Fiction Literature Books

I first read this book when I was in junior high school. I admit that, at the time, I did not appreciate the strengths of the book and the quality of its writing. I am quite glad that I decided to give it another chance, as, having re-read it, I now understand why it is considered to be a classic in literature. It is simply a beautifully written book, covering many of the themes that one stumbles across in life and coalescing them into a work of extraordinary breadth.

The book is the story of two young people, Jim Burden and Antonia Shimerda. They meet for the first time when Jim is ten years old and Antonia is fourteen. Recently orphaned, Jim has moved to the Great Prairie to live with his grandparents in Nebraska. Antonia, on the other hand, has been wrenched from her homeland in Bohemia, emigrating with her parents to the United States and finding herself in Nebraska. Jim and Antonia's chance encounter on a train sets the stage for the forging of a friendship and unconditional love that time will not diminish.

The book relates the harshness of immigrant life through the eyes of Jim, who narrates the events contained in the book. There is a relentless stoicism about the book, which is written in spare, clear prose. With intense imagery and descriptive exactitude, late nineteenth century Nebraska comes to life. It also relates the paths that each of the characters choose to follow, as well as the vicissitudes of life that mold and shape them in ways that no one would have imagined.

The focus of the book, which is also a coming of age tale, seems to be on the female characters and their strengths. All the women in it seem to be survivors, despite the hardships that they encounter. This is, without a doubt, a life affirming book, wrought with great feeling and a decided sense of time and place. Yet, despite its poignancy, the book is surprisingly unsentimental and straightforward. It is a testament to the author's literary talent that this book has emerged as a timeless classic. Bravo!

I concur with the wonderful review written by Lawyeraau (see below) this novel is truly one of the treasures of American literature. I can't recommend this one enough. Willa Cather spins a tale of such beauty and charm about friendship and unconditional love between the two main characters in the novel - Antonia Shimerda and Jim Burden. It is a coming of age tale that focuses on the positive aspects of the human condition. All of the characters suffer loss, and incredible hardships at times. Yet, unconditional love and the friendships they form with each other save the day and win out in the end. The bottom line, we need more stories like this one! Novels that focus on the positive, rather than the negative. This is a charming little story that really has a great message as well. That friendship and love really does conquer all. After you are done with the story, you can't help but feel a bit saddened that it is over. It is such a great book that it makes you almost wish that it never ended. Antonia is one of my favorite female fictional characters of all time.

Where have all the Willa Cathers of the world gone? The elegant and vivid way she writes makes this novel feel almost like one is reading a long epic poem. I also really adore the colorful way she uses words to describe the rough Nebraska terrain. Cather is simply one of our greatest American writers and this is one of her finest works. It is my personal favorite because of it's charm and eternal lesson of the value of friendship and the importance of unconditional love. This is one of those novels that truly does make you feel happy to be alive and helps to reaffirm ones belief in humanity.

Written in 1918, this small novel brought me back to the time of my childhood reading of books like "Little House on the Prairie" and an idealization of farm life before the turn of the twentieth century. I was therefore immediately caught up in the story, written in the first person through the eyes of a boy named Jim who we first meet at the age of 10, who is sent to live with his grandparents in Nebraska after the death of his parents in Virginia. In Nebraska, he first meets Antonia, a girl of 14 who has just emigrated with her family from Bohemia. I found this part of the book interesting as these two young people from different cultures discover the landscape of their new world and I felt real sympathy for Antonia and her family who had to spend their first winter in a sod house with barely enough to eat. We watch them grow through the years, both moving to town as teenagers, he to go to school, she to work as a housemaid for a town family. Always, though, there is the pull of the farm for both of them. The book paints a picture of Americana at that time and along the way we meet some other characters, but always the book focuses on the natural environment and the simplicity of life.

This is an easy read, a mere 286 small pages, and I read the book in a very short time. Frankly, though, I soon found myself bored. Everything was just too sweet and sugary for my taste. There were few, if any surprises, and the people just were too good to be true. The book was written by a woman and I wished she had used a female narrator because it just didn't seem like it came from a male point of view. I did get a feeling about life during this period of history but a book needs more than that to stand the test of time. I therefore can only give it a mild recommendation. That's too bad, because I wanted to like it more.

I love this story, with it's blending of topics that fascinate my 3-year-old girl (beautiful dresses and balls) with a portrayal of a strong, brave, determined girl. I do think I liked it better than my daughter did, though -- she was distressed by Irene's journey, and I'm not sure if it was because it's a bit scary or because Irene (temporarily) loses the beautiful dress.

