Fiction Literature Books

I jumped into this book mainly to work on reading lists that i had seen it appear on. I did have the vague idea that most people do of what it is about, but would of been hard pressed to really give any serious detail of the story before hand. So after a little research i jumped in, and this was my experience.
While the novel overall was good, i must admit that I was very glad when it was finally finished. The tale follows several different characters and the different fates that they have according to the choices they have made. The characters are very well drawn out, although today many would be considered somewhat stock. I think it will be a long time before I forget Tom, Eva, or St.Clare for instance. The tale does set up a brillant bit of emotional drama, and brings forth a moral tale in such a way i'm almost shocked that it was so popular. In today's society I can't imagine that a story with such strong overtone's would be successful. The writing today is still clear and fairly easy to read. The quality of the prose and the sentances to have their moments as well. Sometimes the religion and the moralizing does come on very strongly, but along with the sentimentalness one can forgive the author when realizing the massive evil insitution she was facing.
This is probably not a book that the average reader will read for kicks. However, from a literary and historical perspective it is quite great. It is slightly scary to imagine where the world would have been without it as well.

For whatever reasons, I'm one of those who, over the years, never gave "Uncle Tom's Cabin" much thought. I'm afraid I dismissed the book based on the derogatory cliche of describing a complacent black man as an Uncle Tom. What a pleasure to find how wrong I was.

Although the style of narration, the punctuation style of the day and the evolution of contractions, compound words and other bits of syntax show this book to be from the mid 1800s, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is a modern novel. It is largely without the stifling level of detail offered in other books of the time, and it pushes the concept of omniscient narrator (perhaps along the lines of Vonnegut in "Breakfast of Champions") to a level that would likely be absurd in another story and purpose.

And Harriet Beecher Stowe did have a purpose - a daring, countervailing, completely forward-thinking challenge to the complacency of the day. The action of the story concludes in the second-to-last chapter. In the last chapter, called simply "Concluding Remarks," Stowe, referring to herself in third person, explains how she came to write the book, and in so doing pulls the reader beyond the realm of fiction in order to cap off her sermon. And a 500-page sermon is exactly what "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was and is.

To quote Stowe from the last chapter, "For many years of her life, the author avoided all reading upon or allusion to the subject of slavery, considering it as too painful to be inquired into, and one which advancing light and civilization would certainly live down. But, since the legislative act of 1850, when she heard, with perfect surprise and consternation, Christian and humane people actually recommending the remanding escaped fugitives into slavery, as a duty binding on good citizens,- when she heard, on all hands, from kind compassionate and estimable people, in the free states of the North, deliberation and discussions as to what Christian duty could be on his head,- she could only think, These men and Christians cannot know what slavery is; if they did, such a question could never be open for discussion. And from this arose a desire to exhibit it in a LIVING DRAMATIC REALITY [emphasis the author's]. She has endeavored to show it fairly, in the best and worst phases. In its BEST [emphasis the author's] aspect, she has, perhaps, been successful; but, oh! Who shall say what yet remains untold in that valley and shadow of death, that lies the other side?"


Within the narrative arts can be found a gray area between complete fiction and straightforwrad documenting. Within this area itself is a fine line of storytelling that sheds the fluff factor of fiction and the yawn factor of documentation. A story told along this line is not only compelling but offers to the receiver of the story a glimpse of what a life in the world depicted by the story must have been like. Or at the very least might have been like. This glimpse, whatever else it is, will be visceral, allowing the reader an actual emotional link. Finding this line is hard, staying on it harder and pulling off a finished work while remaining true to the line harder still. This is what Stowe did, a century before such a point of view emerged again in Americam media.

As such, Stowe explains that many of the characters are based on real people - yes, there really was a man as horrible as Simon Legree - and that most of the events in the book were based on true events known to her personally or through trusted reporting. This novelizing of reality was so compelling the book would be translated into twenty-two languages.


It would be relatively easy to take sentences and paragraphs out of context and reach the conclusion that Stowe decried slavery while holding the black race paternalistically. It's very possible to find any number of passages and label them as apologetic and paternalistic. There is, in fact, paternalism throughout the story, but this is a reflection of America ten years before the Civil War; and by the end of Stowe's "Concluding Remarks" this paternalism is gone.

I would describe the main apologist, St. Clare, who is keenly aware of the state of his own culture, as more of a rationalist. By making this character so, Stowe is able to open our eyes, as she opened many eyes of the day, to the subtler forms of defacto slavry - not at all to excuse slavery in general as some kind of natural order, but to bear witness to those toiling in other forms of captured work.

