Fiction Literature Books

Everything he writes is so simple and yet so complex. You will just smile for days.

This is a fun book that my daughter and I are reading together. She is 8 and I wanted to teach her some of the Buddhist precepts I find character building. She loves the stories.

Again, I purchased this book for a small friend. I read it first and enjoyed it, but his mother tells me he and his brother also enjoyed the stories.

While many children's books deal with fiction this book speaks of the reality of here and now. It is thought provoking on a child's level teaching spirituality and awareness. My six year old seems to enjoy listening to the stories.

My daughter (2) is a little young for this book yet, but I read it and think it is wonderful for children. If you have children about 6 or older who are having a difficult time or are angry about something, this book would be great. Even if your children are happy though, there are wonderful lessons here for everyone and that can help the world to become a more peaceful place.

The illustrations are pretty plain, being that they're black and white, and the story even a little lame, but the "chorus" of the book ("Hundreds of cats, Thousands of cats, Millions and billions and trillions of cats"), is what makes the book a standout for me.

After we had learned to read fairly well in grade school we were taken to the school library to pick out a book. I checked out Millions of Cats as the first book I wanted to read. I recently bought a copy here at Amazon and was amazed how well I remembered the story...in some cases almost word for word...and it has been 35 years since I read it. *S*.It will always hold fond memories for me.
Best wishes,
Donald Ryles PhD, CH
Author of Hidden Secrets of Many, But One

One of my most treasured childhood books, this was one of the first purchases I've made for a new niece and nephew. A wonderful story line, which likely played a part in my love for and respect of all things great and small.

This book is not for all people, as noted by some reviews. In this case, since it is a children's book, it is all a gamble. For some children, they will look upon it either fondly, horrified or simply confused. It is later will their views either change or stay the same.
My personal experience was fondness. Looking back on it now, I am still fond of it. Some children will simply find it interesting. I was one of those. I liked cats and I loved the little cat at the end. As an adult, I see its morals quite clearly. I also am fine with it. It all depends on a person's response to morbidity. If one comes to like things like Edward Gorey, Roman Dirge or Tim Burton... The bat of an eye seems less plausible. This book is as safe as the original takes on fairy tales - you know, before Disney.

Anyway, for parents who are leery, there is a lesson to learn in this story.

Moral: Vanity can lead to one's downfall. Be humble and practical and good things (hopefully) will come in reward.

As noted, there were some issues with how things were done. The following will have spoilers.

Vanity is displayed through most of the book. It led to the downfall of both the old man and the millions of billions of cats. The old man mainly cared for a good looking cat. One always looked better than the other to him. He needed to keep what the true goal was in mind. He should have only looked for what cat could serve the purpose he and his wife were looking for. In the end, he took all and in turn took on a task beyond his control.
The cats were more or less fine until near the end. The wife, upon seeing the many cats, reminds the old man of the true purpose of his quest. They thus can only keep one. In turn, all the cats that were wrong for the couple in the beginning brought upon their own downfall for being too proud. They only cared for their own gain in the matter. They were superficial and in the end none were left to gain the "prize".
The moral shines through in the end though when the couple does find the right cat for them.

Perhaps one will find that too psychological for a child to grasp, but as noted, for a child to understand... well, you either have to go into great explanation or hope your child applies the same understanding of most original fairy tales to this book - they simply find it amusing and don't ask questions.

If they do, just give them the story at its value.

"If I am pretty, will I be eaten up?"
No. The kitten in the end ended up being very pretty and he was never eaten up. What it is saying is, if you are beautiful on the outside, be beautiful on the inside as well. The cat in the end displayed that.

"What if I say I am the prettiest to someone?"
That would be rude. It can hurt feelings. Like in the book, the little kitten did not say a word. It thought it was no better than anyone. The other cats became angry with each other because none of them wanted to feel less important than another, when in truth they were all equal.

"Why did they eat each other?"
They let their hatred eat at themselves and in turn destroyed each other through that. (It is pretty difficult to go into metaphors of greed and vanity consuming a person being displayed in blatant eating an opponent physically.)

The list can go on.