This is an adorable story, but at the same time a great tool for teaching writing to elementary kids!

At age three I started reading Brave Irene to my daughter. She is now nine years old and it remains her all time favorite book. Back then we would read it at least tree times a week or more. Still, Now every once in awhile, Annie comes to me and says " can we read Brave Irene together". The story is about a young girl Irene who seems to be maybe nine or ten years old. Her mother is a dressmaker and has made a gown for the dutches for her ball.Unfortunatley her mother isn't feeling to well and can't get the gown to dutches in time for the ball.Irene being a very responsible, carring, and BRAVE child,Wants to help her mom. So she takes the gown to the dutches. She has some problems along the way, But because of her love for her mother, she is determined to get the job done. I feel that there are many lessons this book can teach a child. The main one being,CARRING. Our first copy of this book is so worn out, I recently bought a new one..

This book came as part of a book club order for my daughter (maybe 15 years ago)... She ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!! It was always on the bedtime story request list. She thoroughly enjoyed my reading of it, the journey of Brave Irene, and the completing of her task... To help her mother! She even related the "wicked wind" to our winter storms! Today, she is 23 and still very fondly remembers this book and wants to get it for HER daughter. I am ordering it today! Hopefully, they will enjoy it as much as we did.

my son's second grade teacher read this to the class when they were comparing "pesky" words vs. "flashy" words and this book is full of GREAT words that second graders need to hear. sure she's a child in a messy situation but that's the deal in fairy tales. it's up to irene to get out of trouble on her own but she does it, in a mighty plucky fashion too!

Gogol himself claimed that Pushkin had told him that up until his own life, Gogol was the most successful in depicting the 'poshlost' of Russian social life, and this book certainly shows him to be correct. Not only with reference to the dead souls (serfs) that Chichikov purchased for his own gain, but also as a social commentary on post-Napoleonic Russia via the characters Gogol has developed in this self-described poema makes this a very insightful and enjoyable read.

Older Russian literature, for the most part, has an odd way of alienating modern readers, likely because the prose tends to be dense, the plots thin. But what some of the most popular Russian writers such as Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, and Gogol do better than maybe any other literary tradition is capture the mindsets and what drives a person to do what they do. "Dead Souls" is a wonderful example of what a social satire should be - it takes the Russian landowner class and the Russian peasantry and interweaves an insightful critique with a humorous tale of a man who tries to buy up dead souls so as to make it appear he is a more wealthy landowner than he really is. Chichikov, the protagonist, moves from estate to estate, party to party, in such an attractive way that everyone he meets wants to learn more about this mysterious man. Beyond the social satire, Gogol has a way of including a number of maxims and sayings without destroying the fabric of the story. I highly recommend this book but with a warning - it's not the kind of book you can speed through. It needs to be read slowly and enjoyed.

Gogol is rightly esteemed as the greatest satirist in classical Russian literature, and is certainly a personal favorite among the 19th century authors. "Dead Souls" is, in my humble opinion, his hands-down masterpiece. It doesn't offer the same sitcom-ish humor of "The Government Inspector," which was cutting-edge stuff in its time. Instead, it is riddled from beginning to end with more subtle, but still delightfully amusing vignettes as the enterprising Chichikov goes about his rather unconventional business of building his "estate" by buying up low-priced (i.e. dead) serfs.

I won't elaborate on the storyline, since that has already been done more than adequately in other reviews. It is enough to say that Gogol's brand of humor is both witty and insightful, and caused quite a stir among the intelligentsia of his day. Many, such as Belinski, viewed it as an attack on the corruption and ineptitude of the "establishment," i.e. the westernizing tsarist regime. There is certainly an element of that. Others saw it differently, including Gogol himself, if his later writings are rightly interpreted. "Dead Souls" is much more of a commentary on the loss of the Russian soul. It is about the corruption of traditions and cultural distinctives that defined what it meant to be Russian.

Decide for yourself which direction Gogol was coming from. It certainly helps to have some familiarity with the history and culture of the time, but Gogol's commentary is near enough to the surface that those things are not essential to appreciate his work. Either way, don't take it too seriously. Just get a good laugh out of it. I did.