In 1851 the scullery maid of an English country home was not a slave, of course. Her employment was voluntary, after all, and at the end of a year she would have a few schillings to her name. But economically, perhaps even geographically, her freedom was largely unavailable to her, and so while not a slave under the law, the other side of her employment was the delivery of herself to twelve- or fifteen-hour days of scrubbing pots and pans. The delivery of herself to, at the end of any of those days, climbing three or four flights of a rear stairs to a garret; to a social life limited to the kitchen staff, which itself was a hierarchy that lorded over her; to little hope of marriage, if that's what she wanted, or to any sort of a life she might call her own. Why? To keep from starving to death.

And think about this today. Are you watching a 27" color TV with full remote that cost $199? Do you honestly think that set could have been made, boxed, shipped to a port in Asia, shipped by boat to the US, shipped by train and truck to your local StuffMart and sold to you profitably for one or two day's wages while every worker along the way was treated fairly? Do you care?


For the vast majority of those reading this review slavery is an abstracted and distant topic. It is a practice from a long ago past that might be given two meetings in a high school American History class, a cursory survey from which students might understand the concept of the economics of buying, selling and breeding human beings, from which they might be encouraged to imagine the suffering implicit to such practices.

Stowe's great achievment in writing "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was to belie the nuts and bolts, the mere logistics and schematics of slavery. She established for the reader the point of view of the slave, of a human life set against the legally sanctioned bureaucracy of slavery. She successfully depicted a person - an individual, a human being - sold as a product, warehoused as a product, transported as a product, and then set to use as an organic machine that was discarded and replaced when it broke. More to the point, she allows us glimpses into the inner lives, thoughts and prayers of those sold, warehoused, transported and used up while their ties to family and place, while their smallest hopes, are given credence only as an afterthought that may never coalesce. Only if, after having purchased a brother or a mother, there should be enough money remaining to buy the sister or the child. Only if it should be convenient and expedient for the planter to do so, only if it should strike that planter's fancy one particular afternoon but
not another.

This book is as meaningful today, in new ways, as it was in 1851, and that is wholly remarkable.

This novel delivers the truth of the horrifying effects of slavery on both the slave and the master; delivering the message that slavery is damaging to society as a whole. 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' is a historic classic but it is also very relevant for today. I believe this novel should be read by everyone so that slavery will always be understood as a terrible and frightening condition that affects entire societies. Also, 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' is not a difficult read; the writing feels fresh and it is truly a page-turner.

I think this book deserves the status of a classic due to the issues it addresses and the impact it has had on society. However, from a literary standpoint, the novel is merely average. Stowe is to be admired for her boldness and willingness to write a novel that deals so honestly with the evils of slavery. My critique here is that Stowe's mechanics and style are weak and make for clumsy reading. This book is one that I recommend, but don't expect a masterpiece in terms of literary prowess--do expect a moving depiction of the reprehensible abuse and mistreatment of slaves that will stay with you.

1. SLAVERY WASN'T SO BAD AFTER ALL. I was surprised to find out that this book supported slavery. Of course, you have to wade through the melodrama and Christian speechifying -- about 95% of the book -- to get at Ms Stowe's thesis, but once you do it becomes clear. To Ms Stowe, slavery and capitalism are just different manifestations of evil human greed (St. Claire's speech, pp 239-241 in my edition). Old slavers who whipped their charges to death must be smiling now, knowing that they're being compared to the Rockefellers, Carnegies, and Bill Gates.

Ms Stowe deems many factors that separate capitalism and slavery to be irrelevant. The fact that under capitalism families weren't separated is irrelevant. The fact that people could emigrate freely is also irrelevant. The fact that people were not forced off their farms and into the cities is irrelevant. The fact that proletariat, even in Ms Stowe's day, were protected by labor laws is irrelevant. The fact that life expectancy for the proletariat increased vis à vis farmers is irrelevant. The fact that the proletariat were not chosen for racist reasons is irrelevant. The fact that a worker could become an entrepreneur and eventually a capitalist is also irrelevant.

2. CHRISTIANITY DOESN'T CONDEMN SLAVERY. Ms Stowe does a fine job (inadvertently) of showing that Christianity contains doctrine that supports slavery, and no doctrine that outright condemns it.

3. AMERICA IS FOR AMERICAN INDIANS. Ms Stowe states at the end of chapter 43 that Topsy, after receiving a decent Christian upbringing, became a teacher in "her own country" -- Africa. Ms Stowe believes that Africa is Topsy's country because she is descended from Africans, and conversely that the United States is not Topsy's country. Of course, if one were to apply the same logic to everyone in the U.S., only native Americans would pass the test. Pack your bags everyone!

This is a classic American novel that postulated what might happen in the U.S. at a time (1935) when fascism was on the rise. The parallels to our times today are too close to ignore.

