Fiction Literature Books

This classic play by Arthur Miller (1915-2005) examines human failure, high expectations, and the dark side of the American Dream. Willie Loman is an aging salesman whose figures have fallen to the point where he no longer makes a real living. Not only is his job in jeopardy; so is his family and self-worth. Loman reacts by deluding himself, living in the past, and by holding his sons to unrealistic expectations. Miller does a superb job in presenting a broken man sliding downwards. Such occurs in the sordid race of materialism and corporate success - one that leaves many broken souls in its path. Willie needs to face reality, and mend himself and his struggling family (and his family should help him too), but Miller's powerful script doesn't go there. Instead we have a deluded, beaten man sliding into mental illness - and worse.

Miller penned this play in 1949, as the USA was moving into postwar changes and a more suburbanized, corporate society. This play about the brutish world of expectations, materialism, and the illusive American dream is as much on target today as in 1949.

Summary:

"Death of a Salesman" is a play by Arthur Miller about an aging man named Willy Loman and his broken dreams. Willy is in his sixties, and had just been demoted from his once fruitful job as a traveling salesman. Because of his growing depression and his frequent car accidents, he had his salary taken away, and has been put on commission.
Throughout the play, Willy recalls his life in a series of flashbacks, while we see what he has become in the present. He went from having an illustrious career where everyone loved him and he brought home a large salary, to a depressing home life and earning money off the occasional sale. His two sons Biff and Happy, were once successful athletes. Now Biff is 34 years old with no job and no high school diploma. Happy appears to be following in his fathers footsteps, making many of the same mistakes that he did. Willy can't stand to be around his wife, Linda, anymore because of his overwhelming guilt over an extramarital affair that happened several decades ago, that his son found out about.
Near the end of the play, Willy fantasizes that he is talking to his dead brother Ben, who had been an inspiration to him since he struck it rich in Alaska. Willy attempts suicide several times, once by hooking an exhaust pipe to the gas heater, and several times by purposefully driving recklessly.
When he tries to get his original job back, he gets fired by a man young enough to be his son. He tells this man, Howard Wagner, how he expected his life to turn out, and how he was let down:

"...Oh, yeah, my father lived many years in Alaska. He was an adventurous man. We've got quite a little streak of self-reliance in our family. I thought I'd go out with my older brother and try to locate him, and maybe settle in the North with the old man. And I was almost decided to go, when I met a salesman in the Parker House. His name was Dave Singleman. And he was eighty-four years old, and he'd drummed merchandise in thirty-one states. And old Dave, he'd go up to his room, y'understand, put on his green velvet slippers - I'll never forget - and pick up his phone and call the buyers, and without ever leaving his room, at the age of eighty-four, he made his living. And when I saw that, I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want. `Cause what could be more satisfying than to be able to go, at the age of eighty-four, into twenty or thirty different cities, and pick up a phone, and be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people? Do you know? When he died - and by the way, he died the death of a salesman, in his green velvet slippers in the smoker of the New York, New Haven and Hartford, going into Boston - when he dies, hundreds of salesmen and buyers were at his funeral. Things were sad on a lotta trains for months after that. In those days there was personality in it, Howard. There was respect, and comradeship, and gratitude in it. Today, it's all cut and dried, and there's no chance for bringing friendship to bear - or personality. You see what I mean? They don't know me any more."

Later, he finds out that his son, Biff, doesn't get the job he was counting on. After a failed attempt to plant a vegetable garden, he decides that he couldn't live anymore and drives his car off a bridge.

My rating: 4/5

Commentary:

This was a good book. It had good character development and an intriguing plot. However, since I wasn't seeing the actual play, it was hard to tell what happened in some of the scenes. Anyone who likes period pieces will probably want to read this.

"Death of a Salesman" is a modern American tragedy. Yet, it can apply equally to any society where individuals become self-obsessed, lose touch with the bigger picture and allow themselves to be deluded by dreams of riches whilst ignoring the beauty of the day to day world.

Poor Willy Loman is a very sad figure. He wallows in the past. He has grandiose dreams about himself and his two adult sons, Happy and Biff. But these dreams are not rooted in any reality. Quite simply, Willy is lost and lonely.

Arthur Miller's play is a masterpiece. Few other 20th century playwrights have been able to surgically dissect society so well. Miller's work is not for those seeking a happy ending where everything is resolved and the characters happily fade away. No, this work is brutal in comparison. Willy Loman is an anti-hero. He is hard to like. He is, however, worthy of our pity. His life, at least through his own eyes, is one of failure. But, in reality, Willy is no failure. He is simply deluded. He has swallowed the American dream to the point where its goals merely impoverish him. The dream, any dream, is what you make of it and should not be imposed upon the individual. Willy allows the dream to ruin his life. Willy is the ultimate tragic.

Many deem "Death of a Salesman" to be a critique of American society. This is unfair. Miller's work is the précis of a tragic life. Willy is that tragedy. To dream is magnificent. To allow a dream to dominate your very existence is a disaster.