I bought a copy of the Bloomsbury Good Reading Guide. In that guide the editors selected 45 works of fiction as masterpieces from 375 well known writers of fiction - all written since since Cervantes. In that guide they describe why those 45 books are "masterpieces." Dead Souls is one of the 45 masterpieces, so I bought and read the book along with many others of those 45.

Dead Souls is not a novel but was called "an epic poem" by Gogol, similar to Tolstoy's characterization of War and Peace as not a novel but an "epic in prose." Hence, Dead Souls was not written as a balanced novel and as many critics have pointed out the actual plot is not terribly important. It was written as the first part of a three part trilogy on Russian life, and it was published as "The Adventures of Chichikov." The charm is found not in the overall plot, but it is found in the detailed descriptions of what happens day to day throughout the story.

From what we know, Pushkin suggested the story to Gogol based on the concept that serfs were considered to be the property of the landowner and there might be value in owning the title to dead serfs or "dead souls." Also, the characterization of being a "dead soul" has a second interpretation: it is to imply a moral and spiritual inferiority. So, the theme extends beyond the commercial transactions of buying up "dead souls" from various farm owners.

As a general reader, I was captured by the humour and charm of the daily life of the protagonist, Chichikov, as he travels by horse drawn carriage going from town to town in rural Russia, staying in small hotels or with farmers or rural gentry. In his travels he mixes with the locals in each town and he tries to ingratiate himself with the local officials as part of the process of building trust to find and buy dead souls; that is, he meets land owners and buys the title to those serfs who have recently died. Gogol treats us to a broad picture of daily life in rural Russia including many small details. It is so detailed that we can almost taste the food, smell the smells, and perhaps some will want to buy a horse?

In this work Gogol sets the literary tone for many Russian writers who follow in the 19th century including Dosoevsky, Tolstoy, and Chekhov. Dostoevsky, was in fact hailed as the new Gogol in the 1840s when he emerged from obscurity and became famous. There are many shorter works by these three authors where one could almost substitute Gogol for the author and one would be hard pressed to make the differentiation, and I reference Dostoevsky's "Poor Folk" as an example of a very "Gogol like" work.

This is a wondeful book that will disappoint few. Since reading this I have read many other Russian works and still think this is one of the better and more charming books of the era. If you like this but want something a bit different, I recommend Chekhov's one and only novel, The Shooting Party.

Perhaps no other novel requires a more exacting translation than Nikolai Gogol's "Dead Souls." This translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky isn't bad, but it gives the book the Pevear/Volokhonsky treatment ... read their translations of The Brothers Karamazov, Anna Karenina and Dead Souls back to back and you'd think they were written by the same novelist (well, if you're from Mars and had never heard of the books beforehand, that is.)

But as Vladimir Nabokov pointed out in his lectures of "Dead Souls", the greatest of all translations was by Bernard Gilbert Guerney. This version of Dead Souls was recently revised by Susanne Fusso for Yale University Press and I recommend it highly.

So why does translation matter? Because as Nabokov points out in Lectures on Russian Literature, "Dead Souls" is more poem than novel. The plot to "Dead Souls" is almost entirely beside the point ... it all pretty much goes in a circle (by the way, The Wire - The Complete Third Season" was modeled on this style.) Where this novel shines is in its haunting and evocative language. Nabokov points out several mind-blowing techniques that Gogol employs ... one is to take an object, create a metaphor about that object to explain it's importance, introduce another object in that metaphor, then compare the second object to a person ... this being a new character, introduced via a highly elegant segue.

The Pevear/Volokhonsky version picks up most of this, but there are some dreadful "Dead Souls" adaptations out there (especially thisDead Souls version that truncates the action and misses the poetry altogether. Especially awful is this Dead Souls audiobook that Amazon.com correctly calls abridged, but both Audible.com and iTunes label unabridged.

"Dead Souls" is a deceptively dense book. I recommend reading it along with Nabokov's lectures to get the full effect. Also, don't be deceived into reading the so-called sequel ... Gogol wished these disjointed new tales to be burned at his death and most critics agree, for good reason.

An excellent book, I found all the words I could not find in other nautical terms compilations, well described too!

Sea of Words, Third Edition is the essential companion to the completed set of Aubrey-Maturin sea tales by Patrick O'Brian. You can't find these words in other dictionaries.

Without a good sea jargon dictionary the reader will loose the essence of rolling along with any sailing author. I keep at hand when roving with Lewrie and Aubrey on the briny.

