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An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
Published in Paperback by Hackett Pub Co Inc (1993-11)
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Not An Ending, But A Beginning
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-14
Review Date: 2007-10-14
Descartes' Ultimate Error
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-09
Review Date: 2005-10-09
If one accepts the methodology of Descartes in applying scepticism to reason and the senses, in effect denying the existence of all things but a "thinking thing," two entailments are logically consequent: Either Berkeley's idealism or Hume's scepticism. I don't accept Descartes' starting point, so I find the entailments confused and incoherent. But if one does accept Descartes' starting point, then the two extremes must be heeded. If for no other reason than observing the absurdity of either man's conclusions, it is valuable to read both entailments. But in their confused process, both men bring certain salient features to light.
Hume accepts Descartes starting point, making it his own. But to Descartes method, he adds Pyrrhonist scepticism: That all reason leads to infinite regress, and that all sensations (or impressions) can not be trusted.
Hume begins with the conclusion that all sense perception is either an impression or idea. Even memory and imagination, two other faculties of the mind, are conflated into these two species of perceptions, as impressions. Their difference is one of degree (vivacity), not of kind. Hence, Hume is the author of what is known as the "Copy Principle." Instead of unmediated, direct perception through the ordinary senses, all perception is mediated by the imagination into impressions and ideas. From this follows certain resemblances, contiguity, and causal associations between impressions or ideas, and from this association we develop a sense of self. But even the notion of causality here is one of implied inference, not of actual inductive reason. Hume denies there is any real causality that can be known, although we operate "as if" we infer cause from effect. Even probability is reduced to a mere association of ideas and/or impressions; because neither reason (which always leads to infinite regress) or senses (which can always be deceived) can actually be true. The Enquiry also treats of miracles and the testimony of others derisively; but don't we rely on the testimony of others who claim the earth is round rather than flat, just as we rely on others who testify to miracles in a byegone era? After all, few of us have direct experience with a spherical earth (Popper makes this observation).
Hume's method incorporates five kinds of scepticism: (i) methodological, (ii) conceptual, (ii) nomological, (iv) explanatory, and (v) reductive empiricism. His commitment to scepticism is not without some capitulation. While he denies absolute causality and inductive inference and probability in an actual senses, he relies on them for practical purposes. One can't remain a pyrrhonist for long; some elements of reason and some degree of confidence in impressions is necessary for ordinary life. But if one starts with Descartes' starting point, extreme scepticism is a necessary entailment. Which, after seeing Hume deny so much intuition, is it really worth starting with Descartes' scepticism? Answering that question is what makes Hume interesting.
Hume accepts Descartes starting point, making it his own. But to Descartes method, he adds Pyrrhonist scepticism: That all reason leads to infinite regress, and that all sensations (or impressions) can not be trusted.
Hume begins with the conclusion that all sense perception is either an impression or idea. Even memory and imagination, two other faculties of the mind, are conflated into these two species of perceptions, as impressions. Their difference is one of degree (vivacity), not of kind. Hence, Hume is the author of what is known as the "Copy Principle." Instead of unmediated, direct perception through the ordinary senses, all perception is mediated by the imagination into impressions and ideas. From this follows certain resemblances, contiguity, and causal associations between impressions or ideas, and from this association we develop a sense of self. But even the notion of causality here is one of implied inference, not of actual inductive reason. Hume denies there is any real causality that can be known, although we operate "as if" we infer cause from effect. Even probability is reduced to a mere association of ideas and/or impressions; because neither reason (which always leads to infinite regress) or senses (which can always be deceived) can actually be true. The Enquiry also treats of miracles and the testimony of others derisively; but don't we rely on the testimony of others who claim the earth is round rather than flat, just as we rely on others who testify to miracles in a byegone era? After all, few of us have direct experience with a spherical earth (Popper makes this observation).