I wasn't terribly impressed with "Death of a Salesman" while I read it. The play simply didn't live up to its acclaim, its noble status in American literature. I've heard Salesman referenced countless times over my life, all 22 years of it. Salesman was written in 1949, a post-war era that supported the belief that starting anew was possible and wishes do come true. My first impression of the play was that it attempted to shatter the ubiquitous belief of an American dream, making it merely a quixotic fantasy. But after rereading certain passages and thinking about it for this review, I saw how very human its message is and how it is actually an incredibly despairing masterpiece that throws a new light at the idea behind the American dream. Through the utterly destroyed and distraught protagonist, Willy Loman, Miller represents the demise of the American dream and suggests the need to reassess such a unrealistic dream.

Loman is a revised, twentieth-century version of the classic tragic character. He does not display the typical chivalrous characteristics that many literary tragic characters do, such as Beowulf and Oedipus Rex. Loman, in fact, is pathetic and repugnant. As an older aged, crazy, and impoverished character, Loman isn't close to the traditional heroic figure. He cheats on his wife; builds up impratical hopes for his two sons; and makes imprudent business and life decisions. Such characteristics are sinful and generally not seen in the traditional tragic literary figure. But these traits are also very real and humanistic. Miller deftly jumps from the present to the past and back again, slowly "peeling the onion" (as Grass would call it) of the true Loman. This peeling process reveals what went wrong and what should've been avoided to prevent this most tragic ending. It appears that Miller is suggesting that seemingly innocuous decisions can--and do--destroy the American dream.

Such a bleak perspective on the American dream shouldn't come as a surprise to the reader/viewer. The late 1940s was a period of transition: America was forced to adjust from the war-driven, ration crazed society to a very corporate-driven, forced-fed consumer culture. Post-war America was full of tenuous hopes to climb the corporate ladder and to acclimate to a life of plenty, i.e. family members and money. For an ordinary, hard-working American, like Loman, this proved to be too much. Despite the play having a backdrop in the 1920s and '30s, it takes place in the late '40s, in the very much consumer focused society. It is fitting that the land of plenty left Loman and his family with nothing.

The play is very much alive today as it was nearly sixty years ago. Do read it. I'm going to try to see the play the next time it comes to town.

Hopeless fathers & sons were a favorite theme of Miller. The pressure of failing aspirations. The horror of failure. Drawn between overconfidence and self-doubt. Flashbacks on scenes from a dreary life. Lies to others and oneself. Failures in job and family.
The play is one of the quintessential pieces of modern American theater. Its themes are known and have been expounded endlessly. Why is it still fresh? I have never watched it on stage nor screen. I have known it for ages, but could not find enough interest to look for a performance, nor to read it. Now LoA does it.
Looking at the reviews here on the Penguin modern classic page, I am wondering about the spread in reviews. From 5 to 1 stars all is there, with a downward slope towards the negative votes. The play has more friends than foes, but on an absolute level, the nays would sink an ordinary ship. Of course quality questions are not decided by democracy. One particularly daft observer produced a perfect inverted version of cultural Stalinism. With perfect perverted logic, he tells us that only positive depictions of the American dream are acceptable. That is completely in line with 'socialist realism': if the artist fails to enthuse about the reigning system, he is condemned.
Thanks to LoA for making me get to know the man Miller. I will definitely look for a movie version or go to a play if I find an opportunity.

I'm one of those who found One Hundred Years of Solitude fascinating and enjoyable. The style definitely made it for me; Marquez's prose is misty and mythic in a beautifully descriptive way. I never lost interest in the story. It's told in an unusual manner, more like an oral history or legend than a written work. After reading it, I could see why Marquez is called the "South American Faulkner"; the style in One Hundred Years of Solitude can only be compared to a book like The Sound and the Fury. I have called it misty, but it's deeper than that. The haze over Macondo is analogous to the haze of memory itself. I was thoroughly satisfied and amazed by the book. For me to attempt further description of its marvelous intricacies would be to rob you of the full joy of reading it.

I was disappointed, though, when I sampled some of Marquez's other works. In Evil Hour failed to hold my attention at all, and the only novel that has even come close was Love in the Time of Cholera. Marquez was a good author and journalist, but he didn't have the consistency to maintain the style he achieved in One Hundred Years of Solitude. I would wholeheartedly recommend OHYoS to anyone interested in this book or this author, but I would simultaneously warn him or her not to expect to find another book like it. Perhaps it's best that way.

100 years of solitude is an extremely well-written novel. The town of Macondo is personified through the Buendia family. It was the Buendias who founded the town and their lineage that is followed in the story. The town (like the Buendia family) is a desolate and solitary place that rapidly matures until it is destroyed. From the founding of the town, to the installment of the banana company, to the town's destruction, Macondo is destined to remain in solitude. Like the Buendias, the town never really reaches its full potential. Although the novel is extremely graphic and somewhat depressing at parts, from a literary point of view, 100 years of solitude is a fantastic novel.

I checked this book out of the library after reading rave review after rave review.

I wanted to like it, I really did, but I honestly cannot understand all the high marks. To me the book reads as if it were written by a 6th-grader. Characterization and storyline aside, the language itself is what turned me off. It seemed stilted, contrived, lacking in fluidity, and devoid of any real color; an amateurish effort at best.

Perhaps this reads better in its native tongue, but the translation I read was atrocious. I promptly returned it to the library, shooting it soundly down the return bin with a force that it so richly deserved.

