2 year old. It's a very age appropriate book and a great introduction to the "birds and the bees". It gives just enough information without being overwhelming for little minds and it helps to open the door to communication with your kids abut sex. We highly recommend this book.

This is a keeper and will be on our shelf for a long time. It's wonderful to see Marc Brown's familiar illustration style and Laurie Krasny's clear explanations of the mysteries of growing up. Great job and thank you!

I had my son to read this book- I read thru it first, and then I gave it to him to read on his own. When he was finished, I asked if he had any questions, and opened the room for discussion. I feel this book was very helpful in answering everything he was curious about- it was just the right amount of straight forward, yet age appropriate information.

I bought this book to explain sex to my 10 year old daughter. I read it first then hide it fast! I didn't let my daughter read it. The book was good until it talked about masturbation. It says, "Touching and rubbing your genitals to feel good is called masturbation." This is not something I want her to know about yet. It also says 'sexual intercourse feels wonderful.' Well, I don't want her to know that either. (I don't want to lie to the girl!) So the hunt is back on for the perfect sex book.

I have bought over 30 copies of this book, as gifts to friends, colleagues, and relatives. I hope you readers see that that is the highest recommendation one can give.

It explains, in a very concise manner, major depression to those who have not experienced it. And an "Amen" from individuals who have experienced it.

Depression is perhaps THE under-diagnosed illness of our time (along with diabetes). Yet the medical profession really knows little, and it is near impossible for the suffering individual to describe exactly what is going on (chicken & egg?). William Styron is an award-winning, gifted, writer - who is able to put the indescribable into words that mean something to everyone. That is why this small book is important.

Everyone knows someone suffering from this disease, even if they don't recognize it yet. So, Everyone needs to be familiar with major depression. Science needs a Lot more work -- the current biological and psychological treatments are inadequate, to say the least -- especially considering the high risk of suicide with this disease. Everyone needs to know how to get beyond the crises. Lives can be saved.

Therefore, understanding - by sufferers and those who care about them - is key. Such understanding will help non-sufferers provide the assistance and support that he/she wants to give to the depressed person. Without such understanding, so-called "supporters" inadvertently make things worse.

This book is a quick, engrossing, read that may Really help. Highly recommended.

(This is from the recorded version, read by the author.) I have listened to this book several times over many years. I do think he does a fine job of describing the actual feeling of being depressed, and does a great service by saying it is at bottom simply indescribable, and also incomprehensible by people who have never experienced it. Thus the well-meaning admonitions to 'buck up', 'get a hold of yourself' and 'most people are as happy as they set out to be' are torture to the person suffering from depression.

However, much has been learned about depression since he wrote the book. It's so obvious that he was an alcoholic who went cold turkey in June and was still suffering from the effects of alcohol withdrawal in October, which can take months to subside. Then, to complicate things, he doped himself up with sleeping pills, so his system was flooded with foreign chemicals, replacing one he was adapted to with a new one. The result, a profound inability to function, and depression, would now be a surprise to no one but him.

His attempt to link suicide to sensitive artistic temperaments was more a roll call of alcoholics---Hemingway, Jack London, Poe, etc. There may be a link between all three (sensitive types, suicide, and alcohol), but it's a three-legged stool, and Styron is loath to acknowlege his alcohol use as the third leg. Maybe he feels depression is more romantic than alcoholism, or at least more socially acceptable.

The spectulation about repressed mourning, early death of mother, etc. is not nearly as important as his familial tendency to depression, his drinking, and his pill taking. Since he says the hospital did nothing for him but take away the pills, and he got better, that would seem good evidence for their role in his illness.

In his obituary in 2006 it was mentioned that he had to be hospitalized several more times after the first time described in the book.

In short, read the book to experience, as much as possible for an outsider, what depression 'feels' like, but don't buy the diagnosis of what causes it.

The writing is excellent as you'd expect from Styron. The story short and to the point. It delivers a powerful vision of what extreme depression and suicidal ideation actually feels like. That said, I was a little disappointed somehow. The fact that Styron was a well known writer, living a life that most of us can't relate to, in a period now gone, somehow robbed the book of the power it probably had when it first came out.

This book gives a deep insight into Depression. Knowing that someone can be that "far gone" and come back is so inspiring. A knowledgeable read!

