Fiction Literature Books

Like many, my introduction to William S. Burroughs was Naked Lunch; a book that may very well be the most authentic description of a drug addict's personal, nightmarish hell. I picked up Junky afterwards, not knowing what to expect, and came away disappointed at first. "That's it?" was the thought ringing through my head, as Junky comes off as a straight forward tale of a drug addict on the brink, compared to the picture that Burroughs so vividly painted with Naked Lunch. Deciding to give Junky another chance and putting everything about Naked Lunch on the back burner, the book now comes off as a cautionary tale more than anything else. Burroughs weaves a harrowing, autobiographical tale of Bill Lee: a man with an Ivy League background who discovers the highs and joys of morphine and other members of the junk family, and the experiences that Lee goes through as he tries to kick the habit, only to fall back into it again and again. As said before, Junky is a more straight forward portrait of addiction, and when read side by side with Naked Lunch, comes off as the reality of Burroughs' drug raddled Hell. It definitely doesn't have the kind of impact of Naked Lunch, or even some of Burroughs' other works, but there is still something about Junky that resonates a powerful voice that one should always open an ear for. All in all, if Naked Lunch was your introduction to Burroughs as well, don't let Junky's more straight forward narrative put you off, as it is definitely worth your time.

If you're looking for something different, check out this impressive first novel. Although not a long novel (about 120 pp.), it's wildly original, highly descriptive writing begs a second reading.

_Junky_ is surprisingly well-structured. Believe it or not, there is a plot!

Characters drop in and out of the story, so that the novel itself feels like some sort of crash pad. Everyone is fair game for Burrough's observations; many are described in a surreal, hilarious way. I like the way Burroughs varies sentence and paragraph length, giving an improvisational feel to the book, as if it's a be-bop record or a Jackson Pollock drip painting. (And maybe that's the intent?)

Again, nothing escapes Burrough's critical eye. Although he is homosexual and a junkie, he shows contempt for some of the trappings and adherents of these 1950s subcultures.

Some of my favorite lines include:

- "Waves of hostility and suspicion flowed from his large brown eyes like some sort of television broadcast."

- "'You're both mother (expletive deleted)ers.' She was half-asleep. Her voice was matter-of-fact as if referring to actual incest."

- "A young man lurched in with some object under his arm." (Burrough's word choice is hilarious - "lurched"!)

- "The place looked like a Chop Suey joint. ... The walls were painted black and there was a Chinese character in red lacquer on one wall.

'We don't know what it means,' she said.

'Shirts thirty-one cents,' I suggested."

Perhaps Burrough's self-observation and sense of humor likely contributed to his longevity. It's hard to believe he lived to age 84!

_Naked Lunch_ is next on my list.

I first devoured this book back in 1991 as I sat in a bathtub in Liverpool. Never before had I come across anything like it. Upon this rereading, I remain surprised at the way it still manages to resonate. I am not a big fan of Burroughs overall as I found Naked Lunch a very hard slog, but the clear, simple prose of Junky tells a-- regrettably brief--tale of a colorful life spent on the margins. Fifty years later its narrative continues to shock. The characters and associations described within are as unique as you'll find in literature. I just wish the book was longer as Burroughs wayward days were interesting enough for 500 pages. It moves like On the Road but the author's realism is what one finds most endearing. It's a life most of us will never know, but Old Bull Lee's snapshot is good enough.

Junky: The Definitive Text of Junk by William S. Burroughs ***

To be honest I did not enjoy this very much. I am a massive Burroughs fan, he is easily one of my favorite authors of all time, and I have read nearly all his work, and enjoyed almost all of it. Junky is the exception to that. I at times felt the book to be, dare I say boring. Burroughs attempt at the occasional humor was dry and not witty like on most of his work. I found the plot, or lack there of really, to be bland and at times annoying. His style seems to even be strained here, which is sad considering he is one of the most original writers in American history, as well as one of the most underrated.

Now even this, the definitive text didn't save the story for me. I am not saying this was totally bad, so please don't get me wrong. Junky has lots of potential, and could have been one of his best works, but for me personally this just seems weak for an author of his stature.

Junky could be the most effective anti-drug book ever written.

This is not the William S. Burroughs of The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead (Burroughs, William S.) and certainly not the same guy who wrote Naked Lunch: The Restored Text. This is a Burroughs who's not talking to himself or talking to his admirers. Instead this an author who is stretching to reach the reader with the actual smelly, lonely, desperate, empty reality of the junky.

It's a reality that Burroughs has explored in his fiction and that he has occasionally mined for characters and atmosphere. But nowhere, not even in Exterminator! has he come as close to offering up this direct-if bleak-conversation with the reader. It's worth noting that, outside the world of book-lovers, this may be his most well-known work because it does such a stark and effective job of describing the day-to-day world as it's experienced by the junky.