And fascinating illusions don't let me go. I loved the book to the bone, to the heart of this exotic village and its psycho people. I was mesmerized by the literature and captured by this uniquely masterpiece of fiction and fact, mixed in a bowl of madness.

For those of you who have read Marquez before this book will not dissapoint you, in fact I think its one of Marquez best.
For those of you who havent, this is a great way to start.
This is the story of the Buendia family and how things happen through the years. It is full of memorable passages that will make you think that what happens to the family and the town can be related to different passages in world history.
Dont worry if after the first couple of pages you are confused by the many names and vatriations of each. The characters and their story are so unique that the similarity in names will have little importance.
I think Marquez tells a good and enjoyable story that can be enjoyed by everyone at anytime and you will find that after the first few pages it will be hard to put it down.
Granted that I read this book in Spanish so I think it might feel a little different reading it in English and maybe some events will seem strange if you are not familiarized with the way families behave in Latin countries.
Totally worth it though.

A wonderful book that provoked the child in me and helps feed the imagination of my godson. We spent hours going through the pages and discussing the creatures. A person, old or young, simply can't be disappointed with all the book holds.

Perfect; see monsterology! This is an awesome book! The only problem is that it doesn't have as much cool bookletts and things you can interact, but by itself it is really awesome! It has some monsters you would recognize and some new ones!

The latest in the popular "ology" series, Monsterology: The Complete Book of Monstrous Beasts is as beautiful and elaborate as its many companion volumes. Featuring writings on fantastic beasts from griffons and hippogriffs to phoenixes, the pegasus, unicorns, kraken, sphinx, and much more (but not dragons - they're covered in a different book!), Monsterology reads a bit like a nineteenth century naturalist treatise. Numerous delicate pop-up flaps, textured "hide samples" or other special tidbits adorn the pages - most notably the so-called "ashes from the nest of a phoenix". "Ashes from a phoenix's nest [like those above] are said to give long life. They should never be ingested, as this could prove disastrous. Instead, the ashes are so potent that simply keeping this book on a nearby shelf will have a noticeably beneficial effect in fifty years or so." The colorful artwork adds the perfect touch to this "must-have" for any fantasy buff's private collection.

'All Quiet on the Western Front' is Remarque's timeless tale of war during WWI. It is trite to refer to it as an 'anti-war' story. It is all of that and much more. It's a story of youth, patriotism, naivete and brutal death in the mud of German trenches. It's a tale of bloody assaults, destructive retreats and the story of brave men facing impenetrable walls of bullets and steel. It is told from the German pespective but the story could have been told, with equal impact, from the British, French or British perspective. Their experiences, despite differences in nationalities, was almost exactly the same--filth, fear, desperation, wounds and death.

To what end? Remarque's answer is simple--none. It's all for nothing. All the heroism, cowardice, greed and sacrifice are, ultimately, for exactly nothing. Boys don't come home to their parents or women. They are built into the walls of trenches or their bloated corpses float in the watery mud of shell craters. In the end, they all--German and Allies--smell the same and the maggots are the only ones to benefit.

Of all the poignant scenes, the one I like best is when the young German soldier, seeking shelter during an enemy counterattack, dives into an open crypt. A French soldier dives in after him with his bayonet. There is a struggle and the Frenchman is killed. Now the young German must live face to face with his guilt. He goes through his victim's wallet and finds pictures of his wife and children and loving letters from his wife, praying that he will return to her safe. The German grieves over the horror of his act.

There is a day of quiet. The war seems far away. A butterfly lights on a flower growing in the muck. The young soldier's hand reaches out to touch it. The sniper takes careful aim...

Not to remarkably, Hitler on coming to power, exiled Remarque. Hitler gloried in the winnowing process of war, regarding the culling the 'unfit' in favor of the most fit as Darwinian progress.


Ron Braithwaite author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico

I received All Quiet In The Western Front but found that the
CD was not recorded in English.

"All Quiet on the Western Front" is a well-known work throughout the western world. "Bloom's Guides: All Quiet on the Western Front" is a complete and comprehensive book on the book. Exploring Remarque's work, looking at the roots and meanings scattered throughout that may not be obvious to a simple reader, it is also enhanced with a collection of critical essays discussing the work's impact on the world of literature and the world in general. This Bloom's Guide to a literary classic is a must for any student or non-specialist general reader wanting better understand the nuances, historical references, character insights, and writing style that created "All Quiet on the Western Front."

Thank you for your timely shipping. This book was for a reading assignment, and it was a great book. I did not really want to read it, but it was an exciting and very informative book. I enjoyed it so much I got an A+ on my report!!!

The book came wrapped in cardboard and tape, but nothing was damaged. Great buy! Awesome book, very intense and graphic. I had to read it for an AP European History class.

This workbook uses Cognitive Behavior Therapy and helps give children tools for fighting OCD. My daughter is 9 and found this book to be very helpful. It helped her to understand what OCD is and how to find ways to lessen its power over her mind. I definitely recommend this book.

this book was great for my little girl..she was diagnosed with OCD
and coming to terms with it..she needed to know she was not "weird"
and that others like herself deal with OCD every single day to some degree
I highly recommend this book
!