This is a very slim volume, just 84 pages long, which started life as a lecture given at a symposium sponsored by the Department of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. It was later developed into a piece for Vanity Fair before being published as a book.

Styron was hit by serious depression at the age of 60, and describes most evocatively his own struggle with the life-threatening illness from first symptoms, through his treatment, his brush with suicide, hospitalisation to eventual cure. Along the way he includes the stories of friends and others so afflicted - many of them also writers.

It's the honesty of the book that makes it so compelling. It was one of the first "insider" accounts of depression, and captures extremely well just what it feels like. (You have to have been there to know.) I agree with him that the word "depression" is totally inadequate, sounding more like a mild case of the blues rather than something that fills your soul with dread and despair. (

I had never heard of this book until I saw a movie preview by the same name. I haven't seen the movie yet but it is on my DVD must see list. The book is a fun read! This reminds me, I was going to look for more books written by this author.

Perhaps what is most wonderful about this novel is the characterisation. Miss Pettigrew is an unusual protagonist, but one who swiftly wins over the reader's heart. LaFosse is another vibrant character who really comes off the page - and her line of unsuitable men are drawn properly, not simply as cliched exaggerations.

The plot line is all written above, but of course a synopsis can do no justice to a book, especially one which is not solely concerned with plot. The night-life Miss Pettigrew finds herself whirled through is as exciting and foreign to the average reader as to the leading lady herself - and the tale is cleverly written so that we feel neither scorn towards Miss P for her lack of experience, nor pity for the fragile life the younger character's lead.

A fantastic and enjoyable read, which has not dated any more than the tale of Cinderella before it.

This little book may become one of my all time favorites. It is a great comic novel with bright dialogue, very English humor and characters who are three-dimensional. When mousy, timid little Miss Pettigrew knocks on Miss LaFosse's door to apply for a desperately needed job, she is grabbed by the beautiful actress and pulled into a wild, exciting, slightly vulgar day that is far from the genteel, grey poverty of Miss Pettigrew's everyday life. Set and written in pre-World War II London, the book is true to its milieu with lingering Victorian mores warring with more modern sensibilities, all viewed through the eyes of a slightly bewildered, prim English governess who is eager to experience every second of this magical day. The current movie, with Amy Adams and the great Frances McDormand as Miss Pettigrew, is very true to the book, so if you liked the movie you're going to really like the book.

Miss Pettigrew is a wonderfully funny and inspiring book. It just makes you feel good. The characters are all very well developed for such a short book that moves rather quickly through one day and you really pull for all the characters happiness. It goes to show that a good story about life will ring true no matter when it was written. I must recommend the book highly. My copy also has the original drawing in it, which are fantastic and really add to the 30s vibe when reading the book.

Miss Pettigrew is a penniless governess out of work, when her employment agency sends her to fill a post as governess at the home of Miss Delysia LaFosse. But when she arrives, everything is turned on its head as Miss Pettigrew finds herself living in glamour for the first time in her life. Along the way, she helps out a few new-found friends, attends several glamorous parties, and finds herself not being "quite herself."

The description of the book on Amazon is that this is a kind of modern day (1930s) Cinderella tale--which it certainly is. It's a very charming, witty, and eccentric book, one that I enjoyed immensely. There are also a series of illustrations inside, which add to the magic of this very special little book.

I wrote a paper historical truth in Absalom! Absalom! in graduate school and decided to revisit the novel. The edition I purchased through Amazon is the one I used 35 years ago and consequently has some associations for me. I am pleased with the condition of my purchase. Thanks.Absalom, Absalom!: The Corrected Text (Modern Library)

Just looking for some great reads for the summer As much as I like Faulkner and many say this is his best I really look to the time alone with this book Great shippiing price and the hard cover quality is excellent

Gives an understanding of what it means to be Southern as only William Faulkner can.

Absolutely incredible! The writing structure is extremely difficult along with the shifting narrators, but it is an amazing book in large part because of these challenging aspects. Faulkner's use of language is exquisite, so that you feel like you are flowing down a meandering river and taking in the sights as you move through the text. Definitely one of the best ever!