Lynn Hoffman, author of the somewhat different bang BANG: A Novel

An incredible bargain and wonderful tales to boot, vice and virtue were never more complex or interwoven as in these Hawthorne tales. All of his stories speak to the irreversible errors of man, well not altogether irreversible. There is redemption and resolve but not for all his characters. If you are looking for spiritually driven fabulously intriguing stories, look no further. Edgar Allan Poe has a fierce rival.

In reviewing Twice-Told Tales, Edgar Allen Poe wrote: "Mr. Hawthorne's distinctive trait is invention, creation, imagination, and originality. It would be a matter of some difficulty to designate the best of these tales; we repeat, without exception, they are beautiful."

This little Dover Thrift Edition - Young Goodman Brown and Other Short Stories - offers seven interesting and varied tales by Hawthorne. Actually, only one, Dr. Heidegger's Experiment (1837), is found in Twice-Told Tales. This imaginative short story is among Hawthorne's most humorous and is often found today in short story anthologies. Accused by some of plagiarizing this story from a chapter in a novel by Alexandre Dumas, Hawthorne pointed out that his tale predated by more than twenty years that of Dumas, and that he took some pride in that Dumas chose to appropriate this fanciful work for his novel.

Five stories - The Birthmark (1843), Young Goodman Brown (1835), Rappaccini's Daughter (1844), Roger Malvin's Burial (1832), and The Artist of the Beautiful (1844) - are from the collection titled Mosses from an Old Manse. The Birthmark and Rappaccini's Daughter are tales of arrogance and obsession, whereby men of science go astray in their compulsive pursuit of knowledge and perfection.

Like many of Hawthorne's stories, Young Goodman Brown is distinctly American, drawing upon the Puritan influence in the New England colonies. I find this inventive story of witchcraft and temptation to be somewhat sobering as Goodman Brown learns that the mere act of encountering temptation, even if ultimately resisted, may have unexpected consequences.

The Artist of the Beautiful stands apart from the others in this short collection; this story of artistic passion is surprisingly modern. The psychological development and somewhat ambiguous ending is, perhaps, not entirely unlike the writings of Henry James some fifty years later.

I do not recall previously encountering either of the last two stories, Roger Malvin's Burial and My Kinsman, Major Molineux. Although Roger Malvin's Burial is a tale of guilt and ultimate retribution, it does not draw upon the Puritan heritage. Rather out of character for Hawthorne, Malvin's Burial explores the role of the frontier wilderness in New England history. Although My Kinsman, Major Molineux offers a humorous conclusion to these New England tales, this story of the revolutionary period has a serious side also.

"Young Goodman Brown and Other Short Stories" brings together 7 tales by the great United States author Nathaniel Hawthorne. These stories date from the 1830s and 1840s, and reveal Hawthorne, well-known today as a novelist, to be a talented practitioner of the short story genre.

These are stories of weird science, romantic and professional obsession, thwarted love, witchcraft, guilt, and the quest for beauty. Irony and tragedy mark many of the tales. Hawthorne takes us from the rugged American frontier to a sunlit Italian garden. The title story is a strangely compelling evocation of the Salem Puritans and their obsession with Satanic conspiracies. Also impressive is "Roger Malvin's Burial," a devastating psychological tale.

If the only Hawthorne you know is the author of the justly-celebrated "Scarlet Letter," check out this collection. Overall, this book is a good choice both for classroom use and individual reading.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, as a writer and artist, has a
unique effect upon me as the reader. I am a bit put off
by his keep-your-distance...this is my stage, my characters,
my plot...you may observe, learn, but not participate
as experiencer...approach. Thus he is the master artist,
displaying his wares...and they are wondrous. The other
effect of Hawthorne upon me, is that I seem to feel that
his works are as carefully crafted, visualized, and
fatefully fulfilled (using all the motifs, symbols,
and foreshadowing--as well as irony, psychological
insight, and artistic deftness of creative imagination
and clever nuance) as Wagner's operas. Though "Young
Goodman Brown" seems a bit (just a bit,) too blatant
with the symbols and allegory, yet there is something
also immensely satisfying and complete in the intricate
way in which all the parts fit together. "The Artist of
the Beautiful," for me, is the supreme creation in this
collection of stories.
It is Hawthorne's insights, both about human
psychology and artistic awareness and limitation, that
amaze and please me. Here is an excerpt from the haunting
tale, "The Birthmark," in which a perfectionist husband
attempts to remove a small birthmark from his wife's
cheek so she will be completely perfect. The husband
is Aylmer; his wife is Georgiana. The wife chances upon
the volumes which Aylmer has, and one of them is a record
of all of his own experiments. "But to Georgiana, the
most engrossing volume was a large folio from her
husband's own hand, in which he had recorded every
experiment of his scientific career, its original aim,
the methods adopted for its development, and its final
success or failure.... The book, in truth, was both the
history and emblem of his ardent, ambitious, imaginative,
yet practical and laborious life. He handled physical
details as if there were nothing beyond them; yet
spiritualized them all, and redeemed himself from