There is also another faint moral. Treat others kindly and good things can happen for you and that person. The kitten was small, scrawny and unloved. The old man likely never would have given it a second thought, as the cat believed. With it being the only one left and after they witnessed the terribleness of the physically beautiful cats, they decided to take care of it. By being given kindness and love, the kitten grew to be a fine cat and both it and the couple were happy. Again, vanity plays in. Look beyond the book cover, and all.

Therefore, this story could be pretty much ANYTHING to a child. In the end, you must be the judge.

A tale of a man who, looking for a cat, finds too many. For any animal-lover, this is a secret dream, an embarrassment of riches. Millions of Cats sends that dream to the glue factory. The laws of nature state that, when a population becomes larger than available resources can support, conflict ensues. In a scene reminiscent of the enormous slaughter at Verdun, acres upon acres of fuzzy, fuzzy kitties flip out switchblade claws and tear each other apart. All for a chance to enter an exclusive Shangri-La: the happy home of the peasant farmer and his sturdy wife. The sole survivor is found hiding under a bush, the last of his race. He is an inverted Jesus, an unblemished lamb for whose sake all of his kind must die. A kitty Anti-Christ, if you will. Who, through his cunning feint, has gained dominion over the feline earth.

And where are the corpses of the slain? How can that hapless peasant keep his shoes dry as he surveys the site of the recent battle? The truth is clear to the careful reader: the Omega Cat has eaten the bodies and drank from the blood. A demonic Eucharist to profane the very soil, the anointing feast for a Dark Prince of Cats. The unwitting peasant knows not what evil he welcomes into his home. And yet, the final scene of domestic bliss offers hope to a world wracked with bloody regional wars: even after death on an incomprehensible scale, life goes on.

Great Christmas gift for your little ones. Goes great with a new puppy.

I had heard that I should read Gogol from a friend, but this friend has a Master's in English Lit so I thought it might be a little over my head. To my happy surprise I loved all of the short stories. Gogol is really good at creating interesting, complex characters within a few pages, and his understanding of human nature really shines through. I also thought that I would be put off by some of the unreal elements in the stories, as i tend not to like magical realism or fantastical stories, but with Gogol I did not mind. It is kind of like hearing a bed time story or a fable. Most importantly, his stories are entertaining. For those of you who are looking to diversify your reading, I would really recommend this book.

While Dostoevsky said, "We have all come from under 'The Overcoat'," western literature, especially because of the Cold War sentiment has put Gogol and his fantastic tales hidden under an overcoat. It is a shame that Gogol, especially "The Overcoat" and "The Nose," has been hidden or underpresented (nice word, eh?) for so long, especially since he seems to be Poe with a deep social commentary. Or maybe Poe is Gogol with a lyric bent for the macabre.

The Overcoat is a beautifully told story that will not allow you to look at people the same way, especially those who might be ostracized. While Akaky is a figure from 19th century Russia, he is very much a character that can be found in the 21st century. Moreover, when Gogol tells about the druken tailor with his witchy wife and the smell of onions, the reader at once pictures the dreadful wench and the overpowering smell of fried onions. And when the commissioner berates Akaky, it is hard not to almost faint in fear, or be outraged. Gogol is a master of stirring the human emotions and mixing them with vivid descriptions making for stories that a reader cannot forget.

The Nose is a very funny story, much of which gets lost in translation and in time. But the idea of a vain official losing his nose only to have it turn up as a mid-level bureaucrat is still relevant in this world of middle management. What a tremendous story tale of human vanity and what a surreal tale that seemed to spawn the likes of Bulgakov's "Heart of a Dog," and "Master and Margarita."

The four stories in this collection contrast a precise realism - whether it is the evocation of place and atmosphere, or a description of civil service procedure - with narratives of absurdity, fantasy and pure comedy. If the classic 19th century novel, as epitomised by the likes of Tolstoy, mirrored a world-view that society, people or history could be known and adequately represented in fiction, than Gogol reveals the impossibility of applying that model to Russia - his is an unstable, constantly metamorphosing, fluctuating and seemingly random universe. Whereas the apparatus of order, such as bureaucracy or the justice system only weave chaos, or, at best, a parody of order; Gogol's primary device for destabilising the familiar world is narration. If the 19th century novel was related by a third-person, voice-of-God narrator, who knew everything about the generalities of empires and the most intimate thoughts of chambermaids, than Gogol's narrators dance constantly on the brink of madness, inopportunely professing ignorance, amnesia and prejudice, their prose styles febrile, staccato and grotesque.