Thomas Sutpen is a man with one single, unfailing goal: to forge a dynasty in 1830s Jefferson, Mississippi. A century later, young Quentin Compson, obsessed with Sutpen, slowly uncovers the interweaving, ever-expanding story of Sutpen's ruthless ambition, the intervention of the Civil War, and his ultimate failure and destruction through his children. A gothic novel of the highest degree, this book is rich with complicated family histories, race issues, and above all complex character motivations that create a slowly evolving story of increasing depth and darkness. The writing style is lengthy and dense, becoming at times frustratingly difficult, but in the end the pieces of the story unify into a whole truth: a vivid analysis not only of one man's life, but of the lives of those he touched and of Southern identity itself.

The major fault of this novel is the lengthy, wordy, sometimes difficult writing style; the major strength is the complex layers of plot which confuse, reveal, confuse again, and reveal more, building an ever more complex and meaningful complete story. In many ways, this weakness and strength feed in to each other: it would not be the same book if it were written any other way, but the novel may be difficult or off-putting to some readers as a result. Faulkner's writing style is often dense and presented as a stream of consciousness, where topics shift, articles go unspecified, and phrases or words are repeated for emphasis. In Absalom, Absalom! the style is even more exaggerated, with incredibly long sentences and paragraphs. Worse, despite the fact that the narrator changes a number of times through the book, the narrative voice is almost always identical, making it difficult to separate speakers and determine character relations. The difficult, dense narrative may make it hard for the reader to begin this book--it takes a few chapters to get into the rhythm of the writing, and the reader has to accept a certain degree of confusion and trust that the story will explain itself in time.

However, granted some hard work and some faith in Faulkner's storytelling, the novel expands into a story of increasing complexity and great depth. Like the writing style, which often begins with confusing references and repetition before resolving into comprehensible storytelling, the plot is alternately confusing and revealing. Once one relation, motivation, or event is revealed, it again becomes confusing, and then again reveals new information--information which often revises previous events or complicates an earlier character. As such, the story may come back to the same event three times, but each time exposes more about the event, the people involved, and their motivations, creating an ever more meaningful story as the truth is revealed. Such complexity would be impossible without the dense writing style, and both style and story aid the other into new settings, rich language, new events, greater motivation.

As the book comes to its conclusions and the final revelations unfold, there is a classically tragic sense to Sutpen's story: stuck between the reality and the appearance of his own success, he watches and enacts the repeated downfall of his personal dynasty and finally himself, all by way of his offspring. Quentin, the reader's companion as he researches and knits together Sutpen's story, must interpret this underlying failure, the crisis of Southern identity: what it means to be a part of, what it means to be great in, the South--and ultimately, of course, this is an identity crisis that reaches from the South to all humanity. The end of the book is heavy with motivation and character, and ultimately fulfilling, even as it raises doubt and a sense of personal dis-ease. So while the writing style can be difficult at times, while the constant confusion and re-confusion of the plot may become frustrating, this is ultimately a satisfying read: satisfying to the very heart of the reader, a brilliant piece of storytelling and a wonderful analysis of humankind. I greatly enjoyed it and very highly recommend it--to all readers, even those that have to force themselves through the first few chapters.

Brilliant! Bought the whole set of 7 books for the kids (aged 8 & 10) and they loved them. The format is smaller than I remembered from my childhood but the kids didn't care. They read them over and over again. They also loved the Calvin and Hobbs books.

This is the main problem with all foreign comics: translation. In the original language you get all the word plays and jokes that don't really translate into any other language. Reading it in English doesn't transmit even half of the fun.

I have purchased these Tin Tin Volumes the last few years for both of my sons (12 and 8) for Christmas. I read them when I was younger, but their appeal is timeless. They read their own, swap and read their brother's, and around July, read them again. Great for quiet car rides or getting your kids off the computer and reading.

Many of us grew up on Tintin and love them for their great nostalgia value, and reminisces of childhood, as well as the brave values of a simpler, more clarified world of yesteryear.
This volume brings together three of the best loved Tintin classics in one handy volume- and for not much more than the price of one.
They are:
Tintin in America
1931 , and gangsters rule the streets of Chicago. It is up to intrepid European journalist Tintin and his dog Snowy to tackle Al Capone , Mr Smiles and other gangsters, taking him from Chicago to the Wild West where he dodges Indians and Cowboys , and back again.