My 9 year old son worked through this book with his OCD therapist, and it had an immediate, positive impact on his understanding of his disorder. It gave him the tools he needed to fight back against his intrusive thoughts and anxiety. He continues to rely on this book when things "flare up" occasionally. I'm so thankful that he has this book to help remind him what is really happening in his head when his OCD bothers him, and what he can do to help get it under control.

I read this book with my nine-year-old child in one afternoon. We saw immediate results. Her OCD symptoms were relatively mild to moderate, but we saw a dramatic decrease in OCDs immediately. It was as if the book gave her permission to take control of a situation that she felt was out of her control. She was instantly transformed back into our happy, cheerful and talkative child. She no longer sits in social settings repeating words in her head and missing the life going on around her. I HIGHLY recommend this book. I wish our physician had given it to us two years ago. It is a condensed version of books written for adults and parents. I even recommend it for adults struggling with anxiety and OCD.

I thought this was a great book for kids and teens with OCD. I am a therapist and I will recommend it to all my clients with OCD.

The Federalist Papers need no review. They are classics in American History and were the basis for convincing the Colonials that the Constitution was a sound structure for the new Government.

Must read for those who wish to understand the US Constitution in it basic understanding from the writers of the USC

You will not know American History without reading these papers. I am a history major and forget or never realized the importance of these papers. I know I never read them in college.

The details have already been well covered so let me just add another five star vote for must read(or for many of us reread). Whatever your political views you simply cannot understand the basis of our countries principles without working through the Federalist Papers. Step away from the bloggers and bar stool pundits(same thing really-just different delivery) and do your own homework on the founding of this great country. I am not a flag waving, rah, rah patriot type but it is hard to come away from a reading of the Federalist papers without a profound respect, admiration and in my case awe of the principles which form our government.

Lastly, this is a review of the Signet series which is very good but frankly I suggest not spending too much time worrying about which edition, publisher etc. The main point is to get a copy and start studying.

The Federalist Papers provide an outstanding basis for comprehending the foundation in the principles of creating and maintaining the U.S. government. It is very interesting. If you are studying American politics you can not continue without reading this book. It will also give you a better understanding of how the older laws of the U.S.A. were developed.

This is a sophisticated story. Yes like many of the classic it may be corny by todays vinacular. After reading many classics is still not easy, not to snicker when the author uses the word gay. Much beyond that you have to read this story beyond the mere words, you need to imagine a different time and different society. In many ways it is ironic that many of the situations the characters in this story are in are situations that still challenge people today. If you allow yourself this story can cause you to question many of your values, espically social values. It is long, it is corny, and it can be good.

I haven't had/made time to read other translations of this Great work, but IMHO, Anna Karenina 'Must Be' in the top five list of all-time Greatest Romances...
(trying NOT to be selfish): Reading Anna Karenina has enriched my life; It has INCREASED my love, devotion, & respect for-to my wife, my respect & care for my children & grand-children.
I hope it does the same for you & your family...

I just finished this book, in a weeks time. The first, maybe 300 pages, were extremely intriguing and I couldn't put the book down. But this was mainly because I loved the story between Anna and Vronosky. I must admit, the main reason I purchased this book was because it was said to be one of the greatest love stories of all time, and I highly enjoy reading love stories. After awhile, I realized that this book didn't revolve around Anna, like I had thought. And one of the greatest love stories of all times? Absolutely not. Actually, I barely saw any kind of "love story" in this entire novel. There was Anna and Vronosky, but could you even consider what they had to be a love story? Maybe for about 50 pages, but after that, it was annoying. To be honest, I don't think love even existed between the two of them, more like infatuation turned into obsession. Anna constantly complaining about how she felt unloved. She convinced herself that he no longer loved her, which drove her to insanity. And the way she left her son, completely unforgivable.
Then we had Levin and Kitty's love story. I'm sorry, but I just couldn't bring myself to feel the love between them when Levin wasn't even her first choice. It seemed to me that she settled for Levin because she was unwanted. However, I felt she did come to love him eventually, after they had married, which made their story enjoyable.
As many others have stated, I think Stiva was the most enjoyable character in this entire book, and yet he wasn't any better than the rest.
I enjoyed Alexia Karenina, and I feel as if he was actually a good man that was unable to express his emotions. Notice the pattern; Anna was "repulsed" by him, felt as if he didn't care about her and no longer loved her. After a little while with Vronosky, she felt the same exact way towards him. The problem wasn't with these two men, it was Anna's own insecurities. Which is ironic, because such a "beauty" as she was, being envied by all, she was so strangely insecure.
Should I mention Levin and the hundreds of pages wasted on his thoughts about farming, hunting, and philosophy? I admit, some of it was interesting. But after awhile, it became repetitive and I struggled to get through it.

But even despite my negative opinions, I still gave the book 3 stars. Why? Because there were parts of the book that were entertaining, that did keep me turning the page, and for the most part, it was an easy read. I'd recommend it, but definitely not to someone whose looking for a love story or a fun read.