The 'straightest' story in this collection is 'Old-Fashioned Farmers', a tragicomic story of old age, marriage and superstition, which, in its nostalgic and detailed evocation of a vanished period in Russian provinical life, looks ahead to Nabokov's ravishing memoir 'Speak Memory', albeit laced with a comic and satiric irony the later book lacks. The long 'How The Two Ivans Quarrelled' pinpoints the pettiness of the lower gentry's notions of pride and honour, as two lifelong friends become bitter enemies when one calls the other a 'goose'. This hilarious tale of small-town pretensions and inept local government includes the priceless scene of a fat brown sow breaking into the courthouse and stealing the petition of its owner's antagonist.

The famous 'Overcoat' is often considered one of the greatest stories ever written, and the way Gogol manages to avoid sentimentality in the story of an insignificant middle-aged clerk whose routine and despised life is briefly illumined by the purchase of a specially made new overcoat he can ill afford, and which is soon stolen, is admirable. The lunge into nightmare and the savage satire of the Russian civil service remain shocking. The standout story for me, though, is 'The Nose', which plays like Kafka rewritten by Mark Twain, in which a barber finds a nose in his breakfast, and its owner wakes up with a smooth face. With the most glorious deadpan comedy, Gogol describes the loss and the procedures to find it as if it were a wallet: at another point, the Nose is found disguised as a councillor attempting to flee the city by horse.

The translations ('The Nose' by Gleb Struve, an early translator of Nabokov, and his wife Mary; the others by Isabel F. Hapgood) are readable, retrieving Gogol's brisk comic pace and some of his incongruities of language. There is a use of cliches in Hapgood's 1886 transations, however, that can't always be credited to Gogol's deflating method, and which make certain passages feel flat.

I agree with those fans of this story who proclaim it to be the greatest short story ever. First, "The Overcoat," at 35 pages or so, has more thematic density than most novels. Second, it's funny. Third, it takes unpredictable twists and turns that suggest a madman or a genius at work. The premise is that a poor nebbish office worker saves all his money to buy a stylish overcoat, which affords him increased social status and personal self-esteem and as such the overcoat is like someone buying a BMW to impress everyone. Of course, pursuing a self-image through materialism is a chimera and will result in a Faustian Bargain. Indeed, the Devil appears in this story and indeed there is disenchantment in a story that is prescient in its ability to capture the advertising age and the promises of rabid consumerism as a false form of self-transcendence. Then there's the story's mysterious ending, which no critic can agree upon. Is the ending a ghost story, a metaphor, something else entirely? I would couple this "chimera" story with F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece"Winter Dreams," which is a microcosm of his novel The Great Gatsby, also about a man who, like the antihero in "The Overcoat," relies on image more than substance.

If you like Dostoyevsky you should read The Overcoat. Its the best russian novel I have ever read. Well ... or Crime and Punishment. Its short, but still it contain so much.

Jane Austen is the most amazing author. The Plot is good and the writting brillant. This goes on my list of top ten best book ever written. Emma is nothing but entertaining, adorable, romantic ,and everything wonderful. I have read a lot of books so I know what I'm talking about. I highly recommend this book.