materialism by his strong and eager apiration towards
the infinite. In his grasp the veriest clod of earth
assumed a soul. * * * The volume rich with achievements
that had won renown for its author, was yet as melancholy
a record as ever mortal hand had penned. It was the sad
confession and continual exemplification of the
shortcomings of the composite man, the spirit burdened
with clay and working in matter, and of the despair
that assails the higher nature at finding itself so

miserably thwarted by the earthly part. Perhaps every
man of genius, in whatever sphere, might recognize the
image of his own experience in Aylmer's journal."
The greatness of that insight is that it not only
applies to Aylmer, but it also obviously is something
which Hawthorne as an artist of the imagination
had grappled with himself -- while still having to live
in the practical world of matter, being assaulted by
its harassments, sicknesses, weakenings, dangers,
limits...and being forced to scratch out something by the
way of making a living for himself and his dependents.
Yet he feels somehow compromised and humiliated by the
ironic joke of having the transcendent consciousness
and soul imprisoned in the body's corruptible matter.
Here is Hawthorne the Artist expressing it so well
in "The Artist of the Beautiful": "He knew that the
world, and Annie as the representative of the world,
whatever praise might be bestowed, could never say the
fitting word nor feel the fitting sentiment which should
be the perfect recompense of an artist who, symbolizing
a lofty moral by a material trifle, -- converting what
was earthly to spiritual gold, -- had won the beautiful
into his handiwork. Not at this latest moment was he
to learn that the reward of all high performance must be
sought within itself, or sought in vain."
The insight and artistic sensitivity and psychological
understanding more than outshine the stand-offish
stage manager and manipulator of effects.

This short story is full of intrigue. I am a lover of mystery and suspense. Young Goodman Brown has twists and turns that will surprise you. I recommend this short story for anyone who loves intrigue.

Without a doubt, The Wednesday Letters is one of the most heart-warming novels I have read. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, and it will keep you up all night until you get to the final page! The surprise epilogue is like the dessert at the end of a fine gourmet meal. I am a Jason Wright fan forever and am eagerly awaiting his next novel.

It was interesting mostly because I am from VA and found references a great remembrance...but even if not from VA it was well written and interesting. A little backwards from the normal books but clean...bring tissues!!

I absolutely fell in love with this book, Wednesday Letters. It was soo romantic, and the story was amazing..I would definently suggest this book to any romance loving person out there! I couldn't put it down...was amazing.

What a wonderful story. I read it in a day, sitting beside a lake at a cabin that had no phone or television and it was perfect. This is not an earth shattering literary work - it is just a lovely story about the strength of a family. I loved every word, especially the "last" letter attached to the inside of the back cover. I plan on reading his other books now and hope to enjoy them just as much.

The first chapter started the story off with real power. It evokes a strong emotional response. And the latter half of the story also had some very poignant and emotional scenes; the type that put a tear in the eye and a lump in the throat. The story in its entirety was overall quite good, and the quality and emotion of the second half of the story helped make up for some not-so-subtle weaknesses.

After the powerful first chapter, as the Cooper siblings were introduced into the story, the story seemed to struggle to find its direction. Most obvious - and even irritating - to me was the dialogue between the siblings early on in the story. It seemed artificial and ingenuine. Not to mention they seemed to lack adequate development, with maybe the exception of Malcolm. Also, there were parts of the story that were very much over-written, as if the author was trying too hard to illustrate an environment, a character or a circumstance. Unfortunately, this caused some sections to just be hokey, goofy, and even a bit pathetic.

However, I thought in the second half the author seemed to find his stride and ended the book strongly. In the final assessment this was a good story, but it suffers 3 stars for a weak front half, except the first chapter.

It's a touching story and the illustration is beautiful. I'm glad I found this book on Amazon. But for now, I think I enjoy the book more than my 2 year old. May be in a couple years he can start to understand the meaning of the story.

There is something absolutely timeless about this story--that is probably where the "traditional folktale" bit comes in. I'm not sure just how old the story itself is but I can see why it is still loved today. Ms. Hunt does an incredible job retelling this meaningful and beautiful story of a connection with Jesus Christ through sweet, emotional prose and fantastic pictures. Definitely a keeper.

I love this book and so do my kids. I'm sure my grandkids will too. I was surprised at what excellent condition it was for a used book. Even the cover looked really good. Thanks much!

This is one of the best books ever; for children and adult. If you have Christian Beliefs, I highly recommend it.

This is a wonderful book for all ages! The meaning is beautiful. Highly recommend!!!

Hugely entertaining! Castillo does an excellent job of bringing to life the images of the Southwest. I grew up in Texas, and have traveled extensively through the Southwest. Castillo's book and its vibrant characters feel like "home" to me (even though I'm not Hispanic). Definitely a "must-read"!!