Hume's method incorporates five kinds of scepticism: (i) methodological, (ii) conceptual, (ii) nomological, (iv) explanatory, and (v) reductive empiricism. His commitment to scepticism is not without some capitulation. While he denies absolute causality and inductive inference and probability in an actual senses, he relies on them for practical purposes. One can't remain a pyrrhonist for long; some elements of reason and some degree of confidence in impressions is necessary for ordinary life. But if one starts with Descartes' starting point, extreme scepticism is a necessary entailment. Which, after seeing Hume deny so much intuition, is it really worth starting with Descartes' scepticism? Answering that question is what makes Hume interesting.
Hume at his best
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-09
Review Date: 2005-10-09
David Hume was perhaps the leading light in the Empiricist movement in philosophy. Empiricism is seen in distinction from Rationalism, in that it doubts the viability of universal principles (rational or otherwise), and uses sense data as the basis of all knowledge - experience is the source of knowledge. Hume was a skeptic as well as empiricist, and had radical (for the time) atheist ideas that often got in the way of his professional advancement, but given his reliance on experience (and the kinds of experiences he had), his problem with much that was considered conventional was understandable.
Hume's major work, 'A Treatise of Human Nature', was not well received intially - according to Hume, 'it fell dead-born from the press'. Hume reworked the first part of this work in a more popular way for this text, which has become a standard, and perhaps the best introduction to Empiricism.
In a nutshell, the idea of empiricism is that experience teaches, and rules and understanding are derived from this. However, for Hume this wasn't sufficient. Just because billiard balls when striking always behave in a certain manner, or just because the sun always rose in the morning, there was no direct causal connection that could be automatically affirmed - we assume a necessary connection, but how can this be proved?
Hume's ideas impact not only metaphysics, but also epistemology and psychology. Hume develops empiricism to a point that empiricism is practically unsupportable (and it is in this regard that Kant sees this text as a very important piece, and works toward his synthesis of Empiricism and Rationalism). For Hume, empirical thought requires skepticism, but leaves it unresolved as far as what one then needs to accept with regard to reason and understanding. According to scholar Eric Steinberg, 'A view that pervades nearly all of Hume's philosophical writings is that both ancient and modern philosophers have been guilty of optimistic and exaggerated claims for the power of human reason.'
Some have seen Hume as presenting a fundamental mistrust of daily belief while recognising that we cannot escape from some sort of framework; others have seen Hume as working toward a more naturalist paradigm of human understanding. In fact, Hume is open to a number of different interpretations, and these different interpretations have been taken up by subsequent philosophers to develop areas of synthetic philosophical ideas, as well as further developments more directly out of Empiricism (such as Phenomenology).
This is in fact a rather short book, a mere 100 pages or so in many editions. As a primer for understanding Hume, the British Empiricists (who include Hobbes, Locke, and Berkeley), as well as the major philosphical concerns of the eighteenth century, this is a great text with which to start.
Hume's major work, 'A Treatise of Human Nature', was not well received intially - according to Hume, 'it fell dead-born from the press'. Hume reworked the first part of this work in a more popular way for this text, which has become a standard, and perhaps the best introduction to Empiricism.
In a nutshell, the idea of empiricism is that experience teaches, and rules and understanding are derived from this. However, for Hume this wasn't sufficient. Just because billiard balls when striking always behave in a certain manner, or just because the sun always rose in the morning, there was no direct causal connection that could be automatically affirmed - we assume a necessary connection, but how can this be proved?
Hume's ideas impact not only metaphysics, but also epistemology and psychology. Hume develops empiricism to a point that empiricism is practically unsupportable (and it is in this regard that Kant sees this text as a very important piece, and works toward his synthesis of Empiricism and Rationalism). For Hume, empirical thought requires skepticism, but leaves it unresolved as far as what one then needs to accept with regard to reason and understanding. According to scholar Eric Steinberg, 'A view that pervades nearly all of Hume's philosophical writings is that both ancient and modern philosophers have been guilty of optimistic and exaggerated claims for the power of human reason.'