I can never decide whether Pride and Prejudice or Emma is my favourite book by Jane Austen. Emma has all the Jane Austen hallmarks - wit, exuberance, and laugh out loud moments, coupled with realistic, well drawn characters and a real feeling of being in the Regency (which is hardly surprising, as that's when the book was written).
Emma is a spoiled young woman who has everything she can possibly want in life: a doting father who lets her do as she pleases, friends, family and a beautiful home. She is understandably please with herself, and this leads to complications as she tries to sort out everyone else's life. She's meddling and interfering, and yet so well meaning she comes across as a likeable character rather than as a busybody.
She takes up Harriet, a young woman of doubtful birth, and encourages her to set her sights on Mr Elton, the local vicar, as a future husband. Poor Harriet is completely bowled over by Emma, and is persuaded to like Mr Elton over the farmer's son she is really in love with. Emma is oblivious to the fact that Harriet and Mr Elton are completely unsuited, and that Harriet and her farmer are made for each other.
Through a variety of hilarious scenes, Emma comes to realize she doesn't know as much as she thought, and learns that it's better to let other people manage their own lives.
The minor characters are wonderful: Mrs Elton with her barouche landau (anyone who's read the book will know what I mean), sweet Miss Bates, and dreadful Mr Elton, who has designs on Emma.
Eventually, Emma learns how to understand her own feelings, and leaves everyone else free to listen to theirs, which leads to a satisfying ending all round.
Hugely enjoyable.

I read the book to my two children and they simply looked at me and said ..."bears don't get divorced!" I think it is unrealistic and they're aren't any coping tools to resolve issues the PARENTS often create for the children after divorce or separation. It is cute but they seemed to have a hard time identifying with bears getting divorced.

This book was helpful for my 5 & 7 year olds during divorce, but it contained things they will not experience, so that started more insecurity issues. Still had good ways to handle tough situations.

This book has been wonderful for discussing divorce in a nurturing way with a 5 year old. It is a favorite at bedtime, and is well written for young children. I highly recommend it for anyone who needs to answer childrens' questions about divorce.

Koko has become my daughter's favorite book. The book answers the questions that she has, validates her feelings and focuses on the issues that she is concerned about-pick up and drop off, dinner, bedtime. It is well written and perfect for 5-7 year old children. I was recommended Dinosaur Divorce by several people (without children)-my daughter is not ready for learning about stepparents or money issues. Koko bear is just what we were looking for.

very good book for a older child i would not recommend for a young child

My son was so excited because we planted seeds a nd watched what happened in "real' life as explained by the book.

We were given a copy of "Magic Schoolbus and the Ocean Floor" as a gift. I then bought "Dinosaurs" and "Senses." There is a difference between the books written only by Joanna Cole and the later books that are basically a comic-book version of the TV show. It takes us a solid 45 minutes to read "Senses", and I even learned some facts. "Plants Seeds" is about a 15 minute read-aloud. I say stick with the earlier books.

As a 3rd Grade School Teacher, I found this book instrumental to my lessons on plant life. Ms. Drizzle and her class answer many of the questions my students come up with before we've read the book so I know that we're reading the right materials for our lessons. Great series for the imagination and for provoking interest in the sciences early in the child's development.

I enjoyed this book very much because it is such a fun way to learn about science. This is the first of many Magic School Bus books I purchased, and I've been hooked ever since.

Many themes of Anna Karenina are timeless: marriage, infidelity, the roles of men and women, personal fulfillment, honor, spirituality, and naturalism. If that isn't enough, then Tolstoy offers an 18th-century look at Russian society and culture, still well before the run-up to the revolution. Don't look to Tolstoy for enlightened feminism, although one of the characters argues for education and equality for women, and one of the minor threads relates to the status of peasants.

Tolstoy is not especially subtle in portraying his characters, full of emotion and conflict. Nobody is idealized, yet all still prompt some sympathy. The main characters are so richly drawn. Anna's decline was inevitable, but it's the loss of someone far from pure evil, with her significant talents and deep capacity for love.

Read Brothers Karamazov and Anna K at around the same time, as I did, and you'll get an excellent opportunity to compare two of the greatest Russian novelists head-to-head. Two thousand pages well spent.

I'm probably one of the very few people who read this classic without having a clue as to the ending (no, never saw the movie--still haven't) ... so it was a genuine surprise and it rocked me. The opening line is a killer ... nothing else like it in all of literature. Although I prefer Dostoevsky to Tolstoy, this is a genuine masterpiece.