The first reviewer, Charles Haberl, does an excellent job describing the content of this insightful book and rightly draws the similarities to our own times.

I only wish to add a few points:

First of all, Sinclair Lewis drew his inspiration for writing this book from his wife, Dorothy Thompson. Dorothy was a journalist born in New York and was listed along with Eleanor Roosevelt as one of the two most influential women in America by "Time" magazine in 1939. Dorothy was outspoken against the Hitler regime and became the first American journalist to be expelled from Nazi Germany, and folks, this was in 1934! Hitler hadn't even shown his hand yet! AND, interestingly enough, an astute Dorothy Thompson wrote an article after WWII "cautioning American Jews about Zionism as it would lead to dual loyalty". Today, we see this dual loyalty in the Neo-cons who have sold their American soul to their militant worshipping satan...

The title of the book, "It Can't Happen Here", about "it happening here" is an obvious political knock on those who actually think this can't happen in the USA. Under Dorothy Thomnpson's influence, Sinclair Lewis was shown how fragile democracy is and how easity it can be subverted as detailed in Charles Haberl's review above. This book is also mentioned in the book, Dictators, Democracy, and American Public Culture: Envisioning the Totalitarian Enemy, 1920s-1950s as being part of the culture in the American dictatorship milieu (see my reveiew of that relevant work).

The other thing I found very interesting about "It Can't Happen Here" is the mention by Sinclair Lewis of "Protocols of the Elders of Zion". Perhaps this is the pamphlet that served as Lewis's blueprint for the tactics used by his dictatorship regime.

And finally, I'd like to point out one final, but most pertinent contemporary parallel of Lewis's dictatorship: "...in a couple of years now, ON THE GROUND OF PROTECTING US, the Buzz Windrip dictatorship will be regimenting everything, from where we may pray to what detective stories we may read".

Why is it that so few people can see through this TERROR, TERROR, TERROR, mantra of our current administration?

This is one of the most unusual offerings from novelist Sinclair Lewis. Unlike many of his previous books, it was written in great haste and the subject matter is exclusively related to electoral politics. In some respects, the material is dated, unlike other totalitarian nightmare novels like "1984" and "Brave New World," because it is set in a fixed place and time. The election in contest is that of 1936 and the question to be answered is whether or not voters weary of the Great Depression are prepared to sacrifice individual liberties and accept fascist dictatorial rule.

Given the political climate in the contemporary USA, this warning from the past still seems relevant today. Too many people seem willing to follow the Pied Piper rather than asking questions and making difficult choices.

"It Can't Happen Here" is a staggering read, in terms of its unflinching cruel look at reality - the fact that something like what Sinclair Lewis describes can very easily happen here in America. Lewis' novel examines the very fragile nature of democracy and how everyday citizens can get swept up in the charisma of a fascist leader. What may make the novel even more astounding in premise is that it was written during the Great Depression before Hitler's most unfathomable intents were made known; much of what happens throughout America in the novel mirrors what happened in Nazi Germany with ordinary citizens turning a blind eye to injustice in the name of reform and prosperity.

The story is told mainly through the viewpoint of Doremus Jessup, the editor of a daily newspaper in a small Vermont village, who always tells the truth no matter what. He witnesses firsthand (and through radio and newswire accounts) the fervor that surrounds the presidential candidate, Buzz Windrip and rightfully fears what will happen to America when Buzz is elected. And with good reason, for Windrip's 'Fifteen Point Plan' includes an impossible scheme to make every citizen rich, except of course for the Jews and Negroes. With Buzz elected as president, America quickly becomes a nightmare of a dictatorship, with everything from speech to education being controlled, with subversives either killed or placed in concentration camps. How can Doremus tell the truth and provide for his family if it means putting everyone close to him in danger? Are one man's moral obligations to what is right worth sacrificing everything for? It's a question that Doremus struggles with throughout the novel.

Sinclair Lewis penned a brilliant and scary satire with "It Can't Happen Here", a story balanced by its odd wit and humor. But the story is too often sidetracked by its very own main character; parts of the story meander for pages with no apparent end in sight. It's almost as if Lewis had more to say on the subject but wasn't quite sure how to work it in to the story. Despite the setting of the mid-1930s, the truly frightening aspect of "It Can't Happen Here" is exactly how applicable it is to today's world. Readers will recognize certain fears and hysteria that have marked these few years since September eleventh, and in a year of presidential elections, this story may make readers think a little more carefully about the power of persuasion.