Some have seen Hume as presenting a fundamental mistrust of daily belief while recognising that we cannot escape from some sort of framework; others have seen Hume as working toward a more naturalist paradigm of human understanding. In fact, Hume is open to a number of different interpretations, and these different interpretations have been taken up by subsequent philosophers to develop areas of synthetic philosophical ideas, as well as further developments more directly out of Empiricism (such as Phenomenology).
This is in fact a rather short book, a mere 100 pages or so in many editions. As a primer for understanding Hume, the British Empiricists (who include Hobbes, Locke, and Berkeley), as well as the major philosphical concerns of the eighteenth century, this is a great text with which to start.
As Exciting and Thought-Provoking as Philosophy Gets
Helpful Votes: 44 out of 50 total.
Review Date: 2004-02-27
Review Date: 2004-02-27
Hume, I and many others think, was the greatest philosopher to have written in English, and this is the book to pick up if you want to introduce yourself to Saint David's distinctive brand of classical empiricism. This is a must-read for anyone with even a passing interest in philosophy, and it's hard for me to see how anyone interested in the history of modern thought can avoid reading this book or the corresponding sections of Hume's Treatise.
As is well-known, the Enquiry concerning Human Understanding was intended as an encapsulation and popularization of the views Hume defended in Book I of his magnum opus, A Treatise of Human Nature. Hume assumed that book's commercial failure could be accounted for by its length, difficulty, and lack of accessibility, and so, being a man who desired literary fame, he hoped to acquire commercial success by presenting the same ideas in a more appealing and accessible manner. Unfortunately, it seems Hume misunderstood what the literati of his day were looking for in a philosophical treatise. For the Enquiry, like the Treatise before it, didn't bring him the fame he sought. Still, Hume did understand what goes into writing excellent philosophical prose, and consequently this book is a much easier read than Book I of the Treatise. Indeed, this book constitutes an excellent introduction to Hume's thought, and, except for maybe Berkeley's Three Dialogues, I can't think of another primary source that would serve as a better introduction to classical British empiricism.
Now, let's get to the ideas here. Hume, like the other classical empiricists, was primarily concerned with the psychological question of the origin of our concepts. About the answer to this question, the empiricists were all agreed--our concepts are furnished by experience, which includes both sensory experience and introspection (i.e., the experience of our own mental states). And the empiricists also agreed about the way we can justify our beliefs. Some beliefs are true (or false) in virtue of the ideas they contained, and we can know their truth (or falsity) simply by thinking about them; other beliefs are true (or false) in virtue of how the external world is, and we can know their truth (or falsity) only by drawing on our experiences of the world. According to Hume, all substantial conclusions about the world fall into this second category. That is, the truth (or falsity) of all substantial claims about the existence and nature of things in the external world can be discovered only by checking those claims against the evidence of our senses.
The traditional way of placing Hume within the story of empiricism goes something like this. Hume takes up the empiricism of Locke and Berkeley and pushes it to its logical conclusion. Whereas Locke and Berkeley hadn't been wholly consistent empiricists, Hume, the true believer, demonstrates that classical empiricism leads to a pretty thoroughgoing skepticism. Since he's wholly convinced of the truth of his empiricist premises, Hume is willing to accept the skepticism that goes along with them. However, those who aren't convinced of that his empiricism is obviously correct think that Hume has actually demonstrated the implausibility of his empiricism. If this is where empiricism leads, they think, then it's clear that we need to reject empiricism. Indeed, some, like Thomas Reid, view Hume's arguments as constituting a reductio ad absurdum of his sort of empiricism. On this interpretation, Hume's philosophy essentially presents a dilemma for all future thinkers: abandon empiricism, or accept empiricism along with Humean skepticism.