Leo Tolstoy's immortal novel about love and morality is an intricate, flawlessly conceived work of literary realism. Tolstoy's magnificent application of temporality imbues this epic with an almost unparalleled sense of verisimilitude. Using a dialectic between Anna and Vronsky, and Levin and Kitty, Tolstoy unfolds one of the most remarkable novels about human relationships in the canon. Anna is a beautiful but doomed woman, whose love affair with Count Vronsky sets her life into a chain of inevitable disasters. Tolstoy's blend of politics, social satire, and quiet meditations on country life in 19th century Russia mark this novel as one of the richest and most eternal of works of art. Tolstoy sought to use art as a vessel for his moral opinions about life, death, and Christianity, but fortunately his art triumphed over his message in this incomparable masterpiece.

Why on earth would anyone bother to write another review of so famous and exhaustively-studied a book as "Anna Karenina"?

The world has changed immensely since the book was written in the late 19th century.

Reviews have probably also changed over the years, reflecting the times in which they were written - and the changing nature of reviews themselves. In fact, it would be an interesting academic exercise to read how reviews of the book have changed since its publication.

Each new review provides new interpretations, new insights to add to those of former times.

Sometimes we are put off from reading classic writers such as Tolstoy because we think their works must be too intellectual, too boring, - or set in social and political contexts that have long-vanished and become difficult for modern readers to empathise with.

I have often felt that way myself, and have put off reading "Anna Karenina" until now. Yet I can say, after reading Tolstoy's masterpiece, that the book is enjoyable and accessible to modern readers.

Of course, only the greatest of literature survives the passage of time. The world of pre-revolutionary Russia has been swept away, but "Anna Karenina" tells us of fundamental human drives that will always engage the human spirit and imagination.

Tolstoy's human portraits and his psychological insights are the outstanding features of this book. One of the pleasures of such excellent characterisations lies in reflecting on one's own life and motivations, one's dreams and failures.

Tolstoy's characters also remind us of people we know - and of ourselves. It is very pleasant to slide into reflections of this nature as one reads passages in the book. The book becomes a trigger for our own reveries. It is a deeply human book.

Not only is Tolstoy an excellent depicter of character, he is also gifted in his descriptions of country life, farming and nature. Passages describing cutting hay and the rural life of Russian peasants are simply beautiful.

There is a wonderful episode in which Levin finally gets a "Yes" from the girl he loves (but had tried to ignore following an earlier rejection). Levin goes about in a daze, all is wonderful in the world, everyone he meets is intelligent and kind, even strangers seem to know all about his acceptance (so he thinks in his fog of joy) and he feels they vie with one another to be kind to him! Every man who has ever loved deeply and won his lady will instantly empathise with the situation that Tolstoy describes so well and wittily.

There are wonderful portrayals of family life. Not in a cloying, saccharine sense, but in a very natural and moving way and in a deeply human sense, as true today as in Tolstoy's time.

There are so many beautiful scenes in this book. Every reader will have their own favourites. Some can be read many times with equal enjoyment.

For the philosophical and spiritual reader, there are many passages that have an almost religious significance, as if this were a holy book and not a work of fiction.

Time is not explicitly spelt out and one has no precise idea of the exact timescale of the book while one is reading. Durations and periods of elapsed time are given, but there is a certain timelessness and agelessness about the book that is very apt.

Read this book. You will not be disappointed and will find much to love.

Reading Alexandr Solzhenitsyn's book while traveling through the former Soviet Union recently was downright spooky. He had died just before I left, so I did him the honor of bringing his book along. You don't necessarily read it expecting a fun or enjoyable read. You read it because it was one of the first books that exposed yet one more terrible era the Russian people endured, Stalin's gulag prison camps.

Actually, I was a little let down when I read the introduction (Katherine Shonk) and learned that Khrushchev purposely had the book published in order to expose Stalin's crimes and vilify Stalin. I was hoping that it was a truly "underground" book that somehow managed to evade the censors....But, alas, it is still an important book in Russian history, and I am glad I did read it.

It's a quick and easy read. The other reviews provide the basics of the book, so I'll spare you the extra verbiage.

The recent press surrounding the death of Solzhenitsyn prompted me to seek out his written works, and decided to start with this, his first book. Drawn from his own time spent in Soviet Gulags, Solzhenitsyn paints a frightening picture of a single day in the life of a typical prisoner as he tries to avoid the wrath of both the guards and his fellow inmates from dawn to dusk.

Incidently, the events surrounding the publication of "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" are as eye-opening as the book itself. First published in 1962 with the express permission of then premiere Nikita Khrushchev, it was only two years later that the new regime took offense to the book, not only ceasing publication but prompting Solzhenitsyn's declaration as a "non-person" within the Soviet Union. Undaunted, Solzhenitsyn continued writing in secret, producing several other works (which I happen to be reading now!).

If you've any interest in Soviet history and literature, this seems to be a great place to start.

"One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" is the story of a day in the life of a prisoner in a gulag complete with the monotany, the harsh weather, and the tragedy of a country. The protagonist seems to be based at least somewhat on the experiences of Solzhenitsyn himself and the other characters represent a variety of those who have found themselves in this loathsome place somewhere within Stalin's vast empire. The setting is in the early 1950s as the Korean War is being waged and Stalin hasn't yet died. Overall, Solzhenitsyn delivered a harsh though still toned down tale of man's inhumanity towards his fellow man and the will to survive one day at a time. There is some harsh language so I wouldn't recommend it to very young readers but I do recommend it to those interested in Communistic totalitarism, this particular period in history, or just interested in the rather unusual nature of the plot. In truth, while this work is good, it pales in comparison to Solzhenitsyn's later "The Gulag Archipaelago" of which a very good recent abridged version is available on Amazon. Further reading on totalitarian labor camps of either the Nazi or Communist variety can be found in Corrie Ten Boom's book "The Hiding Place" and Sabina Wurmbrand's "The Pastor's Wife" respectively amongst other books. Overall though, "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" is a generally fast read and is worth the read. I recommend it.