Lee Roscoe has recently (© 2005) adapted Sinclair Lewis's novel It Can't Happen Here to the stage. This play is a militant agitprop work and is available to people who want to produce it for an audience in a militant perspective to fight against the present erring developments of Bush's presidency and to advocate the necessity to impeach him and his vice-president as the last defense against their systematic attack on the Constitution, hence the American people and the World's population. This enables us to rediscover the plot imagined by Sinclair Lewis in the mid 30s who was afraid of the possibility for a populist candidate to become President of the US and lead the country to some kind of fascist dictatorship. Apparently this fear is being revived in the world, or rather in some countries by the war on terror launched by President Bush and that has brought some fairly frightening developments against basic civil rights: the possibility for the police to know what you borrow or check in and out in public libraries and the restriction under which the librarian is not to tell you about it; the negation of habeas corpus for a whole set of people who have been imprisoned in Guantanamo for years without any basic constitutional or plainly universally recognized rights like the possibility to communicate with the outside world, the right to have a lawyer, the right to be informed about the charges that are leveled at them, the right to be tried in a normal court in due time and following proper procedures, etc (the procedure is so unbelievably wrong that quite a few of these prisoners have been released without any charges after several years of detention amounting to so many years of suffering, social cultural or professional damage, and even psychological torturing, and no damages, compensation or reparation when released); and of course the normal reaction of some American people who believed what they were told and started leveling harsh words at opponents and even at times taking harsh measures against opponents. The text of this play is being circulated on the Internet. The same mindset is developing in other countries, like for instance in France where some consider that the election of Nicolas Sarkozy for instance is leading to the same kind of mechanism that will necessarily lead to a police state if not fascism.
The process imagined by Sinclair Lewis is simple: a populist elected candidate and the defense of the absolute freedom of all markets to liberate the creative energy of capitalism and get us out of all possible crises. This will lead to work camps for unemployed people; the ruin of all independent newspapers and the hunting down of all alternative expression and media as unpatriotic if not anti-patriotic; the ruin of all businesses that do not support the policy of the President; the creation of some kind of militia to keep an eye on everyone; the increase of the powers of this militia that would have authority over all other police forces and even over justice. Of course one of the first triggering elements this President would need is some menace from a foreign country, hence a war against this menacing country, be it true or imagined, and a designated accomplice inside the country defined as anarchist, communist or terrorist. And the old world is then perverted enough for fascism to be born in the very sanctuary of human rights and civil liberties, and then "M and M" becomes Militia Man.
It is interesting to see this revival. It reveals several elements that we must keep in mind if we want to understand what is happening in the world. People are really afraid of the future in this changing world. People are afraid of change because it precisely is change and comfort means no change.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine & Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne

I teach English for a living, and this is, by far, the best translation of the Odyssey that is out there. The audio version brings it to life and gets students to actually listen and read along, which isn't bad considering the story itself is over 2,000 years old and still quite a challenge to read. We skip a few books in class to keep interest up (books 2,3,4 are more about Telemachus,and book 11 is easily passed over) but the balance of the audio recordings are stellar. This is money well spent considering how many cds are in this package.

This is an absolutely fabulous product, but if you are not used to listening to audio books, I should give you a warning. This product is 11 CD's of one person speaking for about 13 hours. Can you imagine sitting down in the morning at home and staring at the wall for 13 hours while same voice goes on and on, all day and into the night? No, that won't work. So you at least have to break up the experience into chunks. Also, you might need to be doing something else as well, like walking or driving, so you don't drift off. What I did was listen while driving and intermingle other disks so I would not tire of the same voice. I would listen to one disk of the Odyssey, then I'd listen to a disk of music or a non-fiction lecture, then I'd put in another disk of the Odyssey.

However, the last 4 disks were so gripping I listened to them one after the other and could hardly wait for the next disk. Part of this was Ian McKellen's excellent, nay, masterful, enunciation and inflection. Part of the excitement is the climatic end when Odysseus returns home. Can you imagine a gripping 3 hour long buildup to the climatic moment when he reveals his return? Nothing else can compare!

I probably identified with the climax more now that I am middle-aged, with a home, a wife, and children approaching adulthood than I could have if I was a teenager listening to this or reading the book. There is little as primal to a mature man as the defense of his home and family.

It is astounding to experience a story this exciting and know it is about 2,800 years old.

I listened to this story on audio CD because I realized that I would never read this story because I have gone so far into my life without reading it yet. I'm very glad I listened to it instead of trying to read it. For one thing, how could I begin to pronounce so many Greek names? If you have started reading the book and put it down, try reading it by following along with this audio book. The audio book is abridged, but it is 13 hours long so I'm sure you would have a lot of text to follow along with.

If you think you know the story of the Odyssey because you've seen a movie based on the story, I will say the story by Homer is much grander and more full bodied than what has been depicted in movies. I'd go so far as to say the movies miss the real point of the Odyssey.