But a different view of Hume, one of Hume as proposing a wholly naturalistic account of the human mind, has recently emerged as a competitor to the general conception of Hume's place within philosophy sketched in the previous paragraph. This interpretation downplays Hume's skepticism and emphasizes his professed intentions to provide a positive account of the operation of the human mind that appealed to nothing beyond the evidence of our senses. According to proponents of this interpretation, Hume is most interested in a description of the operation of the human mind. He's describing what human nature allows us to know and what it doesn't allow us to know. Furthermore, he argues that our nature is such that, where it fails to provide us with the resources to acquire the knowledge we might want, it provides us with a natural habit of forming the right conclusions anyway. Even though our nature limits our knowledge of the world, it ensures that we possess the habits of mind needed to make our way in the world. Hume dubs all these habits of mind "custom."
If this view is correct, then Hume has abjured many of the normative aims of traditional epistemological inquiry. He isn't attempting to show how we can answer a skeptic or why we have good reason to believe what we think we know. Instead, he wants us to stand back from our everyday beliefs and think about the natural processes that result in them. How, exactly, do our minds operate? How do we come to think what we do about the world? Hume thinks that this sort of inquiry will lead us see that, at some point, the explanation of why we think what we think reaches certain brute facts about the operation of the human mind. When we reach these points, there is nothing more to be said. We simply can't help thinking in these ways, and we lack the resources to demonstrate that these ways of thinking constitute an accurate way to represent the operation of the external world. And, Hume claims, it turns out that many of the fundamental elements of our conception of the world--the belief that things stand in causal relations to one another, the belief that we can know that there is a world outside our minds, the belief the future will resemble the past--end up not being open to ratification by experience. With respect to beliefs of these sorts, we ultimately have to appeal to custom in order to explain their existence and popularity. Hume, then, can be seen as demolishing the pretensions of reason in order to make room for a wholly naturalistic account of human thinking.
A comment on one part of Hume 's classic
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2005-02-27
Review Date: 2005-02-27
First I would like to commend the excellent review of this book by CT Dreyer in which he correctly shows how Hume extended the empiricism of Locke and Berkeley to the point where skepticism seemed our only honest way of thinking about our knowledge of the world. Hume's questioning of induction, of how we can be sure tomorrow will be like today , his questioning of how we can trust our senses to know the outside world, his questioning of how we can hold our world logically together when analysis reveals that there is no necessary connection between ' cause' and 'effect' in everyday life action means he wakened not only Kant from his dogmatic slumber but Philosophy itself from the sense that it will provide absolute understanding.
Hume is a very clear writer. I remember reading the famous billiard ball account of causality in which our common sense view of ' before' and ' after' is questioned and taken apart. I believe Hume says after this account, something to the effect and ' still when we leave the room we leave by the door and not by the window'. A friend of mine in this class when the class ended opened the window ( on the ground floor ) and went out that way.
This is difficult and great philosophy. I do not pretend to understand it or its implications fully. A test of the mind and a necessary read for anyone who would know Western Philosophy.
Hume is a very clear writer. I remember reading the famous billiard ball account of causality in which our common sense view of ' before' and ' after' is questioned and taken apart. I believe Hume says after this account, something to the effect and ' still when we leave the room we leave by the door and not by the window'. A friend of mine in this class when the class ended opened the window ( on the ground floor ) and went out that way.
This is difficult and great philosophy. I do not pretend to understand it or its implications fully. A test of the mind and a necessary read for anyone who would know Western Philosophy.
Western Civilization
Published in Hardcover by Wadsworth Publishing (2008-01-15)
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Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness
Published in Paperback by Vintage (1992-01-08)
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Average review score: 
This book is So helpful. It's Not "the blues" - it's a living nightmare!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-30
Review Date: 2008-08-30
I have bought over 30 copies of this book, as gifts to friends, colleagues, and relatives. I hope you readers see that that is the highest recommendation one can give.
It explains, in a very concise manner, major depression to those who have not experienced it. And an "Amen" from individuals who have experienced it.
Depression is perhaps THE under-diagnosed illness of our time (along with diabetes). Yet the medical profession really knows little, and it is near impossible for the suffering individual to describe exactly what is going on (chicken & egg?). William Styron is an award-winning, gifted, writer - who is able to put the indescribable into words that mean something to everyone. That is why this small book is important.