It's really hard to understand sometimes! Anna Karenina is the famous Tolstoy tale of a wife who has an affair. At first, I wanted to quit it was such a difficult read, but once I got through it, I loved it. I have to say, I thought Kitty and Levin's relationship was really cute, especially when they finally kissed! I was super-sad when Anna killed herself, it just sucked that was so sorrowful that she felt the need to die. I didn't really like Vronsky, he seemed sort of like a jerk who just lost interest in Anna, after she left her husband and son for him. I like the parallels between Anna and Levin. Sometimes, it did get a little boring, like when Levin worked with some peasants in a field, it took like, a huge portion of the book to explain about the field-work. Also, I got a little confused when Levin started to believe in God. All in all, a good read, not for those who get bored easily, though.

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." That line opens and sets the tone of "Anna Karenina," a tangled and tragic tale of nineteenth century Russia. Tolstoy's story of lovers and family is interlaced with razor-sharp social commentary and odd moments that are almost transcendent. In other words, this is a masterpiece.

When Stepan Oblonsky has an affair with the governess, his wife says that she's leaving him, and now the family is about to disintegrate. Stepan's sister Anna arrives to smooth over their marital problems, and consoles his wife Dolly until she agrees to stay. But on the train there, she met the outspoken Countess Vronsky, and the countess's dashing son, who is semi-engaged to Dolly's sister Kitty.

Anna and Vronsky start to fall in love -- despite the fact that Anna has been married for ten years, to a wealthy husband she doesn't care about, and has a young son. Even so, Anna rejects her loveless marriage and becomes the center of scandal and public hypocrisy, and even becomes pregnany by Vronsky. As she prepares to jump ship and get a divorce, Anna becomes a victim of her own passions...

That isn't the entire story, actually -- Tolstoy weaves in other plots, about disintegrating families, new marriages, and the melancholy Levin's constant search for God, truth, and goodness. Despite the grim storyline about adultery, and the social commentary, there's an almost transcendent quality to some of Tolstoy's writing. It's the most optimistic tragic book I've ever read.

For some reason, Tolstoy called this his "first novel," even though he had already written some before that. Perhaps it's because "Anna Karenina" tackles so many questions and themes, and does so without ever dropping the ball. No wonder it's so long and imposing -- Tolstoy covered a lot of ground in here.

And while "Anna Karenina" was not the first book he wrote, it is probably the deepest and most moving. Tolstoy steeps the book in social commentary, and his personal philosophies. It's also one of those books that takes a very long time to move itself forward -- Tolstoy's writing is slow and ponderous, with a lot of serious discussion about religion and relationships. But his intense, slightly rough writing is worth it.

In some tragic books, you get the feeling that the author really despises his characters, and doesn't really care what happens to them. Tolstoy never gives you that feeling -- no matter how annoying his characters are, they always have something interesting or endearing. No caricatures at all -- even Anna's irritating, arrogant brother is given some quirks to make him seem real.

Oddly enough, the most moving character here is not Anna, but Konstantin Levin -- the tortured, passionate landowner is so earnest that it's difficult not to care about him. Apparently he was Tolstoy's alter ego, which explains his depth. But Anna and Vronsky are strong leads, a passionate pair who are both selfish and seductive, but never boring.

A beautiful look at living right vs. living wrong, "Anna Karenina" is a truly magnificent book. This book is undoubtedly Tolstoy's opus, and a stunning look at human nature.

Half the content is elaborate banal detail used to establish context, but in it's more consequential moments this novel is the final word on the disingenuous nature of institutionalized aspects of social behaviour. It's a theme I've pondered and seen touched on in a few other books, but I was blown away by how comprehensively Tolstoy articulates and extrapolates my own thoughts.
This novel is primarily a work of philosophy, using the characters to illustrate social observations at the expense of a fully cohesive narrative.
It's difficult to understand how fans of classic fiction, who generally consider "reading" a neccessity for respectable people, don't take offense to this book as it seems to be constantly critcizing that kind of cultural pretense.
Another interesting thing I got from the book is how culture 100+ years ago doesn't seem as formal and conservative as I had previously been led to believe. Parents were already complaining about tradition falling out of favor among the younger generation and governmental red-tape was already something criticized as getting in the way of practical goals. On the other hand the doctors of the era are presented as having no medical knowledge whatsoever.
my fave quote:
"The word talent, which they understood to mean an innate and almost physical capacity, independent of mind and heart, and which was their term for everything an artist lives through, occurred very often in their conversation, since they required it as a name for something which they did not at all understand, but about which they wanted to talk."