Just a little background of New Mexico's history and you will be ready to understand why the connection of the people to the land is different from those of other Native Indians. 'So far from God' shows how having moved away from the land of their ancestors, people fail to connect to it in the same way as their predecessors.
Although it deals with serious issues, it does not fail to make you laugh out loud when weird things happen to Sofi's children and she's still one piece. And all this when you thought you were beginning to feel pity for Sofi beset with troubles for children.

This novel was required for an English Writing class, and I must say that the novel serves no practical purpose what-so-ever.
By the novels end I was left wondering to what intention the author had in mind, but more-so to what reason did readers have to keep reading? Life is short and time is valuable, and so I only choose to read novels in which something can be gained. Okay, life is not always fair, yet the show must go on...got it. But this novel's all-too-obvious moral comes at a painfully high price; one must leave their common sense on page nineteen, only to find the storyline to be too dark, too dramatic, and a tad too driven by blind faith.
The absurd storyline is only surpassed by the countless missed opportunities to offer readers something real, something tangible, something useful. Basically anybody can write a piece of nonsensical overkill, but who has the want or the time to read it?
So Far From God, more like So Far From Good!

I read this book as a part of a Chicano Literature course during my undergrad studies. While I found the first 140 or so pages okay, I found the overall story a bit boring (educational, but boring). Lest you think I am being unfair, let me note that the story did pick up again at the end and I do not recall ever having fallen asleep while reading it. (2 stars so far)

I really liked the use of language in creating the voice of the narrator. It gave me the feeling that I was sitting with an elder aunt or grandmother who was telling the story to me. (Make it 3 stars, bordering on 4).

So, why the 1 star? Mainly because I did not like what I interpreted to be a thinly disguised attack on a straw man version of Catholicism and I can't rate it a zero.

I found many of the incidents in the story and especially the commentary of the narrator to be very critical of Catholicism. I find it unfortunate that, like most critics of Catholicism, Castillo critizes/attacks a straw man version of Catholicism rather than the real thing. In an interview the author was asked about fact checking in works of fiction (specifically in her book "Massacre of the Dreamers"), Castillo answered:

"No. There isn't any point in it. It's your opinion. It's your reflection, your reaction, your own opinion. When you write a critical -- and this isn't personal essays, these are critical essays -- then you have to prove ever single thing you say."

Maybe that's why she chose to attack a straw man rather than the real thing.

Ana Castillo truly takes us for an unforgettable trip as we take a glimpse into the lives of Sofi, a Chicana woman, and her four daughters, Esperanza (Hope), Caridad (Charity), Fe (Faith), and La Loca (The Crazy One). The story reads like an epic parable about life, death, sexuality and the bridge between the world of the living and the afterlife. It also raises very important questions about the division between heaven and hell and whether is really such a bad place after all in comparison with the life that we come to accept.

Each woman in this story is touched by fate in unexpected, and (sometimes) supernatural ways. While Esperanza, the successful, upwardly mobile sister acts on her name and is relocated to Iraq as part of her journalism work, her sister Caridad becomes a faith healer, Fe loses her voice after a fit of desperate screaming, and La Loca cheats death as a young toddler only to become the subject of social scrutiny in their community as an isolated loner with a sixth sense only understandable to her mother, Sofi.

This book is truly enjoyed when you suspend disbelief and just go with the supernatural and magical elements. SO FAR FROM GOD is true poetry, and also very important in cultural studies. It was assigned to me in a comparative literature class through the department of American Ethnic Studies with the following books: The Grass Dancer, A Lesson Before Dying, Ruby Ridge, and Homebase. (Books also worth checking out!)

This book portrayed black people in a terrible light. This book portrayed white as hypocrites and terrible people too. You could hardly like anyone in this book and the minute you did, they did something to make you dis like them. This book took had more sharp turns and twist then Medusa at Great Adventures. I hated everyone in this book. But I loved this book. I loved everything about it. This was the worst terrible terrific story. Quentin you did your best terrible thing.
I give this book 5 stars.

Quentin Carter comest to us with a surprise to write about the forbidden fruit. Seems like Quentin tried to mix it up a little bit. This story takes place in Kansas City, MO, centers around 2 brothers trying their luck of dating 2 white, rich, preppy, naive females, that is trying to learn the rhythm of the african american slang (stereotyped at times). Money becomes the root of all evil when one friend goes against another, and both brothers try to still run things thru their blue eyes while locked down. Along the way the girls stir up more trouble than a little, resulting in a good read, and somewhat comical at times.

The plot seem to become confusing middle ending in book. I went over it more than once and still it doesn't make sense, but the ending will try to smooth out things, but the questions still went unanswered that I was seeking. Both brothers, Qu'bon and O'bon seem to come hard at beginning of book, but turn soft once they try their hand at those pretty pink toes.

Overall, it's a book worth reading, and definately will keep you turning pages. I enjoyed this book and hopefully you will too.