Everyone knows someone suffering from this disease, even if they don't recognize it yet. So, Everyone needs to be familiar with major depression. Science needs a Lot more work -- the current biological and psychological treatments are inadequate, to say the least -- especially considering the high risk of suicide with this disease. Everyone needs to know how to get beyond the crises. Lives can be saved.
Therefore, understanding - by sufferers and those who care about them - is key. Such understanding will help non-sufferers provide the assistance and support that he/she wants to give to the depressed person. Without such understanding, so-called "supporters" inadvertently make things worse.
This book is a quick, engrossing, read that may Really help. Highly recommended.
It explains, in a very concise manner, major depression to those who have not experienced it. And an "Amen" from individuals who have experienced it.
Depression is perhaps THE under-diagnosed illness of our time (along with diabetes). Yet the medical profession really knows little, and it is near impossible for the suffering individual to describe exactly what is going on (chicken & egg?). William Styron is an award-winning, gifted, writer - who is able to put the indescribable into words that mean something to everyone. That is why this small book is important.
Everyone knows someone suffering from this disease, even if they don't recognize it yet. So, Everyone needs to be familiar with major depression. Science needs a Lot more work -- the current biological and psychological treatments are inadequate, to say the least -- especially considering the high risk of suicide with this disease. Everyone needs to know how to get beyond the crises. Lives can be saved.
Therefore, understanding - by sufferers and those who care about them - is key. Such understanding will help non-sufferers provide the assistance and support that he/she wants to give to the depressed person. Without such understanding, so-called "supporters" inadvertently make things worse.
This book is a quick, engrossing, read that may Really help. Highly recommended.
descriptive but a bit naive
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-26
Review Date: 2008-08-26
(This is from the recorded version, read by the author.) I have listened to this book several times over many years. I do think he does a fine job of describing the actual feeling of being depressed, and does a great service by saying it is at bottom simply indescribable, and also incomprehensible by people who have never experienced it. Thus the well-meaning admonitions to 'buck up', 'get a hold of yourself' and 'most people are as happy as they set out to be' are torture to the person suffering from depression.
However, much has been learned about depression since he wrote the book. It's so obvious that he was an alcoholic who went cold turkey in June and was still suffering from the effects of alcohol withdrawal in October, which can take months to subside. Then, to complicate things, he doped himself up with sleeping pills, so his system was flooded with foreign chemicals, replacing one he was adapted to with a new one. The result, a profound inability to function, and depression, would now be a surprise to no one but him.
His attempt to link suicide to sensitive artistic temperaments was more a roll call of alcoholics---Hemingway, Jack London, Poe, etc. There may be a link between all three (sensitive types, suicide, and alcohol), but it's a three-legged stool, and Styron is loath to acknowlege his alcohol use as the third leg. Maybe he feels depression is more romantic than alcoholism, or at least more socially acceptable.
The spectulation about repressed mourning, early death of mother, etc. is not nearly as important as his familial tendency to depression, his drinking, and his pill taking. Since he says the hospital did nothing for him but take away the pills, and he got better, that would seem good evidence for their role in his illness.
In his obituary in 2006 it was mentioned that he had to be hospitalized several more times after the first time described in the book.
In short, read the book to experience, as much as possible for an outsider, what depression 'feels' like, but don't buy the diagnosis of what causes it.
However, much has been learned about depression since he wrote the book. It's so obvious that he was an alcoholic who went cold turkey in June and was still suffering from the effects of alcohol withdrawal in October, which can take months to subside. Then, to complicate things, he doped himself up with sleeping pills, so his system was flooded with foreign chemicals, replacing one he was adapted to with a new one. The result, a profound inability to function, and depression, would now be a surprise to no one but him.
His attempt to link suicide to sensitive artistic temperaments was more a roll call of alcoholics---Hemingway, Jack London, Poe, etc. There may be a link between all three (sensitive types, suicide, and alcohol), but it's a three-legged stool, and Styron is loath to acknowlege his alcohol use as the third leg. Maybe he feels depression is more romantic than alcoholism, or at least more socially acceptable.