Robert Fagles has also translated the Aeneid and the Iliad. I've listened to those on audio CD as well and liked them all. I am a big fan of Derek Jacobi, who narrated the Iliad. I liked the Odyssey best of all.

Really liked this, the reading was outstanding and great translation by Robert Fagles. My son really enjoyed listening to it on a long road trip after plus it added to his understanding while he was reading it for English Class. I highly recommend this product.

For thousands of years this story has been told and retold.
The reason this story is still being told and still being heard is because it is so exciting and so very compelling.
It never grows old.
I have read and enjoyed this story from a leather bound book, but it is best heard spoken from a human voice. Ian McKellen is qualified as a modern day bard.

Unlike most movies and books of today, once will not be enough.
Those who listen to it will not be disappointed.

I'll not waste any time of yours with long and deserving praise for this telling of an ancient story, other than to say that should another day pass where you have stolen from yourself the opportunity to listen to this master storyteller lead you through a story written by a master, then only the Gods can forgive you.

Sir Ian Mckellan's performance is measured and beautiful, and there is no shame in a tear falling at the meeting of father and son for the emotion that comes through this practiced orator. I can say with a fair amount of confidence that the bards of old must have sounded like this - masters of their craft and able to bring the imaginations of their audience to life.

Not a moment longer - a treat awaits you...

Wiesner and his awesome illustrations bring this classic fairy tale to life in an extreme, off-the-page and out-of-the-story method, that ends the tale in an unusual fashion. The illustrations are amazing and hilarious. You don't even have to read the story to enjoy this.

This story is appropriate for children and adults; however, the reader should be very familiar with the content of the original tale of the three pigs. The characters are well developed. Instead of staying in the story, the pigs create their own ending. The quality of the language helps define the developed pigs' character. The illustrations help create the theme of the story and the meaning of the text. When text is provided in the story, the illustrations are accurate and consistent with the plot. At times, the text is absent. The illustrations consistS of real pictures of pigs and cartoon versions that provide clues to the action of the story. The format off the book is very appealing. The size of the book is large enough to capture the content in the story. The jacket expresses the theme of the book. By looking at the title page, the reader will anticipate the story by observing three pigs. The text size is attractive for all audiences.

David Wiesner...I have been checking all his books, ones that he wrote, and drew illustrations. I see same pattern in the stories, and he always leave some clew what he would write for the next book. This book was written after the book titled "Tuesday", and in the last page, there is a picture of pig flying. What a talented guy he is. My boys 2 and 5 years old love his books. I can't wait for his next work!

This is an excellent book on many levels, much better for a child who has been read to for at least a couple of years. The wonderment of seeing the three pigs, who they will already be familiar with, suddenly leap out of their story will be very exciting. It is not gruesome in any way (like some other books playing off "three little pigs"), and the perfect-length, nicely flowing text shows the versatility of David Wiesner, who has written amazing text-less books as well. The idea of the book is intellectual, but by using a wide variety of illustration styles, he executes his intentions most clearly and delightfully.

I am surely not surprised that David Wiesner has joined the world of modern art with this innovative story that jumps right off the pages. Ever heard of that expression: It is so real it jumps out of the pages? Wiesner plays with this concept and has the pigs come out of the pages. But I get ahead of myself. One does that with Wiesner in the picture, so to speak.

A three-time Caldecott winning children's illustrator, Wiesner is well known for his highly imaginative stories. I personally believe this is his MOST imaginative effort (even over "Flotsam," the 2007 Caldecott). Open the book and expect the unexpected.

I love that this version of the three little pigs begins with "Once upon a time there were three little pigs who went out into the world to seek their fortune." Wiesner skips the part about the mommy kicking them out. The story continues with the first pig in a straw house, the wolf blows it down....Wait, he blows the pig "right out of the story" and in the next frame, the line says "and ate the pig up." However, in Wiesner's version the wolf is sitting there, paw up, dismay on his face, looking for the pig who is no longer in the story.

Thus begins a most strange tale. With the next pig Wiesner has the first pig poke around the edge of the picture to tell his brother, "Come on--it's safe out here." That's all I will say of the story, but I will describe some of the action. Picture frames fold and float until the three pigs make airplanes of them on which they sail until they fall. The cat with the fiddle discovers them in the middle of a mish-mash of nursery rhyme characters and follows them into a dragon and knight story. See what I mean? Unlike the original which ends with the wolf falling into a pot of boiling water, this story has a happy ending. No wolves are hurt during the making of the book.