Quentin Carter has done it again with his new book Stained Cotton. This book takes place in Kansas City, Mo. with the Cartez brothers Qu'ban and O'ban. Qu'ban the ladies man, who does anything when it comes to making money and women. O'bon the older brother who is in his younger brother's shadow. Together they go through the lies, decite and betrayal of those who you think are with you but could also be a enemy. The Cartez brothers lives are turned upside down when they get a taste of the "forbidden fruit".

QUENTIN CARTER! U NEVER, EVER LEAVE ME WITH BREATH LEFT TO EXHALE! Q'ban Cartez is a sex happy youngin' who doesn't care about feelings. The game in this story is all about getting served. But, is it really a skin tone thing- or a man vs woman thing in the hard knocks of the heartless hood? Clearly, the white wonder bread wrapper left colored circles around them streets, and only a fool ends up with the big SURPRISE! STALEMATE! Maybe Q'ban shouldn't have tried to trick a trick by peeling her off for fifties from the first get go? DAMN THIS WAS A GOOD BOOK! I read it in one day, burning off 3500 calories at the gym. This was a certified pound of that good-good reading.

In Quentin Carter's event-driven latest release, Stained Cotton, two sisters, Katrina and Nancy, opted to forgo the usual `girls gone wild' excursions that young, white women have become known for while on college break. As pampered suburbanites, bare-breasted flashing and all night drinking binges were old news. They wanted more excitement. Something even dangerous, maybe. Almost immediately, Qu'ban and O'ban, brothers, became their saviors for this quest; quenching Katrina and Nancy's thirst for the black experience. Not only did the brothers teach the sisters how to speak street language, they gave them more lessons than they bargained for. And it only made matters worse when Katrina became pregnant with Qu'ban's child. While they contended with racist parents, Katrina and Nancy's roles in the Kansas City hoods proved more dangerous than they could have ever imagined.

From a life of privilege to a life of crime, Stained Cotton exemplifies the adage of once you go black, you never go back...even if you wanted to.

I was excited about reading another Quentin Carter book, but my excitement quickly fizzled when I did not seem to initially get `it.' Stuck between a rock and a hard place, I soon found that Stained Cotton would be an enjoyable read for people who enjoy reading for shock value and do not mind controversy with unbelievable motives. With a tighter plot and better character development, Stained Cotton would be a great work of fiction.

Reviewed by Darnetta Frazier
APOOO BookClub

I bought this book for an art teacher friend who uses it constantly in her high school classes.

I bought a copy for my seven-year-old step-daughters and packed it for a long car trip over Labor Day weekend. The girls giggled wildly while pouring over the artwork and the questions they posed, and then spent a good long time working on their own "What if..." questions and accompanying illustrations.

A fine picture book all around!

Working with kids is great...yet if you don't keep them occupied at all times my job description would be zoo keeper, not Elementary Art Teacher! At first, Sarah Perry's book "If..." served as a functional time filler. I knew the kids would get a kick out of the wonderful images! I introduce the book and the kids are still a bit restless and and not totally convinced that the art teacher is reading a book. Isn't that the librarians job, they think as they roll their eyes. I open to the first page and read,"If cats can fly..." their heads turn and their rolling eyes become transfixed on Perry's beautiful illustrations. I turn the page and by now the audience is silently screaming for more!!! By this time the students' teacher has come to pick the kids up from the art room, but instead of lining up the class, she has pulled up a seat to listen in on the fun! Nine times out of ten, when I am finished sharing the book, the students ask me to read it again. The kids walk out of the classroom with a smile on their face and their imaginations zooming!!! Parents stop me in the hallways to speak about the delight their child experienced when I was reading the book! I give the credit to Sarah Perry! Thank you Sarah...this functional time filler has become an imagination can opener!!!

This book is so beautifully illustrated and the ideas it presents are really fun. We got it as a baby shower gift and it immediately became a favorite of my husband and mine. Now my 2-year old loves to pour over the illustrations and giggles at the silly ideas. It's a book that I know she will keep into her adulthood.

My grandson who is almost four loves this book. He packed it to bring back to Me Me's when he spent the night.

The book, "If" is a great one for teachers to teach the trait of Ideas. Wonderful illustrations!

There can be no doubt that this is one of the greatest novels of all time. It envelopes you very quickly and leaves you changed, if only for a while. I would only point out two disappointments.

I found Tolstoy's philosophy boring and rather like a wet blanket, especially in the end.

Nearly all of the characters in the story are detestable, selfish human beings. Few learn anything meaningful from this traumatic struggle. The few that do display consistent, redeeming, qualities are generally shafted. Such is life, I understand, but still it disturbed me.