Since I had never read anything by Solzhenitsyn, I ordered this book when he died. It is so bleak and hopeless that I could not read it straight through - I could only take it in small doses. I am absolutely stunned that Breshnev allowed it to be published. I have learned more than I ever thought possible about the USSR, that time in history, evil, and courage.

_One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich_, first published in the Soviet journal _Novy Mir_ in 1962, by the Nobel Prize winning Russian novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is a horrifying account of the life of a Russian prisoner in a Soviet labor-camp as he struggled to maintain his dignity despite facing degrading conditions. Solzhenitsyn (1918 - 2008) was a dissident Russian novelist whose works revealed the horrors of the Soviet gulag and who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970. This novel focuses on the life of a single individual Ivan Denisovich Shukhov and his daily struggles amidst grinding cruelty and barbaric conditions in a Soviet labor-camp. Solzhenitsyn himself had first hand experience with the labor camps having been imprisoned himself at one time for his dissident writings. This novel is important not only because it reveals the bleak and harsh existence of the Russian zek (convict) often sentenced to labor on spurious grounds by the Soviet state but also because it demonstrates the unfairness of the Soviet system. Solzhenitsyn was an important figure, a dissident intellectual, who spoke out against such oppression while living in the Soviet regime. The life of the Russian zek, often condemned for an arbitrarily long period of time to work in unbearable conditions and in freezing cold while being provided with only a minimal diet, was a stark and harsh existence. Many could not survive such conditions and those who could had to manage to find meaning in an otherwise cruel reality. This novel shows that existence and reveals the bitterness and stark horror of the Soviet state in the process.

The novel focuses on one day in the life of Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, serving a 3,653 day sentence in a labor camp after being accused of being a German spy having been captured by the Germans during the war as a prisoner of war. In a cruel irony of fate, Ivan Denisovich was no spy but merely caught by the Germans and thus is serving a sentence for a "crime" he did not commit. Other individuals at the camp are serving similar sentences for similar charges and with few exceptions none of them were actually spies. Thus, we see the cruelty and unfairness of the system. The day begins with Ivan Denisovich trying to obtain a dispensation from his work duties for being sick; however, since others have already been exempted for being sick he is forced to work regardless of his sickness. As Solzhenitsyn ironically notes, "Can a man who's warm understand one who's freezing?" Ivan Denisovich then begins his day of work spent at a construction site under the harshest of conditions. Food rations at the camp are very scant and much of the story is devoted to describing the manner in which the zeks attempt to make the best out of their minimal rations and attempt to steal or hide away tiny morsels to maintain their strength. The prisoners also are desperate for cigarettes and will frequently take the butts of cigarettes when they can from their harsh masters. A central character in the novel is that of Alyosha who is a Baptist and believes that being in prison is a good thing allowing him to reflect on spiritual matters, a view which Ivan Denisovich does not share. Alyosha has managed to smuggle in a Bible among his things and has hidden it. Ivan Denisovich discusses spiritual matters with him and the nature of God. In another scene it is noted that prisoners are allowed to pick up parcels from their families. In a particularly bitter scene, Solzhenitsyn notes that Ivan Denisovich no longer receives parcels because he has told his wife to not rob the kids seeing as how his parcels go to waste. However, poor Ivan cannot help hoping everyday that one day he might receive something. Another fear among men in the camp is being "put in the hole" and confined to solitary confinement. Many do not survive this treatment and it continually lurks at the back of their minds should they not behave themselves. The prisoners together frequently discuss their sentences and while some maintain that they are nearing the end of their sentences the time does not seem to pass for Ivan Denisovich. Frequently when those who have neared the end of their sentences are simply told that they are to receive a further sentence and thus there is little to hope for in this respect. The book ends by concluding that Ivan Denisovich has had a good day. He has survived another day, he has managed to obtain some extra food and has managed to get some cigarettes, he has not been thrown into the hole and his work gang has done good, he had managed to hide a blade from the guards and not gotten caught, and he has managed to get over being sick. Thus, one of the 3,653 days of Ivan Denisovich's sentence concludes.

This novel is a classic of Russian literature and highly important for what it reveals about the harshness and cruelty of the Soviet state. The late Solzhenitsyn was one of the most important figures in Twentieth century literature and one of the most important Russian authors. This novel really remains one of the most important of Solzhenitsyn and helped elevate him to international recognition for pointing out the cruelties of the Soviet labor-camp. It speaks to the cruelty of man to man and the totalitarian nature of Soviet communism.

This is the fictionalized account of the Glanton Gang, a rag-tag band of men who roamed the American west around 1850. Originally hired by Mexican towns to hunt down a group of Apaches that had been terrorizing the citizens, the gang eventually roams the countryside with an insatiable bloodlust, violently murdering and scalping everyone they encounter.