It is clearly too ambitious a project to explain, in a 500-page trade paperback, every potentially confusing term and name in the Aubrey / Maturin series. But I expected a better effort than this.

The introductory essays on the on the nature and structure of the British navy and time line of the Napoleonic wars was quite good; the narrative on naval medicine not so much, but passable still.

The real issue is lack of content in the encyclopedic portion of the book. Simply put, you'll run across quite a few terms in any given Aubrey / Maturin novel that simply are not in this book.

Examples from "The Far Side Of The World" alone, as I quickly breeze through, of words and terms mentioned there but not here: "bar-tailed godwit" (kind of bird); "shamming Abraham" (pretending to be sick, or being a thief, beggar, etc.); "St Abdon's day (Saint Abdon, a cooper, is the patron saint of coopers); "specktioneer" (on a whaler, the lead harpooner).

Again, given the scope and nature of the Aubrey / Maturin series, it's beyond naive to expect any one reference book to answer every potential question the series might raise. But, at the least, all sailing terms should be explained without fail, as well as period-specific euphemisms.

Given that about 85 percent of this book is encyclopedia, I really have to hold that out as the defining standard of its worth. Simply put, it fails.

There are several Web-based documentation efforts for the Aubrey / Maturin series: A wiki (unforutunately, it's on a slow, unreliable Web server, which is why it's largely incomplete); a Google Earth project to point out all the places named in the series; and a hit-or-miss links page, all of which can be found at Wikipedia's Patrick O'Brian page.

It seems to me that new technologies provide the best way to document O'Brian's stories of old.

I bought the Patrick O'Brian anthology as a Christmas present for my husband. He has always been intrigued by the Navy and the Tall Ships and the history they played when our nation was formed. I think he vicariously sees himself as C.S. Forester's 'Horatio Hornblower'. I guess this could explain why he likes to do dishes, laundry or anything else that involves using water. He is a former Navy submariner(1957) and, me thinks, a person has to be daft or have an absolute affinity for any body of water no matter how great or how deep. In consideration of the enormity of this collection, I doubt that I will see my husband for several months as he will have his nose into these books...and enjoy riding the high seas once again.

This novel is far from what I expected.

I had listened to many of my friends judge Cathy and Heathcliff very harshly, and I went into the book expecting to explore the evilness of human nature. Instead, I found that Bronte broke barriers by producing two very real characters.

Cathy and Heathcliff's story explores the consequences to the character's decisions. Bronte does not gloss over the reasons for the decisions (money, greed, breeding, retaliation, etc), but those reasons play a minimal role. Instead, she chooses to show how a human reacts to a good/bad decision, and when life doesn't go his or her way.

My suggestion for reading Wuthering Heights is to place yourself in Cathy and Heathcliff's shoes and figure out if there was another choice for their behavior.

Although some of the plot elements seem preposterous today the story remains a great read. What a love story! A great tale of people sometimes setting in motion awful events due to their desire to do what they see as right in their own eyes. Recommended. Well-written.

Set on the moors, it is a pity that the Hound of the Baskervilles didn't get 'em. This would have saved a lot of characters a lot of grief. An orphan is taken in, and the problems start there as he grows up, has his own problems and inflicts them on others. The great detective has something to say about such places : "But look at these lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of country which makes the danger."

Heathcliff is a fierce, pitiless, wolfish man inside and out. His character makes this an interesting story. But it was a little tedious to read. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: none. Setting about 1775 to 1805 England. Published about 1847. Genre: obsessive historical romance.

(Like the curmudgeonly CAT in the COMIC...get it?)

Great old-style classic novel. One of Henry Miller's favorites; that's what attracted me to it.

I liked the style of the narrative, largely told through the reminiscences of the housekeeper Nelly. This is one dysfunctional family!

Like many novels from this period it's all about the interpersonal relationships; there isn't anything external happening to anyone here of any particular consequence. But the masterful storytelling and imaginings of the authoress really do make this a worthwhile and rewarding literary journey.

Read it! Classics rule!

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.