Children whose imaginations are encouraged to flow wild will love this book. If not, perhaps this book will be the impetus to jump-start that juice. As a librarian, when a child asks me how certain things can happen in a book, I give this standard answer: "Because the illustrator can do what he wants in his book (or hers)." That answer always satisfies.

About modern art: The modern artist recognizes that he is working on a flat canvas. He knows his viewer knows this. Instead of staying within the four lines of the frame of a canvas, the modern artist may do anything with that concept. The most famous, Picasso, took apart his subjects and reorganized those pieces into new forms, thus cubism. Wiesner simply takes his characters out of the pages, does new things with the pages, and recombines elements of other stories to create new stories. He certainly extends beyond the edges of the imagination with "The Three Pigs."

Great, easy, fun read. We also love Terrific Trains by the same team. Well written, not one I mind reading over and over.

I bought this for a 5 year old that loves planes. And he LOVES this book! He carries it round and talks about how it was when he rode on a plane. Really great book for kids that have flown, will fly, of just likes planes.

you cannot go wrong with these - not too long for parents to read and kids love them. amazing how a simple book like this sparks their curiosity about airplanes and how they ask lots of intelligent questions about airplanes by reading this book. Very well done.

My 2 yr old granddaughter loves airplanes. She really liked this book.

My 36 mo old daughter has loved airplanes since the first day she went onto one. I think by now she must have been on one 22 times as we go back and forth between the caribbean, North America and Europe. I bought 2 books to help her understand more about them, and to add variety to her library at home. It's a very good book for both boys and girls.

Master Harold and the Boys shows the growth and change in generation centered around the subject of slavery not only in parts of Africa as in the play but the message is applicable to people in the United States other areas in the world as well. The play might not be blatenly showing this idea but it can be seen through many aspects within the play such as the change in Harry demeanor towards Willie and Sam at different points in the novel. At the beginning Harry interacts with Sam and Willie. Harry changes his tone and actions towards Willie and Sam every time he gets off the phone with orders from his mother. He takes a commanding role over them just as a boss would and then tries to ease back into the freindly kid again after a while. The parents hired the two to work and for the most part it is insighted that the parents and Willie and Sam do not have a close relationship. Even as a child Harry was told not to play around in the servants quarters. Yet harry developed a well rounded and friendly relationship with the two. This shows how later generations are becoming less dependent on their parents for knowledge and look to learn through real life experience. Also the latest generation is not completley reliant on thier parents for knowledge of what is right and wrong. There are still many older people that have qualities of predjudism in some way or another yet that does not mean that thier children will have those qualities as well. Our society has evolved such that children are not taught to only listen to their parents but find answers in life for themselves much like Harry did about predjudism and equality and treating everyone of every color skin with respect. The same can not be said for his parents or even the past generations in our world and especially the United States. Without a growth through the generations such issues as equal rights may not have held as much importance without a believing and understanding audience that wants change from what thier parents grew up with. Overall I feel that this play has just illuminated such issues as these and shed light onto our ever changing world.

This is a must read for everyone. At only 60 pages, there is no good excuse for anyone not to sit down and take one hour to read this play. It is absolutely phenomenal and maintains an incredible build up until the emotionally strained, but extremely enveloping, crescendo.
Fugard wrote this drama as a way to make amends for something ignorant he had done as a teenager, and the play is considered a viable contribution to the problems of apartheid in South Africa (1950s).
Plain and simple, this short play packs a powerful punch. It is clever and brutally honest. It will leave you thinking about it long after it is done.
Highly recommended!

Our theater group decided to do this play this season. I'm ashamed to say I had not heard of it before and was a little dubious about it as a result. Boy, was I in for a shocker! It's a great, great play, full of humanity and pathos and humor and insight. I'll have seen it almost 20 times by the time our run is over and I know I'll wish I could have seen it more times. Everytime I watch it, I love it more and get more out of it.

This is the story of a young white man and the two older black men who work for his family in South Africa. They have been friends since the younger man was a toddler, but now the politics and racism of the larger world are getting in the way. Apartheid is never mentioned in the play--it's more a play about human relations than larger politics--but it looms in the background like a storm on the horizon. This play belongs on the first-tier of theater classics.