I admire Doris Lessing's style and prose. With that, yes, I enjoyed the book. The detail, insight, frailties and humor are wonderful. I stopped short of five stars - my opinion only - because I would have preferred a shorter version. The author, however, makes no apology and rightfully so for it's length. I would recommend this book to young men and women who want to validate their own emotions and understanding of relationships, and to older women and men to better understand where their relationships have taken them. I am now ready to read more of Doris Lessing and her wonderful style.

My book club chose this book. Otherwise I don't think I would have made it through the entire 600 plus pages. The story was depressing and the main character seemed depressed and jumping into bed with whomever she happed to meet. The story jumped between people and the notebooks the author (main character) was keeping. Was not an enjoyable book.

I belong to a book group of highly literate, intelligent older women, some of whom are themselves writers and teachers, all with strong social and cultural concerns. Though a few of us had read some Doris Lessing years ago when she won the Nobel Prize for Literature we decided to read and discuss one of her works. It was my month to lead the discussion and I selected her most well known work, The Golden Notebook.

After reading about sixty pages of this 640 page volume, I knew that I being the leader would probably be the only one of the dozen members of our group who would plow through to the end. Lessing is a fine writer, her descriptions make things come alive, her sensitivity to the terrible social injustices in Africa, the arrogance of the young, and the atrocities of the group think of Communism are extremely well portrayed, but the complete self absorption and lack of compassion or caring for any individual other than herself, becomes extremely tiring and truly boring, to the point that I wanted to shout--"Come on, get a life." I too, was a thinking adult in 1962 (the date of the books original publication), and yes, there was horrific social and racial injustice, terrible selfishness and stultifying patriarchal and cultural stratification, in many places there still is, but everyone else in this world is not all bad. Please, please, please show some humanity. Have you no sympathy, no empathy? Sexual liberation is one thing, but emotional balance is lacking. Love in this book is only gratification of one's own desire. Maybe this is the point of the novel. To show the basic self absorption of someone who is trying to buck the system. To show the evils of the world. After all, Lessing wrote that true art was to expose the depths of pain. Perhaps. But I believe there is something to be said for art that uncovers beauty in a broken world.

In this work Anna, the protagonist, wrote her different colored Notebooks to demonstrate the fragmentation of her life. But her inability to get beyond herself did not hold my interest or empathy and though I agree that Lessing is extremely talented and obviously dedicated to creating literature to depict the way she knows the world, I am saddened that hers is one of cynicism despair. In this novel the gift of golden notebook at the end seems contrived and unconvincing. If life to Lessing means nihilistic terror into nothingness, she has captured it in her art.

I am a long time fan of Doris Lessing. However, for me, this is her greatest work. It tackles a myriad of issues and is just as relevant today as it was then and would have been a hundred years before.

I could see myself in her protagonist Anna Wulf when I read this book 20 years ago and, upon re-reading it recently, I find even more insights now.

Certainly, one of the greatest novels ever written. I was surprised to see several negative reviews on this page. My thought would be, a novel you cannot stomach in your youth will open wide vistas ten or twenty years later.

The negative reviewers probably just haven't reached the right time in their lives to grasp just how amazing this book is.

Interestingly, most of the eye-popping concepts of Erica Jong's "Fear of Flying" (1973) seem to be touched upon by this 1962 publication.

Four notebooks are the concentration of this novel. After meeting Anna and Molly outside of the notebooks and their review of their respective children and former spouses, we go through the colorful journals: black notebook (African experience in youth); red notebook (years in communism and falling out); yellow notebook (about heroine Ella who is a mixture of Anna and Molly); and the personal diary kept in the blue notebook. Each has its own story, own style and own purpose.