War and peace is a literary challenge that all avid readers should conquer. The Mt Everest of novels, epic in scale, infinite in its implications.
The sweeping saga of five families and their lives over the course of a decade. A time when Russia was at war with Napoleon. The main characters number to perhaps ten to twelve but the secondary characters number into the hundreds following their escapades and adventures requires the utmost devotion to the literary work; indeed I often found my self rereading pages and sometimes sections in an effort not to miss any of the intricacies.
The novel explores many human conflicts of the frailty of the spirit to the physical brutality of war among nations.
Does absence makes the heart grow stronger, young in love Natasha, knows all to well it does not, as is revealed. Characters like Pierre frustrate with their inability to just live their life and be happy. Misunderstood Nicolai Rostov wants to find his courage through events not understanding it must come from within. Prince Andrei needs no one not even God, with his hardened heart after a tragedy.
The events may be set over two centuries ago but they are still relevant today. This novel is a masterpiece.

Think history doesn't repeat itself? Then read this outstanding translation of Tolstoy's classic, and particularly in the Epilogue sections, imagine the name "Napoleon" replaced with "Bush" or "Cheney". You'll see what I mean -- it's pretty eerie, in fact.

[...]

This ideal of glory and greatness -- stemming from a belief that one's every action is beyond reproach, and every crime a proud achievement invested with a supernatural significance beyond all understanding -- this ideal, which would prove to be the guiding principle of this man and those around him, is deployed on a massive scale...Whatever he does comes off. The plague doesn't touch him. The callous slaughtering of his prisoners is not held against him...Dizzy with the success of his crimes and ready for his new role, he arrives...without any plan in mind just as the disintegration of the Republican government, which might have brought him down...completes its course...

He has no sort of plan, he is scared of his own shadow, but all parties grab at him and solicit his support.

He alone -- with his ideal of glory and greatness...with his maniacal self-adulation, outrageous criminality and bare-faced duplicity -- he alone can justify what has to be done.

He is needed to fill the place that awaits him, and so it is that, almost independently of his own will, and in spite of his dithering, his failure to plan ahead and his proneness to error, he finds himself drawn into a conspiracy aimed at the seizure of power, and the conspiracy comes off.
...
There is no action, no atrocity, no little bit of trickery he could indulge without it being immediately represented on the lips of those about him as a great deed...Everything conspires to deprive him of the last scintilla of reason, and prepare him for his terrible role.
...
But all of a sudden, instead of the chance contingencies and genius that had ensured such a consistent, uninterrupted run of successes leading him toward his destined goal he is faced with a vast number of chance contingencies working in reverse...and instead of genius we see in him unparalleled stupidity and wickedness.

Here, we have "War and Peace" conveyed to the listener in FOUR HOURS on 10 CDs, about 17-18 tracks per CD. Some folks might see this notable abridgement as their greatest critique of this rendering but I'm okay with it.

If you're unfamiliar with the actual story, here is a brief summary:

In 1805, Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Austria to expand his European empire. Russia, being an ally of Austria, stood with their brethren against the infamous Emperor. Napoleon prevailed and a treaty was ultimately signed at Tilsit.

In 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia, again in an effort to expand his empire. The end result of this tragic war was that Napoleon's army of about 600,000 soldiers was reduced to roughly 60,000 men as the defamed Emperor raced from a devastated Moscow (which he had taken), back across the frozen Russian tundra in his carriage (leaving his troops behind to fend for themselves) for Paris. That encapsulizes the military aspect of this work.

But the more intricate story involves both the activities and the peccadillos of, primarily, three Russian families of nobility: The Rostovs, the Bolkonskys, and the Bezukovs, as well as their associates. The continual thorn of "The Antichrist," Napoleon, really just provides the wallpaper for this story of romance, riches, desolation, love, jealousy, hatred, retribution, joy, naiivety, stupidity, and so much more.

Tolstoy has woven an incredibly intricate web that interconnects these noble families, the wars, and the common Russian people to a degree that would seem nearly incomprehensible to achieve -- but Tolstoy perseveres with superb clarity and with great insight to the human psyche. His characters are timeless and the reader of the complete novel who has any social experience whatever will pretty much immediately connect with them all.

"War and Peace" (the book) is a fictional, lengthy novel, based upon historical fact, here, abridged, dramatized, and performed by talented actors as an audiobook. There is a total of two hours of original new background music spread out over the 10 CDs which greatly enhances this particular media version.

The story is told through numerous professional British actors and actresses, utilizing "General Kutuzov" as a narrator to set up many of the scenes, a shrewd device. The dramatizers did a great job of squeezing in the primary stories, pretty much in their entirety, and thus maintaining the overall ambiance of both the saga and its principals in their entirety. Yes, some necessary artistic license was invoked here and there, such as the "verbal assault on Princess Marya by the rebellious serfs" episode. In the book, this transpires at Bogucharovo after she has fled her home in Bald Hills -- on the audiobook, it takes place at Bald Hills, of course, in the interest of saving time.