The spectulation about repressed mourning, early death of mother, etc. is not nearly as important as his familial tendency to depression, his drinking, and his pill taking. Since he says the hospital did nothing for him but take away the pills, and he got better, that would seem good evidence for their role in his illness.
In his obituary in 2006 it was mentioned that he had to be hospitalized several more times after the first time described in the book.
In short, read the book to experience, as much as possible for an outsider, what depression 'feels' like, but don't buy the diagnosis of what causes it.
Definite insight...but it is a bit dated
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-17
Review Date: 2008-08-17
The writing is excellent as you'd expect from Styron. The story short and to the point. It delivers a powerful vision of what extreme depression and suicidal ideation actually feels like. That said, I was a little disappointed somehow. The fact that Styron was a well known writer, living a life that most of us can't relate to, in a period now gone, somehow robbed the book of the power it probably had when it first came out.
Deep Understanding
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-26
Review Date: 2008-07-26
This book gives a deep insight into Depression. Knowing that someone can be that "far gone" and come back is so inspiring. A knowledgeable read!
Journey into Depression
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-25
Review Date: 2008-07-25
This is a very slim volume, just 84 pages long, which started life as a lecture given at a symposium sponsored by the Department of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. It was later developed into a piece for Vanity Fair before being published as a book.
Styron was hit by serious depression at the age of 60, and describes most evocatively his own struggle with the life-threatening illness from first symptoms, through his treatment, his brush with suicide, hospitalisation to eventual cure. Along the way he includes the stories of friends and others so afflicted - many of them also writers.
It's the honesty of the book that makes it so compelling. It was one of the first "insider" accounts of depression, and captures extremely well just what it feels like. (You have to have been there to know.) I agree with him that the word "depression" is totally inadequate, sounding more like a mild case of the blues rather than something that fills your soul with dread and despair. (
Styron was hit by serious depression at the age of 60, and describes most evocatively his own struggle with the life-threatening illness from first symptoms, through his treatment, his brush with suicide, hospitalisation to eventual cure. Along the way he includes the stories of friends and others so afflicted - many of them also writers.
It's the honesty of the book that makes it so compelling. It was one of the first "insider" accounts of depression, and captures extremely well just what it feels like. (You have to have been there to know.) I agree with him that the word "depression" is totally inadequate, sounding more like a mild case of the blues rather than something that fills your soul with dread and despair. (
Rebel Angels (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy)
Published in Paperback by Delacorte Books for Young Readers (2006-12-26)
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A good continuation of A Great and Terrible Beauty
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-03
Review Date: 2008-09-03
A Great and Terrible Beauty was the first and best book in this series, but the final two books in the trilogy (including this one as #2) are great as well. They are a little sexy for young advanced readers, but only in a very few parts. These books are definitely worth reading.
Impressive
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-19
Review Date: 2008-07-19
I enjoyed this book. It was a bit longer than I expected (550 pages seems like a lot for a young adult read); however, the writing was simple and easy to follow, so it didn't become tedious. The plot was very nicely designed. I enjoyed the first book as well, but this one was even better. This book is a worthy addition to the Gemma Doyle saga.
Wickedly Wonderful
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-03
Review Date: 2008-07-03
Rebel Angels is the wonderful sequel to A Great and Terrible Beauty. A gulped up AGATB in two gulps, and RA in the same way. I enjoy this book series emensely, yet at the same time find them annyoing. I always seem to find qualms with ther hundreds of books I read each year, and this one is no exception. But don't totally forsake this book if you read this review: Rebel Angels is beautifully written, and Libba Bray is a great writer. But no work is ever perfect....