There are no "good guys" in Blood Meridian, and if there is one inarguable theme to take away from a book that is both deep and cryptic, it is that neither the image of the cowboy hero battling the blood-thirsty Indians as portrayed in John Wayne movies, nor the revisionist history of the noble savage falling victim to the westward expansion of America is accurate. The picture that McCarthy paints is a west full of savage brutality, where nobody is innocent. It is an apocalypse of violence, surreal and unsettling. In no place and no character do we find sanctuary from the depravity. McCarthy spares no one: women, children, puppies and priests are slaughtered without prejudice. It is a tale with much posturing and philosophizing but no apparent morality, where destruction is as natural as the sky or the mountains.

McCarthy's writing is bombastic and beautiful, juxtaposing imagery one might expect more in Dante's INFERNO with poetic descriptions of the open land. The characters read like a perverse version of Chaucer, many of them with titles rather than names: The Kid and the ex-priest. The judge, Holden, based on a real-life man, is the second in command. He is an enormous, pale white apparition, a hairless monstrosity with the gravity of a Colonel Kurtz. He is a poet, a preacher, a philosopher, knowledgeable in natural sciences, history, and the arts. He is the spiritual leader of the gang, and the moral nadir of humanity, the most brutal and memorable character of the book.

BLOOD MERIDIAN is not for the faint of heart. It's unflinching in its personification of evil and depiction of the brutality of which men are capable. It has been criticized by some for its over-the-top language, and though it's not as sparse as THE ROAD or NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, the imagery is just as powerful. In fact, some of the apocalyptic imagery is repeated, perhaps more suitably, in THE ROAD. But THE ROAD is about an apocalypse yet to come. BLOOD MERIDIAN is about an apocalypse that occurred 150 years ago.

"Blood Meridian" is one of the few books that has stuck with me for years. Due to the graphic violence, I don't recommend it to a lot of people, and I must admit that it put me off for quite a while at the beginning. That said, it has passed the test of time with me. It is one of VERY few books that I have re-read. When I finished this book, I just had to take a deep breath. I'm not some literature major, or someone who wants to analyze all the symbolism that is obviously present here, but I still found this to be accessible and powerful. The language is magnificent, and the entire book has a "gut level" feel that, while taking a long time to cultivate, is truly unique. I've read all of McCarthy's novels and this is by far my favorite. If you really liked "No Country For Old Men" (a glorified screenplay, in my opinion) and/or "The Road", this book may NOT be for you. If you liked the Border Trilogy, particularly "The Crossing", then buy this and read it immediately. You might also like "Paradise" by Toni Morrison.

It seems that most of the negative reviews this book receives are holding it to the standards of commercial fiction. This is not commercial fiction, it is not supposed to be a Clint Eastwood western, and it certainly isn't meant for those who ignore the beauty of McCarthy's writing because they think this simile is too vague or that word too archaic.
This is a difficult book - it is difficult to read, to digest, to fathom, and even to stomach at parts. It is literature. You aren't always supposed to be able to "connect" with or relate to characters. A book doesn't always need a fast-moving plot. This book, rather, is a collage of scenes which, in relation to each other, form a cohesive whole.
Except for "No Country for Old Men," McCarthy's books are more character- and concept-driven than plot-driven.
McCarthy is an absolute master storyteller, narrator, and stylist. It's understandable that some like his more sparse work of recent years. His literary genius is evident in these works as well. But it is incorrect to mistake his more "baroque" works (like this and "Suttree," which I have been slowly ingesting over the past few months) as him trying to find his style. And long, obscure vocabulary doesn't automatically mean that the writer is pretensious. If you don't like the style, that's your business, but just because you don't like it doesn't make it inferior.
"Blood Meridian" is certainly not for everyone. It is horrifying at times. My first time reading through it, I stopped 100 pages into it because of the violence. It took me a month to give it another try. I wouldn't recommend it to many people I know personally. But as a work of art it is brilliant. The prose is poetic, the themes are timeless, the characters (particularly the Judge) are immortal. It isn't my favorite McCarthy book but it's more amazing as a book than his other novels.

The Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone and his contemporaries dispelled most myths of good cowboys and bad cowboys. His influence spread upon others, whose successive cinematic paintings would make the bleak Western desert landscape filled with bloodthirsty ruffians common knowledge to audiences. But while Angel Eyes Sentenza, Tuco Ramirez, and Clint Eastwood's nameless killers were Shakespearean in their amoral aspects, there was still something civil and sane in those men amidst leering Death.

Here, morality is a virtue felt by victims while vice is the religion of the victors. The Americas twisted by Manifest Destiny have interbred the demonized Native Americans and Spanish, and it is almost like they have birthed a new race of devils as savage as their white oppressors. Scalps are the bloodstained market's chief commodity as the roving Glanton Gang murders Native American settlements and sells these items to towns warped in celebrating killers as heroes. The naive worshipful cities soon have their dazzling savage dreams brought upon them when the Glanton Gang sieges them, scalp the innocent townspeople, and in a continuance of falsehoods, sell these counterfeit scalps as the genuine article only for the celebrated sellers to become marauding thieves again.