Character development is surprisingly good and fairly true to the book descriptions although I thought that the dramatizers were a little hard on Boris Drubetskoy. I also believe that they could have done a bit more with the unique character of Platon Karateyev.

I cannot not, in good conscience, recommend the audiobook version to folks who have yet to read the novel -- it's simply too complex of a story and bulging with numerous characters (the book itself sports over 500 in all!) for most folks to grasp from the audiobook version. The fact that so many people here are addressed by the same titles, (e.g., "prince," "princess," etc.), adds additional confusion to newcomers to the story.

There are a few devisive aspects of this version of "War and Peace". As it's all performed by British actors one should not expect to hear Russian accents. And, even though all concerned did a great job, it's additionally almost impossible to convey a battle scene absent a visual aspect, the book version having the distinct multiple advantages of Tolstoy's superbly colorful written descriptions of these critical episodes; so, you end up hearing a lot of "characters talking to themselves" with cannon fire, rifle fire, and the screams of the dying in the background.

I also found that individual actors, clearly accustomed to the benefit of the visual aspects of their art, were often taking too long to say what needed to be said. It's not so much distracting as it is boring in spots.

But overall, for those people who have previously read "War and Peace," and who still have a good grasp of the essential story, this BBC audiobook version is a very nice way to absorb the story for a second round.

I do have one final thought -- I'M NOT TELLING YOU TO MAKE A "BACK-UP COPY", BUT... the CDs are VERY subject to damage by scratching. Making such copies would likely technically violate copyright laws -- and that's all I'm going to say about THAT!

See my "Listmania Lists" for more Russian stuff and great fiction.

A new translation by Anthony Briggs, introduction by Orlando Figes. I chose this translation based on the strength of the Penguin Classics imprint, the readable size of the print, and the back-cover blurps promising a new and accessible translation. Overall, the translation read very well, although I agree with two negative comments I read on internet blogs about the translation:

1). The decision to give some of the soldiers and peasants stock "Cockney" accents with dropped initial "h" sounds. While I think the translator was trying to impart a feeling of lower-class camaraderie in this decision, it just sounds too anachronistic. Did Russian peasants in 1812 really talk like that?

2). One character speaks with a lisp that turns Rs into Ws (think Elmer Fudd). Hunh? This decision, again, draws attention to the translation and away from the character. (the internet blogs indicate that in the original Tolstoy identifies the character as having an unspecified speech defect, and Briggs felt this best fit Tolstoy's intent. Elmer Fudd? That I doubt).

On to the book itself. Even in the paperback edition this is a concrete block of a book, 1400 pages (including a few pages of notes, maps, introduction, and biographical essay) and easily a couple of pounds that don't fit easily under the arm. For the first 900 pages Tolstoy's sprawling account of Russian aristocracy in the years 1805 through 1820 (centering on relations with Napoleon and the War of 1812) provides a moving and surprisingly fast moving novel while Tolstoy explicates his theories of free will, history, war, and faith.

Even though I felt that the action in and around the capture (and abandonment) of Moscow at around page 900, which should have been a furious and fascinating centerpiece of the novel, lagged in relation to the rest of it, I still must rate this as a classic. Part of my problem may have been "reader fatigue" in the face of the daunting challenge of reading all those pages. I tackled this book over a two week Christmas holiday, and even given time pleasantly interrupted only by family and holiday gatherings, this represents 100 pages of reading per day for 14 days. You may also suffer reader fatigue, but stick with it; the effort will be rewarded.

At that climactic point when the French reach Moscow around page 900, I found the novel it a lull and dragged about for 300 pages until the pace picked up again in the denouement and a truly elegiac epilogue where Tolstoy shows the remaining key characters in their extended family relationships. This 50-page section is a rich reward for following the relationships, thoughts, and sometimes "appallingly bad decisions" (translator's words in the biographical essay) of these characters we have grown to know intimately.

I was reminded while reading this account of the extended family gathering depicted in the movie "Dan in Real Life" that I have recently seen, where an extended family gathers for a much-anticipated annual holiday gathering, and we enjoy the love, respect, and enjoyment of well-worn relationships earned through years of trust and knowledge. I had the same feeling in both stories that the people genuinely loved each other not just in spite of their (well-known and sometimes mocked) faults, but because of them. A comparative review of these two accounts would make a worthy topic for a college literature class paper.

Tolstoy, like Hugo in Les Miserables which I read and reviewed recently, had in his sights not just a character novel, or a war novel, or even a historical novel of sweeping scope, but a theoretical examination of character, war, history, and those topics I listed earlier, woven into and around the fictional action, which serves as explanation, example, and explication.

Free will - The central theme of the novel is the interplay between free will and determinism. "An inner voice told her that now or never her fate would be decided" (p. 575), a phrase that could be applied to several characters. Tolstoy spends several pages in the Epilogue explaining his theory of free will in a historical essay talking directly to the reader, but it is aptly summarized in the words that Tolstoy gave to one of his main characters: "Do you ever get that feeling that nothing's ever going to happen to you again, nothing at all, and anything good is in the past? And you don't feed bored exactly, but very , very sad?" Another character states the paradox in even more stark terms: "Everything matters, nothing matters" (p. 592).