Cigars of the Pharoah

First published in Le Petit Vingtième between 8/12 1932 and 8/2 1934. The book appeared in 1934 . Redrawn in 1955. It was first published in English in 1971.


A colourful and detailed adventure , Tintin and his dog Snowy meet up with an eccentric Egyptologist on a cruise , taking Tintin on a danger-filled adventure from Egypt to Arabia to India , in a hunt for whoever is behind the mystery of the Cigars of the Pharaoh , he is framed for heroin possesion , caught up in an Arabian war and sentenced to be executed , lost in the desert , locked up in a mental assylum in India , before being led to an international ring of drug trafficers. It is amazing the amount of detail Herge worked into these adventure comics.

Many of us grew up on them and love them for the nostalgia value.
I loved the animation in the underground Pharaoh's tomb.
Written in 1936 , The Blue Lotus is the sequel to the colourful Cigars of the Pharaoh. In the Cigars of the Pharaoh , Tintin has almost succeeded in smashing an international gang of drug traffickers , managing to capture all of them except the leader who mysteriously crashes over a ravine.
His further investigations lead him to China , then under threat from Japanese agression.
Tintin comes up against a madman infected with a dart that sends the recipient insane , enraged British colonists out for revenge after having been humiliated by Tintin and the Japanese army , with the chief villain of the piece being Japanese businessman Mitsuhirato.
This album drew protest form the Japanese government of the time , and was praised by Chiang Kai Shek , President of the Republic of China.
However, it was banned by China's Communist regime until 1984 , due to some of their own insane Maoist reasoning-and even then was still chopped up and heavily edited.
Other albums having been banned by the Communist dictatorship in China where Tintin in Tibet (for recognizing Tibetan culture) , Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (for exposing Communism)and Tintin in the Congo ('Colonialist').

Since I was a little boy I liked to read TINTIN's adventures. Years later, that habbit hasn't changed at all.

While not as action-packed as "The Last Detective" (which follows "Indigo Slam" in the series, but I've not read a single one of them in order so why start now?), this is a strong book. Lots of smart comments, action and twists and turns, although the very last twist was so obvious that only the clinically brain dead couldn't see it coming. But, that didn't lessen the overall value of the book for me.

The audiobook is read by David Stuart who captures the voice of Elvis Cole perfectly. The entire book lasts about 7 hours.

Excellent story another Elvis Cole and Joe Pike detective agency winner, along with sad family plot about widower father and his three childen. Keeps you on your toes front start to finish

Mr. Crais knows how to write. If you enjoy detective suspense as a genre, you'll like this book. It has all you could want, a likeable hero, a fascinating sidekick, several emotionally appealing protagonists, some characters that fall into a gray love/hate area, and two different sets of antagonists, each scary-bad in totally different ways.

What starts out as a simple missing person case that should have been a snap, turns into a nightmare of complications, including three children desperate to avoid Child Protection Services, counterfeiting, the Russian mob, and the Federal Witness Protection program. At the same time, our hero's love life, seeming so rosy in the beginning of the story, becomes instead a bad dream, with the ex-husband creating an epic and nasty power struggle for control of his child and former wife. The action is fast, intricate, and the pages keep turning while time slips away.

The lead character, Elvis Cole, and his sidekick, Joe Pike, are extremely appealing characters. They are variously clever, witty, charming, stoic, morally upright, and very good at what they do. This is one of their best outings so far. Thank you, Mr. Crais.

Robert Crais is a highly skilled crime writer, and I think his "Elvis Cole" series is well worth reading. Unfortunately, INDIGO SLAM, the seventh novel in the series, is a flat and uninspired installment.

INDIGO SLAM starts out quite well, with three young children hiring Cole to find their missing father. But it doesn't take Cole very long to find out where he is, and all the mystery of the plot soon evaporates. The last two thirds of this book is pretty much a lot of action, mostly at the expense of characterization.

Cole doesn't have much at stake in the storyline, and you ever really worry about his safety. I also didn't really care for the father at all, and his three children are little more than stereotypes. In the end, I cared little for how things turned out for them.