The greatest theme throughout the book is inequality: blacks in Africa; women everywhere; rich bourgeoisie against working people - Communism's core. Molly and Anna are born privileged but female. They have a bone to pick in spite of their economic advantage. They are active participants in Communism. This revolution was important to their characters as well as the author because, as the yellow notebook's fictional man tells its protagonist Ella, "My dear Ella, don't you know what the great revolution of out time is? The Russian revolution, the Chinese revolution - they're nothing at all. The real revolution is, women against men."

And amid the revolutions is universally acceptable incognizance. "If we had ears that could hear, . . .the air would be full of screams, groans, grunts and gasps. But, as it is, there reigns over the sunbathed veld the silence of peace." Stories in the books list many inequitable and inappropriate stories of people being fired, humiliated and even murdered for gross misperceptions by their peers.

Anna is a 21st century woman living in the mid-20th century. Free sex and being a single mother are but two characteristics. She works and supports her family and succeeds in a man's world of writing literature. Lessing's personal life followed this unique path - something which makes this novel and writer extremely educating and provocative.

Long winded at times, this book delves deeply into the psyche of Anna - more than perhaps I would have cared. But, the writing cleanly handles these introspections without arduous tasks placed upon the reader. Like a valuable Persian rug - this is a well woven fabric without sophisticated materials - and will endure. This book touches upon the feminist topic like few others had before it, and perhaps is one of the best fictional works to approach this endearing topic of English literature.

I wish that the book was shorter :( Especially because it's 387 pages and I have to write a report on it (10 paragraphs on 10 quotes from the story that I believe show the importance of the story in the next 10 days :( YUCK! However, it still hasa very interesting storyline that is very very detailed :D

This is an excellent coming-of-age book with which many people will be able to relate. I will admit, the beginning was rather grueling, but looking back, I am glad I finished the book. Dickens has a fabulous vocabulary and an excellent sense of people. The characters are dynamic and quite various. I would recommend this book to other scholars.

Great Expectations is an amazing novel that truly upholds the style of literature found during the Victorian period. Although some parts are the book were less adventuresome in comparison to other sections, the book over all was quite pleasant to read. If you like a little thrill and narratives that grasp your attention and have huge climactic endings, then Great Expectations is for you!

Without a doubt this has to be one of the greatest novels of all time. I won't say it's the best just because once a work of art attains greatness I find it quite incomparable to other great works. Great works are ones which have fully succeeded in expressing the emotions and convictions of the artist, and without a doubt Great Expectations acheives this. Unfortunately I only hold this view of the book containing the original ending, which was not the originally published ending. (spoiler) The original ending at first seems sad and frustrating, but one can't help but to feel satisfied in knowing that through suffering Estella had gained a heart, which is much more than she would have gained through a cold and heartless relationship with Pip. The happy ending which was published is almost a fairtale ending and it perverts the themes which make the novel so relevant to reality. I must admit, like Dickens' friends and publisher, the original ending was hard for me to swallow, but as I dwelt on it and how it related to the novel, no other ending seemed appropriate, especially not a happy one.

Well, i have read all of the previous reviews, and it is apparant that people either love this book or hate this book. I was 15 when i first read this book, and have since read it again and it is probably my favorite book of all time. Yes, it is rather boring at times, and yes, it has a long, involved, and confusing plot, and yes, Charles Dickens gives very tedious descriptions of everything. But the morals and meanings portrayed in this book far outshine the faults. If you cannot find them, then it will most likely be boring and dull. If you can, it will probably become one of your alltime favorites.

This workbook is effective in helping people who suffer from an addiction to cutting limit if not completely stop their urge to cut.

Stopping the Pain: A Workbook for Teens Who Cut & Self-Injure

As a counselor I have found this book a valuable source in helping the teens I see with SI. Easy format and the teen actually enjoy working through the book and discussing it.

I bought this book for my daughter, we are learning about self injury, unfortunately where I live, there is almost any information about SI, when my daughter opened this book, she didn't wanna stop reading it, there are a lot of interesting excercises that help teens to understand what they're going thru, and it says them what to do, to learn to live free and be happy, without having to hurt themselves, I give 5 stars to this book, it's great.