Almost as an American God of Western myth, Glanton's right-hand man Judge Holden is much like the serpentine deceiver, who is all but named as the martial Pope of the war party. Even when narrated to be lying, Holden's gravitas is utterly inspiring and his scholarly nature and sophisticated vocabulary among almost cancerous nomads on the mind make us want to join in the revelry for him until he murders children and puppies in an act of Heraclitean warmongering in the name of mankind's eventual future as overlord of the wild nature that would restrain him. Virtue in war is an oxymoron, an impasse to man's sovereignty, and all are enemies to him in our fragile plane of existence. Sometimes when we hear of hurricanes and the venomous snakes out there, we want to believe in the Judge's anarchic crusade against nature even though that entails monstrous amorality as treachery to our origins and a sort of ecological suicide brought upon an ignorance that we are a part of nature as much as everything else. But other men neutral to or against the Glanton Gang are also categorized with rampaging nature and as they slay enemy Native American settlements and soldiers sent out to task them for their crimes with flying colors, we seriously start to ask if such bloody imperialism is wrong if it guarantees peace from everlasting supremacy. As natural competitors bent on survival against an overwhelmingly hostile world, it is easy to shatter our moral compass and believe the Judge's lies until our need for violence as a weapon of law becomes a lust for war such as when unlawful aspirants rise to usurp the all too weak natural sovereign's throne and success or failure, this continuing cycle ensures that the world's fauna is only bones and corpses.

The Kid runs from his abusive home at fourteen and eventually comes into the company of these warrior cultists. Even amidst such ruthless combatants, the Kid never loses his goodness as he once pulls out the arrow of a wounded comrade that would have died otherwise. As the closest thing we identify with virtue in a bloody wasteland, he and Holden shine like beacons of opposing forces, more than men, and given the Judge's ability to be in two places at once and immunity to age, we pray the Kid is such an angelic deity to oppose this demon that at times seems little more than a hairless Robin Goodfellow.

In our current era we face a similar dilemma: Zealous glorification of our heroes as stainless statues and hatred of our enemies into mad beasts. We believe the Judge to this day into persecuting all that would dare to walk astray our path. The results have become reminiscent of mythical battles and mutate us into devils dressed in ripped and pasted man flesh upon demonic hides and where most of our fallen kin have learned to hide their cloven hooves in military boots and behind the staggering piles of waste in our shining criminal history. Manifest Destiny still lives. It is our favorite. It will never die.

Blood Meridian is worth reading if nothing else than for McCarthy's multi-dimensional portrayal of Judge Holden. The judge becomes the nexus where the powerful forces which created the American character, the impulse to control, to dominate, to wage genocidal war in the West, to mirror the refinement and accomplishments of Europe, meet, and the results are mesmerizing. There is a part where the judge, a hefty man, lifts a meteorite used as a blacksmith's anvil and his men wager how far he can hurl it. What McCarthy is saying is clear and disturbing. Here is our American god. Here is the embodiment of our national, historical woes. As the central pivot of this violent, nearly obscene novel, the judge is a perfect creation.

Another WONDERFUL, heartwarming book by Wanda Brunstetter. This book is worth reading and also sharing! My daughter has a form of autism and she also LOVED this book. I read her the book, then we made the White Christmas Pie. While reading the book, we never wanted to put it down. The story & pie recipe was GREAT!!!!! Thank you Wanda Brunstetter!!!!

I found this to be a very heartwarming book. I loved it from page one to the last. The characters tug at your heart and you feel like you are there with them.I would recommend this to everyone! I plan to read it again and again!!

This was a great story, as the Amish stories always are :) Not only did it deal with very human emotions that we all have - regardless of which Church we attend, it was one of those too-good-to-put-down books. Without giving the plot away, there was a part in it that the reader wouldn't have easily guessed, dealing with assumptions we all can make against eachother. The characters were sweet and believable,letting us catch a glimpse into the lives of the Amish, and in the end there was a recipe for White Christmas Pie that I know I will make again and again.

My husband purchased this book for me for my Birthday knowing what a big fan I am of Wanda Brunstetter. It was a wonderful book and I enjoyed it very much. I actually felt like I was right there with Will and Karen.I also enjoy all of the recipes Wanda puts in her books. I can't wait til I try making the White Christmas Pie. Kudos to Wanda for writing another great book.

Wanda Brunstetter has taken us through another heart-warmer (and page turner!) in White Christmas Pie. In this story, we are introduced to Will, a young man about to marry his Amish girlfriend, Karen Yoder. As a young boy, Will's father left him to be looked after by an Amish couple, Mark and Regina Stotlzfus, until he could find a better job. Through a series of misunderstandings and tragic events, Will's father doesn't return and Will is raised by Mark and Regina to become the young Amish man he is today. When an event occurs that reminds him of his abandonment, he is thrown into an emotional tailspin, and the only way to come out of it is for Will to have answers to the questions that have haunted him for most of his life. Will he get the answers he needs, and will they be enough? Will he marry Karen Yoder? Can he move forward, or will he be lost forever in the hurts of his past? I really liked the way all the loose ends were tied up, with a few surprises thrown in at the end that I didn't see coming, but that made the story complete. I don't want to give the story away, you'll have to read it yourself, but I will tell you that for the last three chapters in the book, I was reading through my tears, and I couldn't put the book down and read it in record time. Wanda Brunstetter has deliverd another great story! The recipe at the end was an added bonus!