Crais is ultimately a formulaic writer, albeit a very solid one. Still, INDIGO SLAM contains a bunch of scenes and situations that are pretty much identical to earlier installments of this series. Reading this novel is a bit like watching a TV show in its final few seasons, when it's way past its prime. My advice is to skip this novel, and try earlier Cole books like FREE FALL, LULLABY TOWN, or VOODOO RIVER.

This is another installment in the classic ongoing Elvis Cole and Joe Pike detective series. The story starts off with a three year flashback to a rainy night in Seattle as Clark Hewitt and his three children are being clandestinely extracted from their home by Federal Marshals. Gunshots are fired and one of the Marshals is killed. As the family is whisked away in a van, the then twelve-year-old eldest daughter Teri holds her trembling Father tightly and feels his shaking ease.

Three years later as Elvis sat in his Los Angeles office talking on the phone to his girl friend, the door opened and three children walked in. The oldest of the children said: "Mr. Cole, my name is Teresa Haines. This is my brother Charles, and our sister, Winona. Our Father has been missing for eleven days, and we'd like you to find him." Teri is now two months shy of being sixteen, Charles (one of the great characters in the story) is twelve, and Winona is nine. Charles is already creating problems by touching Elvis's Jiminy Cricket statuette and like every person who has ever entered this office, from FBI agents to lawyers to killers, is taken aback by Elvis's Pinocchio clock that hangs on the wall above the file cabinet. "The clock has eyes that move from side to side as it tocks and is a helluva thing to watch." Despite being only twelve years old, anytime Charles didn't like what he was told, or just didn't like an individual in his vicinity, he would cough and say "assh*le". Or cough and say "pri*k". Or cough and say "eat me". They had looked Elvis up in the phone book and chose him because his ad said "confidential investigations".

It turns out the kids Father is involved with counterfeiting, and after becoming a witness against the Russian mob entered the witness protection program. That was the reason for the multiple last names and his disappearance. Elvis develops a paternal fondness for the kids and takes the job despite the fact that he is losing money from his very first investigative flight to Seattle. The case winds up involving the Federal Marshals, Secret Service, Treasury Department, the Russian Mob, Vietnamese Revolutionaries, dope dealers and numerous other luminaries on both sides of the legal fence. This book is never dull with the combination of unknowns at every turn, the reader is also blessed with the author's non-stop parenthetical humorous thoughts and comments going on in Elvis's head. And throughout this epic tale, you can always count on Charles's "coughing-vulgarities" and twelve-year-old un-restrained machismo, whenever he appears in his "award-winning" supporting role. This is a non-stop fun ride from start to finish!

Possession is by no means a perfect novel. Any work that forces you to consult a dictionary or encyclopedia as often as this one does, surely can't be praised for it's simplicity or lucidity. The narrative is dense with arcane words, figurative language, historical and literary allusions. Ms. Byatt's erudition can at times be overpowering. I suppose that density can in part be explained by the fact that this novel is as much about the power and joy (not to mention sensuousness) of language, as it is about a Victorian romance, paralleled by one in the 20th century under the guise of an intriguing mystery and detective story. The modern protagonists are literary scholars and their subjects are poets whose intellect and language skills act as a powerful aphrodisiac in their affair.

What totally blew me away about this novel was that Ms. Byatt was able to synthesize all the critical and sundry elements into a coherent whole that not only had my attention riveted throughout it's wild temporal transitions between the Victorian era (through the correspondence of the poets and journals of their intimates) and modern English society through the inquiries and travels of Roland Michell, Maud Bailey, and their contemporaries, but also contained insights into the psychology of male and female relationships as it pertains not only to physical, but to intellectual and emotional needs.

What is even more amazing, is that Ms. Byatt herself, in the creation of Ash and LaMott, has proven herself to be a poet of outstanding ability and sensibility. She has breathed life into these characters and their poems, so much so, that when consulting my encyclopedia on the likes of Vigo, Swedenborg, Swammerdam, Wordsworth, and Donne, I would almost have expected to find articles on Byatt's 2 fictional Victorian poets as well.

Possession is one of the more remarkable novels I have read. Byatt not only creates two very human and believable Victorian Era poets but stunning and original work for each as well. While the book can be challenging(there is a lot of poetry that is far from simple) it is an enthralling read. The characters feel genuine and real and the tenative romance between Roland and Maud is wonderfully and tenderly done. Byatt even manages to find and ending of both simple beauty and one that is also emotionally satisfying.