This story has some disturbing qualities which made me reluctant to read it to my daughter. An old couple living in an isolated cottage is lonely and they reach the conclusion that they need a cat for company. Therefore, the man sets out on a journey to find one. Suddenly, he comes upon "millions and billions and trillions of cats." He finds selecting one cat from this herd to be a difficult task, so he ends up selecting them all. So far this story has not gone beyond the bounds.
However, on the way back the cats drink up all the water and eat up all the food in sight. Then, when they get back to the cottage, the woman says that they can only keep one. In their zest to be the one, the cats attack each other until only one small and homely kitten is left. This is a part I really have trouble with, this is not a pleasant scene for children, I considered it unsuitable for my daughter.
The font used for this book is also somewhat calligraphic in nature, which makes it hard for a young child to read. Therefore, while the story has some delightful aspects, I would not read it to my daughter.

First, I would add that for serious students looking at this work, you are better off starting with Prof. Hollander's translation of the Poetic Edda. That work contains the surviving source material the saga author had access to in English translation. When compared to source material, one can see how the author toned down to some extent some of the mythic and magical aspects of the story.

This is one of the most important stories in Western culture, on a scale with the Illead and Beowulf.

I actually found Byock's translation readable and the introduction and notes were helpful. I don't think it can be a single source for understanding the story, however.

However, I would second the idea that facing page translation formats are probably better for the serious student, and often result in better translations from the original.

This is not the best Viking Saga I've read but it is pretty good. It is almost essential reading (if you're into understanding Viking culture). At times the story is confusing, because their are so many actors in this drama. There are some rather shocking/grisly bits in it, but on the whole it is one of those timeless stories, and so much better than "Lord of the Rings" (which was obviously inspired by this Saga). I will read it again - of that I am quite sure.

Epic, bloody and depressing. It's GREAT!!! Great fun for peoplewell versed and for the beginner. The classic root of the entire ring cycle myth. The Start of the Siegfried legend and inspiration for Wagner and Tolkien. Essential source material.

This 13th century Icelandic saga of Sigurd the dragon slayer was rediscovered in 19th century Europe and was a prime source for Wagner's Ring cycle, especially the Siegfried part. Elements will also be found in Tolkien. Personally, I came to Norse mythology through the BBC's Adventures of Noggin the Nog (Did he ever put an end to Nogbad the Bad?).

It is a neglected tradition, as evidenced by the paucity of translations in print. We commonly talk of the Classical (Greek and Roman) and Judeo-Christian roots of our culture, but greatly underestimate the Norse and Celtic influences. The Volsung saga and the Niebelungenlied are among the best known and influential of the medieval epics and if you enjoy one you will probably enjoy the other. You might start with the Volsungs because theirs is the shorter and more coherent story, even though the more mythical and fantastic.

Byock's translation is very readable, reflecting the sparse, unadorned style of the original. His introduction is excellent, especially the notes on Wagner, in which he traces the influence of this work in the Ring.

The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok and The Lay of the Raven follow the Volsung saga in the original manuscripts and form a continuous narrative. So why, as the Volsung saga is quite short, are they not all three published together in one volume? I felt rather short changed. Even so, I heartily recommend this book.

Jesse Byock's translation of the Völsungasaga manages to be both faithful and readable (not as common a combination as you might think), and it strikes a nice balance in its use of only the most important footnotes (a little more than 100 over the course of the saga). These are usually etymological / onomastic in nature, which was very much to my liking. I would have preferred them to be actual footnotes rather than end notes, actually, but that's just a quibble about having to flip back and forth while reading. Not a big problem, really. The slim volume also packs a great deal of essential historical context into a small but excellent introduction. There's also a nice glossary of most of the proper nouns, and this connects the Anglicized spelling with the original Old Norse forms, which can be helpful for those readers unfamiliar with the orthography. A great edition of an Old Norse classic!

A book on the making of a story, not the creation of a novel, but a story by Ron Carlson. When I grabbed this short book I wondered "Who is Ron Carlson", and as a writer, "why should I care about how Ron writes a story"?

Ron's style is clever and personal. He offers a few writing exercises as mini-challenges, but the essence of the book is a tale of how Ron wrote a very brief, rather shallow short story.

Things I liked about this little book: Ron writes as if he is talking to the reader personally, like a phone conversation; Ron has a sense of humor and shares his internal desire to postpone the writing (something that every writer experiences).
Things I didn't like: There isn't much substance here, just flow of consciousness as he moves through the process of writing.

Looking for a book that builds internal camaraderie with a short story writer? Then maybe this book will bond you and make you feel good.
Looking for more substance? Something to challenge your thoughts or provide mechanisms for moving through the writing process? Don't look here.
His recommendations amount to: Stay in the room, keep writing, let the characters drive the process, and don't stop for coffee.
Any writer knows that 'writing' is an action, not a thought. Until the words get onto paper or your electronic screen, they aren't written.