History - Several times during the novel Tolstoy addresses the "Great men vs. Great events" debate and decides conclusively on the side of Great events, in the process declaring his stance on the Free Will debate. Near dead center of the book (p. 670-671), Tolstoy says: "Every action [great men] perform, which they take to be self-determined and independent, is in a historical sense quite the opposite; it is interconnected with the whole course of history, and predetermined from eternity." This stance, while consistent with his philosophy, is also influenced by Tolstoy's obvious dislike of Napoleon, and his stated desire to counterbalance a strong and growing Napoleon-worship amongst historians and biographers in the 1860's when Tolstoy was writing.

War - Tolstoy's descriptions of war emphasize the realistic and accidental events in battle, not the glorified events of romantic writers. He minimizes the ability of Great Men to influence the outcome of battles and wars, as we have seen, and has high praise for the Russian general Kutuzov who lead the backward movement of the Russian army across the country toward and through Moscow drawing the French Army to its ultimate death at the point of its highest triumph (the capture of Moscow); many contemporaries and subsequent historians had criticized the general for refusing to attack and best the French Army during their march into and out of Russia. "But if there's going to be a war like this one, let there be war," (p. 861) states Tolstoy through a main character.

Faith--So how can Tolstoy, and his characters, and his readers, deal with the final gloom of determinism? Does nothing really matter? Tolstoy, on page 1241, acknowledges the problem: "Yes. It would be hard to live without faith nowadays . . . ", says a character with a strong religious faith.

"Why is that true?", asks a character who is searching for a reason to live and believe.

And Tolstoy provides the answer, through a character who has come to his spiritual maturity through a hard-fought struggle with his own sins and lack of faith: "Only someone who believes there is a God guiding our lives could stand a loss like hers, and . . . yours."

i literally finished this book in half a day. I could not put it down or get it out of my head. Quite simply, one of the best novels I have EVER read. Every word sticks, the body is transported to another world and then at the last page, brings you back into cold, harsh reality, breathless.
The only complaint i have is this:
I read the introduction first and it ruined the ending for me.
If this is your first time reading this, DO NOT READ THE INTRO!!!!
I have no idea WHY they put that intro in first. STUPID.
Thanks for somewhat but not, ruining a glorious conclusion!

This story has nothing to do with sex. In all of Mann's stories he is struggling with living life without art or living for art.
The boy represents art. If he pursues it he might die. That is his dilemma.

This supurb novella has been with me most of my life. I carry it with me when I'm alone or on trips. It helps me understand the tradgedy of living in a world of beauty untouched. It illuminates one of life's most sacred and profound secrets. It glows within me. Like the Bible, it is a book that stands alone. Elusive. Priceless. Angels are here.

An obsessive, unfulfilled passion is at the heart of Thomas Mann's classic 1912 novella, and Michael Henry Heim's 2003 translation liberates the homoerotic elements of Mann's sometimes dense prose to make the main character more accessible to contemporary readers. Heim succeeds in bringing the story out of the academic cobwebs. The plot is light on action, as it focuses squarely on middle-aged Prussian novelist Gustav von Aschenbach as he pursues his passion for Tadzio, a young Polish boy on vacation with his family in Venice. Past his peak as a successful writer and facing his fast-approaching mortality, von Aschenbach sees Tadzio as a symbol of his own faded youth and of attractions that were never made reality in his fifty-plus years. The writer is in the middle of a book about Frederick the Great when he arrives in the sweltering heat of Venice where there is an Asiatic cholera breakout.

Although the more literal interpretation of von Aschenbach's constant pursuit can be seen as wanton lust, the real undercurrent that Mann provides is the writer's self-validation as an artist. Toward that end, Mann has his protagonist look at Tadzio as an object of irreproachable beauty, something that fulfills his need to get reacquainted with his artistic integrity. Heim's translation allows the story to get past the titillation factor into what comes across almost like a ghost story given that von Aschenbach never touches or even speaks to Tadzio. There is a sense that something transcendent will occur toward the end, but it becomes a race against time to see if von Aschenbach's fever dream becomes tangible. Mann's struggles with his own sexuality are palpable on these pages, but so is his emotional distance from the character's passions. It's this concurrent dichotomy in perspective that makes this book a classic and not something to be relegated simply to the gay fiction shelves at the bookstore. Novelist Michael Cunningham ("The Hours", "Specimen Days") wrote the introduction to the 2003 Heim edition.

This is a wonderful novella, written as a self-reflective piece about Mann's own life and how he imagined dying a beautiful death. The descriptions of Venice are beautiful, as are the classical references. The death scene is quite nice, turning from one perspective to another, gently.