One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how much Byatt can pack into her work. So many allusions and references, but each is appropriate. I have to say that I'm a bigger fan of her short fiction, but this is by far the best of her novels. It can be a little slow at times due to all the information, but it really immerses you in the world of the novel. This is one I plan on re-reading more than once, and I'm sure I'll always find something I didn't see before. Great stuff.

POSSESSION: A ROMANCE has been on my shelf since 1991. I read it because it won the 1990 Booker Prize, and once under its spell, I've never wanted to let it go. A.S. Byatt -- sister of award winning novelist Margaret Drabble -- tells a complex story within a story, moving back and forth between modern-day scholars Roland Michell and Maud Bailey, and the fictional Victorian poets who are the subjects of their research.

Victorian literature can seem like a dry and rocky road, but Byatt foreshadows and advances her story with the poetry, letters and journals of the Victorian pair, whose love affair is revealed as the research progresses. From simple lyric poems ("They say that women change: 'tis so: but you / Are ever-constant in your changefulness ...") to complex narrative poems and stories, they are well integrated with the story, though sometimes lengthy. The Victorian scene comes to life most successfully, and it's astonishing how fluently Byatt moves not just from present to past, but among the many different literary forms of the two Victorians.

The story within a story, or more specifically the unraveling of a mystery from the past, is a popular device. It's been used in Josephine Tey's DAUGHTER OF TIME, THE MOONSTONE by Wilkie Collins, THE NAME OF THE ROSE by Umberto Eco; and more recently, THE DANTE CLUB and THE POE SHADOW by Matthew Pearl, THE RULE OF FOUR by Caldwell and Thomason, even Dan Brown's blockbuster THE DA VINCI CODE. Byatt weaves her two stories together beautifully: POSSESSION may be the standard by which to judge this type of book, as both stories are richly developed and rooted in the idiom of their time. The Victorian imagery reveals the love affair between the poets, and eventually between Roland and Maud, with its typical mix of emotion and restraint. The modern story satirizes the British academic scene.

POSSESSION: A ROMANCE may not be the easiest book I ever read, but it's among the most rewarding. If you haven't read it in the many years since it was first published, then I recommend it to you.

Re-reading this novel again, I was reminded of every reason why I didn't quite fall head over heels the first time out. And there is a reason for it. I find that "Possession" really, really stalls when it comes to a repeat reading. My first reading of the book took almost a month - this has got to be one of the toughest books to get through (Ian McEwans' latest "Atonement" is another of these types of books).

Fond as I am of exceeding detail to plot and character development, there is a point at which the writer is too good for the story he is creating. I am not saying this happened here, but Byatt's stunning use of language sometimes undoes the original intent. Readers of straight-forward novels could not possibly find it in them to sustain interest in this.

The primary problem is a very incoherent structure. Just when a plot is being developed or a discovery being made, Byatt kills the narrative by injecting ten pages of a poet's long lost work, or the maddeningly boring inclusion of a dead poets' diary. While everything IS pertinent and makes perfect sense considering the entire books' real heroes are the Victorian poets who are under scrutiny, I could not imagine anything possibly revelatory about the characters from these humdrum passages. Seriously, I found them tiresome and extremely non-essential, to say the least.

If you've watched the cinematic endeavor that this book spawned, you would well do to remind yourself that this holds more detail than the movie did. In fact, the main character here, who was essayed by Gwyneth Paltrow in the film, seems so unlike Paltrow in every way. Also, the two scholars seemed almost bipolar in their mood-swings, which seemed to affect their decisions and words every thirty pages or so. This was not a concern for me, just an observation.

The good part is that the entire novel is gorgeously written, and is a very symbol of the best we come to expect from the English language. Poetry and Prose combine beautifully and its no surprise this has become essential reading in some universities. And though I do love classics, I think I'm going to probably stick to my Whartons and Burneys for now, because either I do not 'get' Byatt, or her writing style is most definitely an acquired taste.

I would suggest reading a few more reviews before making an informed decision. Remember though - this is a book to invest yourself in completely, as it is most certainly not a fly-by-night experience.

Three Stars.