So writers, if you want to write, then stop thinking about writing and put some words on some paper. If you want to postpone writing and read about how one man writes a story, then pick up this little book.

This little book is like a live broadcast from the writer's brain as he goes through the writing process. It does not try to be a writing encyclopedia or a writing guide (for that, I'd turn to King's On Writing), but it offers a few very sound and practical advices:
1. Fight the temptation to go get coffee, and write.
2. Do not rush, slow down, and write.
3. Forget editing (for now), and write.
4. Stay at your desk, and write.
A nice reminder why the writers are called writers: they write.

Ron Carlson Writes a Story is an essay by published author Ron Carlson, who has written eight books of fiction as well as short stories that have appeared in "Esquire", "Harper's", "New Yorker", and "GQ" magazines. Offering a wealth of notes, tips, tricks, and techniques for writers, as well as a window into Carlson's personal creative process during his creation of the short story "The Governor's Ball", Ron Carlson Writes a Story is both inspirational and entertaining. Especially recommended for aspiring and novice writers for its insights into the art of creativity.

Straight forward, honest, informative and priceless book to have if you are even considering writing.

Though it is a short book, the information and guidence it provides speaks volumes. I even suggest rereading on a regular basis as I will guarantee you will forget many aspects over time.

Years ago, I used to stay in a B&B next to the British Museum where literary workers stayed and often left their bound galleys on the "exchange" bookcase in the sitting room. On one trip, I picked up a collection of stories by Ron Carlson. The story that stuck with me -- for years -- was a story about a guy losing a mattress from the top of his truck on an overpass, and watching it fly away. Now he has written a book called "Ron Carlson Writes a Story" -- and it's about THIS story! From the things that were going on in his life before, to the first sentence, to the luminous ending, I can go right through it with him. It's actually a thrill.

Like others who've read and reviewed Proust's opus here, I did not read it in one consistent long read. I read the first ten pages and put it down for a year. I then read up to page 100 and put it down again for six months. Thereafter, pregnant with my first child, I read through all the rest.

I found Proust immeasurably easy and pleasant to read. The long sentences are almost musical and facilitate rather than impede understanding of Proust's deep insights.

Further, despite Proust's own unhappiness, I have never been happier reading a book. Nor have I ever felt so "let into" a person's life as I did reading him.

But, as important as my joy in reading Proust was the fact that it was Proust's masterpiece -- and most especially the last volume (Past Recaptured, by the old title) and particularly Chapter 3 of that volume -- that confirmed much of what I already secretly and silently knew and had begun developing into a method for finding one's own already-existing characters inside oneself, which I had already started teaching and continued to teach for twenty years (first in my own business and then at the New School University in NYC) and finally developed into my book Archetypes for Writers: Using the Power of Your Subconscious.

Proust's value for me was not in his exquisitely minute and drawn-out descriptions of drinking tea or misstepping on a cobblestone (which both triggered the reliving of lost moments for Proust). It is a misunderstanding of Proust to think that that is all he is about. (There was, in fact, an entire acting method developed out of this view (called "method acting").)

Rather, I found Proust's understanding of character valuable. He knew the power of juxtaposition -- which he called "mental gymnastics" and "the miracle of analogy."

I found his articulation of the "extra-temporal being" or "the man freed from the order of time" valuable -- that which I have called to my students: the "author self," the self that knows the whole story of all one's characters: the beginning, the middle, the end -- without having to wait for anything to happen -- a knowledge that almost presupposes the non-existence of time, in an Einsteinian sense -- and something which I have found is naturally developed through the use of the skill I called "arkhelogy" or "doing archetypes."

The habit or skill of "being in the moment" -- something that is a primary skill enumerated in my book -- is also something of what Proust reveals (he calls it a "minute freed from the order of time")

Proust practiced suspending moments in his mind in order to reclaim his past, but it is also a central skill possessed by all great novelists -- for, how do you experience the life of another if you do not grasp and suspend in your own mind the moments in which that person lives and breathes?

And this brings me to another concept that Proust knew and realized in his work (but did not express in the way I do), which was something I had learned from my years in the theater: analogy. Proust talked about analogy in the context of the juxtaposition of two moments. But analogy is also about making analogies between oneself and others (something which Proust called "substitutions"). In other words, finding how to "relate" to another, how to feel what the other feels. This, of course, is a human ability, but it is also a skill that can and should be encouraged and practiced. Proust achieved this level of understanding of his fellow humans to a high degree.