Qualm Number 1: I am a true romantic. Although I would never read downright romance novels, I love that little bit of love and denial in each book I read; I come to expect it. But I was so mad that Kartik and Gemma didn't get together in this book. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM? Kartik is so obviously crazy about Gemma, and she chooses to ignore him, sit in her little realm world, la la la I can't her you. And what she said to him was unintentionally mean, but he should have gotten over it, since love is endless. Personally, I would already have them together in the first book...but that's just me. But Kartik sounds like such a nice guy, you know? I have the absurd tendency to fall in love with characters, and Kartik joins Percy Jackson and Edward Cullen in this department. Why can't Gemma realize that? WHY? Ok, ranting over on that subject. I am not crazt haha :)
Moving on....
Qualm Number 2: Is it just me, or does it seem like Felicity and Ann are using Gemma? I think that they are, just to get to the realms. Felicity wants the power and to see Pippa, and Ann just wants to be beautiful. They really don't have those experiences friends have. When Gemma finds out about Felicity's past abuses Felicity doesn't cry on her shoulder; she just gets all amd. And Ann...although I liked how she lied about her family, I thought that was too out of character for her. Felicity is so pushing her to be what she is not. And what about Pippa? In the last book she seemed like she had multiple-personalities, and in RA too. One minute she is nice, the next whiny, althoug that might be the realms I don't know. Felicity also treats her weird, one minute Gemma's best friend and the next Pippa's. The whole friendship aspect is a little crazy.
Qualm Number 3: SPOILER!!!! I knew Miss Moore was Circe since AGATB, so that was very predicatble. I was a little sad though. She seemed really nice. :(
Ok, so I loved this book with a passion, and it is now on the sacred bookshelf in my room. I'm getting the sequel, The Sweet Far Thing, so soon as I can. So if you need a book to read, read this one. It's scary at times, but I was enraputured 24/7. Go get it now!!!
Qualm Number 1: I am a true romantic. Although I would never read downright romance novels, I love that little bit of love and denial in each book I read; I come to expect it. But I was so mad that Kartik and Gemma didn't get together in this book. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM? Kartik is so obviously crazy about Gemma, and she chooses to ignore him, sit in her little realm world, la la la I can't her you. And what she said to him was unintentionally mean, but he should have gotten over it, since love is endless. Personally, I would already have them together in the first book...but that's just me. But Kartik sounds like such a nice guy, you know? I have the absurd tendency to fall in love with characters, and Kartik joins Percy Jackson and Edward Cullen in this department. Why can't Gemma realize that? WHY? Ok, ranting over on that subject. I am not crazt haha :)
Moving on....
Qualm Number 2: Is it just me, or does it seem like Felicity and Ann are using Gemma? I think that they are, just to get to the realms. Felicity wants the power and to see Pippa, and Ann just wants to be beautiful. They really don't have those experiences friends have. When Gemma finds out about Felicity's past abuses Felicity doesn't cry on her shoulder; she just gets all amd. And Ann...although I liked how she lied about her family, I thought that was too out of character for her. Felicity is so pushing her to be what she is not. And what about Pippa? In the last book she seemed like she had multiple-personalities, and in RA too. One minute she is nice, the next whiny, althoug that might be the realms I don't know. Felicity also treats her weird, one minute Gemma's best friend and the next Pippa's. The whole friendship aspect is a little crazy.
Qualm Number 3: SPOILER!!!! I knew Miss Moore was Circe since AGATB, so that was very predicatble. I was a little sad though. She seemed really nice. :(
Ok, so I loved this book with a passion, and it is now on the sacred bookshelf in my room. I'm getting the sequel, The Sweet Far Thing, so soon as I can. So if you need a book to read, read this one. It's scary at times, but I was enraputured 24/7. Go get it now!!!
Dark things are vying for power within the realms...
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-02
Review Date: 2008-07-02
Second in the Gemma Doyle trilogy.
When she held Circe at bay and destroyed the runes at the end of A Great and Terrible Beauty, Gemma loosed the power of the realms and made the magic available to anyone in the realms.
Now she has been given the task to find the Temple and bind the magic. Kartik and the Order have their own plans for the magic of the realm and Gemma finds herself caught between them.