I just finished reading this play for school and really enjoyed it. I was usually used to reading Shakespeare plays which really didn't interest me whatsoever. Then, there are those new plays that also seem to always fall short of fun reads. Well, this short play with only 3 characters actually really interested me. It was sad, tragic, funny, and very interesting. It takes place in the 50s in South Africa where racism is everly strong. In this play, there are 2 black, middle aged men, and one teenage white boy. The black men work for the boy's parents in their company and right now the boy is there alone with them as his father is in the hospital and his mother is there caring for him. At first, the 3 men seem to get along but quickly enough, racism explodes onto the pages. You see this little white boy screaming at middle aged men, treating them like dogs, taking out his aggression on them...why?...because he can. Becauseracism is everywhere and you can do whatever you want to do them.
The play shows this white boy, for no apparent reason, turning from gentle and calm to angry and frustrated.
Note how the crippled father shows how his point of view is crippled, showing how racist he is.
Athol Fugard is a very talented writer and makes this short 1hour by yourself or 2hour oral reading in class a remarquable one.
All plays should be as provoative as this one but sadly they aren't, and I strongly recommend buying this little gem, as light as a feather, that you'll be rereading a lot.

Athol Fugard, 'Master Harold' ... and the boys. New York: Penguin. 1984. Originally produced in 1982 by the Yale Repertory Theatre.

Hally does not know who he is. The single white character on stage in South African-born playright Athol Fugard's one-scene work is the friend of his mother's two black employees when they tend to St George's Park Tearoom in her absence. But he is also their 'Master Harold'-reluctantly but inevitably-when the stress of his crippled, alcoholic father's homecoming impels him into an emotional space that one simply does not share with black folks. Perhaps is it the burden of dealing with human beings on the multiple levels that racism forces upon those who resent but ultimately accede to their required roles that embitters Hally beyond redemption.

Hally doesn't know several things. He is ignorant of the nobility with which Sam and Willie have battled for his dignity over the years of service to his family. He doesn't understand that even this virtue has its limits, beyond which dignity weighs more than the possibility of continuing friendship.

Hally doesn't understand that a night of dancing at the Eastern Province Open Dancing Championships is a thing of beauty rather than of entertainment, nor the hope that is nurtured in a space where for one night people never bump into each other.

'Master Harold', the title upon which he insists at the cost of everything that matters, will never know because he cannot learn. He is a million times more the victim of the 1950's racism in the land of Fugard's birth than any black man whom, when pushed beyond his modest emotional means, he shoves around. They, at least, leave this dark, sad drama with something.

Its pretty much just a book full of short stories, poems, and a few plays.

I learned so much with this book, it's so interesting. It offers a great selection of authors and writings, well-organized, easy to use and to understand. The delivery and the condition of the book were excellent. I'm very please with this buy.

A great book if you love literature. If I were stuck on a deserted island, and could only take one book, I would instinctively choose Poe or Whitman. In reality, I would probably choose this book since it covers so much in such a small package. Well, this book and a pen. I wont be able to yell at the authors if I can't write in the margins. :)

they made me buy it! but it was a lot cheaper at amazon than at the bookstore. the book was in good shape but it wasnt that great of a book. =D

I have taught English 102 this semester (Fall 06) using this text and find it both professor and student friendly. I love the organization, the division of genres, critical thinking approaches, etc. The interspersing of photographs, art, and the culturally diverse offerings in terms of literary examples make for an experience that is memorable all around.

It is a book that fosters independent thinking, out-of-the-box thinking. It encourages writing about literature in such a way that students don't feel this to be an impossible task. In short, it empowers students, both those who have an idea to go onward to upper division work in literature and/or writing and those students who thought that compostion classes were a "necessary evil."

It is a book that begs to be opened and used. My students tell me this is one they will not sell back at the end of the semester, but will keep in their personal libraries. THAT is saying something.

I think that the appeal of this book would be enhanced by a slightly lower price, but that is the only serious drawback.

Robbed of everything you desired most in life, how far would you go to revenge yourself on those who wronged you? What would you be willing to do? What would you be willing to give up? These are the central questions asked by "The Meaning of Night", an above-average historical thriller from Michael Cox. For Edward Glyver, the novel's narrator, revenge becomes an obsession and he will stop at nothing to punish his enemy. Despite being over 700 pages and written in a deliberately archaic style, "The Meaning of Night" is a quick and very entertaining read.

Some reviewers have compared this novel to Camus' "The Stranger" and Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment"; but while this work is certainly captivating, I don't think it rises to the level of greatness (hence 4, rather than 5 stars). For one thing, thanks to HEAVY foreshadowing, the second half of the book becomes too predictable to be really thrilling and certain "revelations" (the identity of Glyver's menacing pursuer, for example) are far from surprising. Furthermore, the psychological portrayal of Edward becomes somewhat unclear as the novel progresses - certainly he is meant to be a complex character, which I can appreciate, but at times his "complications" fell unfocused. Whether or not other reviewers agree with me on this point is certainly up for discussion and I don't want this critique to dissuade anyone from reading this book.

The bottom line is, "The Meaning of Night" is a very entertaining read and a superb showing from first-time novelist Michael Cox. However, this is not a book that will appeal to everyone. Some will really love it, others think it's just OK, and others will despise it. If you enjoy unreliable narrators, historical accuracy, and densely plotted fiction you will enjoy "The Meaning of Night".