Finally, there is Proust's recognition that "in fashioning a work of art we are by no means free, that we do not choose how we shall make it but that it is pre-existent to us and therefore we are obliged, since it is both necessary and hidden, to do what we should have to do if it were a law of nature, that is to say to discover it." Similarly, one of the main premises in my book is that one's character's and their stories already exist and that one needs only to learn how to find them -- which is, of course, what all the rest of Proust's novel is about (and my exercises teach one to do).

I owe a great debt to Proust. Apart from my sense of love for his language, his words, his phrases, not to mention his insights into people and events, Proust was for me the major impetus behind the development of both the book "Archetypes for Writers" and the course out of which the book grew.

I've just finished reading The Search for Lost Time and I'd like to share a few thoughts.

First, commit to reading the whole thing, all seven volumes, all million+ words. However if the commitment frightens you (as it should) first read Swann's Love, the middle part of the first volume.

Second, if you commit don't be afraid to take a break and leave the book aside. I began reading it fifteen years ago, and read Swann's Love several times before finally getting a one volume omnibus and reading the whole thing. It took me eight months, during which I freely allowed myself to read other books.

Third, don't read Alain de Botton's How Proust Can Change Your Life until you're reached the final volume. It's a wonderful book, but if you want to read the Search, then De Botton's little book is a "digestif" that will help you put Proust in perspective.

Fourth, you don't have to read Proust. No one does. If you don't enjoy reading the Search, leave it alone. Proust never liked the title "The Search for Lost Time" and I think he might have actually preferred the now discredited original English translation title "Remembrance of Things Past".* In French Lost Time (Temps Perdu) implies a waste of time, and Proust was very conscious of having wasted the first forty years of his life.

Lastly, I wouldn't worry too much about the translation. I read the Search in French and it struck me that translating Proust wouldn't be much harder than reading him. The essence of Proust's style is not dramatic rhetoric, it is patient and painstaking descriptions and explanations. He wants the reader to understand something very complex and subtle: his or her own self. You'll find the drama in his philosophy. His sentences are long, convoluted, dreamy, full of meandering turns, but Proust doesn't use French the way, for instance, La Fontaine or Hugo do. Most of Proust's meaning will survive the translation, very little will be lost.

Vincent Poirier, Tokyo

*I was wrong there, Proust hated the "Remembrance..." title. See the comments for details.

Vincent

I finished Proust's magnum opus a couple of years ago. I read Swann's Way, then got about a quarter of the way through Within a Budding Grove, before stopping and taking a year's hiatus. When I returned to it I read straight through the remaining 6 volumes. Proust became for me, not so much a duty, or even a quest, but an addiction. There is really not much to add other than the fact that these books affected me more than any other books I have read. Once you are drawn in there is no escape. What one encounters within are some of the most fascinating and frustrating people one can imagine, and the most profound ideas and greatest insights on human nature ever recorded.

There are a number of themes explored here..memory, fidelity, love, obsession, jealousy, homosexuality, and the nature of art. It has been designated as semi autobiographical, but maybe it is the greatest autobiography ever written, since it portrays in detail, the truest possible representation of the author's heart, mind, and soul. It is perhaps, the most important and influential literary work of the 20th century.

Reading Proust is a major undertaking, a life-changing event for some, if only the committment of time is considered. This edition is superbly translated from the French, and loses very little (as my undergraduate French is concerned). The text[s] allow one immerse in Proust and the turn-of-the-century life of an upper class family. As an academic I see so many uses for this material, but as a reader it's a pleasurable experience to take in a true genius who can spend seven wonderful pages describing and elaborating on taking tea. Well-worth the small amount of money.

If someone told me ten years ago that one day I would read 4,000 pages of dense, hypeliterate ramblings, filled with single sentences that sometimes go on for at least ten pages, I would have thought myself more crazy than the guy who wrote them. Two years after reading all of Proust, incredibly, I find myself longing to spend afternoons again immersed in it. Such is the beauty of this momumental work.

While James Joyce's Ulysses deserves to be considered the best and greatest novel of the 20th century, I think it's fair to say that it's doubtful that any writer will ever reach the majesty and breathtaking beauty found in Proust's "In Search of Lost Time". Proust is not great for the 20th c., it's great for all time.