You know from the very beginning exactly where this book is going, because the author tells you right up front what he plans to do, and yet it takes a reallllly loooooong time to get there. The strained attempt to write in authentic Victorian prose may be accurate, but it is not pleasant to have to slog through. It is tedious, tiresome... and did I mention long? Skip it, if you don't, you'll be skipping one chapter after another.

Michael Cox's novel, "The Meaning Of Night", is a blend of classic Dickens meets the modern master of the plot-twist, Robert Goddard. Anyone who claims the novel is overlong and tedious simply does not get it.

For fans of classic, Victorian-style literature with a flair for the dramatic will love this tale. Edward Glyver, our narrator, commits a random act of motiveless murder and the reason behind this is not revealed until near the end of this novel. The reason is worth the wait. Glyver's saga contains deception, double-crossings and the revelation that he is not who he thought he was and may actually be the heir to the fortune of one of Britain's wealthiest blood-lines.

Glyver's plight - which has him assuming many identities all with the intials E.G. - is a page-turning delight that leads to a not so predictable ending. You will wish this book wouldn't end and I look forward to the follow-up, "The Glass Of Time".

Bravo, Michael Cox!

This is one of the most unique books I've ever read. Is it because it's a murder mystery? No. Because it's told in the first person? No. What makes it unlike any other book I've read is that from the very beginning, from the very preface itself, this book is set up as if it were a true manuscript found by someone and put to publication. This goes right down to editor's notes fleshing out names, events, times and places for the reader, not all of which are made up.

It is a work of fiction though. A VERY good work of fiction.

'A spellbinding story of murder, deceit, love, and revenge in Victorian England.' That's what it says in the book's jacket and a pretty accurate representation of what's to be found inbetween the covers.

The Meaning Of Night is a tale of a man seeking revenge. Revenge against a childhood nemesis. Revenge that takes place over nearly a lifetime.

This is a very deep and tightly plotted book. There are alot of names and events and alot of twists and turns, but it was never a labor to read. Even the most mundane of exposition is told in such a way that Cox makes it interesting, and what's more , FUN to read.

I say this book is tightly plotted because just about everything is significant in some way or another. Every character, look, line of dialogue. Not one word is wasted.

Page by page, we get more and more information on the narrator's past and his motivations, all as he discovers it himself so it's almost like you're there with him every step of the way and there are several huge twists that are fantastic.

This is a great and long story that just satisfies on about every point I can think of. It's never dumbed down but it's never laborious to read. 'Page Turner' is a cliche, but it's totally appropriate here.

Fantastic!

By volume, this book competes with 'Crime and Punishment' by Dostoevsky. By content, it fails superbly not only in story, but in writing style as well.

In a nutshell, the story is about an individual who feels betrayed by fate for his insignificant rank in society and one day decides to punish a man he believes is responsible for this misfortune. In all honesty, this is it. For 700 pages the author introduces mundane dialogs and meaningless characters and finally manages to convince me, no, to force me to ache for the death of the poor man, just so that I can see this book end. I seriously don't recommend this book.

If, however, you are determined to spend many, many, many hours reading something from the distant past, try 'The Egyptologist' by Arthur Phillips. It is a much more entertaining novel and will make the time you invest reading it seem a lot more valuable.

by Simon Cleveland

This book combines a riveting trial of good and evil.
The characters of Faust and Mephistopheles create a universal balance between the widespread views of Christian lore and the thoughts of human free will.
A must read for any educator and student of literature who wants to further their knowledge about the perils of life.
This translation is amazing and I highly recommend it for anyone.

So many versions of Faust are just poorly written, but not this one! It's good for the scholar and the poet!! (I just happen to be both.) I am very pleased with this retelling!!!

Before reading this book I kept seeing its title in many articles and books, so I decided to buy the book to see what the fuss is all about. Im no expert in poems but this book was very well written and many lines sound so beautiful when you read them. The story is very entertaining and the greatest thing was the way the devil was portrayed.

Very beautifuly written book!!! If you like Byronism, Gothic novels, and the regency dandy, you will love this book. I will admit that if you are new to this style of literature, it may be a little tough to read, but very worth it!!! The more you read the easier it gets to understand. If your interested give it a shot, you won't regret it!

This is definitely Goethe's masterwork, and it is beautifully written. Everyone knows about the man who sold his soul to the devil, but everyone should read this poem in order to experience the beautiful words and images that Goethe created. This is a true tragedy, and we watch helpless as the pre-ordained conclusion is revealed. I am glad that I took the time to read this.