Meanwhile, Circe is still on the loose and Pippa refuses to pass as she should. Dark things are awakening within the realms and fighting to control the magic. As Gemma struggles to set things right, she has only the ravings of a mad girl to guide her.
Set against the backdrop of Victorian society, this gothic tale combines historical fiction with fantasy. Readers will be riveted by this well-paced mystery filled with authentic details of Victorian life.
When she held Circe at bay and destroyed the runes at the end of A Great and Terrible Beauty, Gemma loosed the power of the realms and made the magic available to anyone in the realms.
Now she has been given the task to find the Temple and bind the magic. Kartik and the Order have their own plans for the magic of the realm and Gemma finds herself caught between them.
Meanwhile, Circe is still on the loose and Pippa refuses to pass as she should. Dark things are awakening within the realms and fighting to control the magic. As Gemma struggles to set things right, she has only the ravings of a mad girl to guide her.
Set against the backdrop of Victorian society, this gothic tale combines historical fiction with fantasy. Readers will be riveted by this well-paced mystery filled with authentic details of Victorian life.
Great Book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-26
Review Date: 2008-06-26
(daughter of user)
Well, I found Rebel Angels to be a slightly better book than A Great and Terrible Beauty. It added to the characters and explained them more, which was very good. Personally, I liked Simon much more than Kartik. I don't know why, but I haven't been able to like his character quite yet. Simon was a gentleman and very sweet. Maybe I just liked him because I want to be adored by a sweet gentleman the way Gemma was adored by him, I don't really know. I was a bit sad that Gemma(SPOILER ALERT) didn't pick him in the end. I understand why she couldn't though. Over all, Rebel Angels was a great book and I'll be rushing to buy the next in the series.
Well, I found Rebel Angels to be a slightly better book than A Great and Terrible Beauty. It added to the characters and explained them more, which was very good. Personally, I liked Simon much more than Kartik. I don't know why, but I haven't been able to like his character quite yet. Simon was a gentleman and very sweet. Maybe I just liked him because I want to be adored by a sweet gentleman the way Gemma was adored by him, I don't really know. I was a bit sad that Gemma(SPOILER ALERT) didn't pick him in the end. I understand why she couldn't though. Over all, Rebel Angels was a great book and I'll be rushing to buy the next in the series.
The Samurai's Garden: A Novel
Published in Paperback by St. Martin's Griffin (1996-05-04)
List price: $13.95
New price: $3.00
Used price: $0.32
Collectible price: $13.95
Used price: $0.32
Collectible price: $13.95
Average review score: 
Beautiful and Moving
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-29
Review Date: 2008-01-29
This book is beautifully written. The characters are complex and drawn with such skill and intimacy that by the end of the book you feel as though you have truly known each one of them and seen into a piece of their world. Moving and poignant, but not dark, the story and the characters will stay with you long after you finish the book.
A beautifully crafted novel
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-26
Review Date: 2007-08-26
This story was simplistic and wonderful. I read it in two days and was mesmerized by the rich culture. The best book I've read in a long time
Great Read!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-31
Review Date: 2007-10-31
Pleasurable read. She has a nice flow to her writing, the story was interesting.
A sedate samurai
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-20
Review Date: 2007-08-20
The plot of this book makes a terrific outline: A young Chinese man recuperating in Japan from tuberculosis while Japanese troops are slaughtering his Chinese contemporaries in the pre-World War Two invasion; a quiet but strong and wise caretaker who lives to rescue victims of leprosy, including a woman spurned by his best friend; a marriage crisis for the Chinese man's parents; a Romeo/Juliet type love story between the Chinese man and a young Japanese woman. Should be socko.
Instead, it's sedating. Whether it's the passive nature of Stephen, the young Chinese man, or the very pedestrian writing style of the author, I found this book consistently tepid. She shows off her new knowledge about Japanese culture, giving detailed descriptions of every meal and every kimono.
She tells the story through Stephen when the caretaker, Matsu, is the central character. Because Matsu is strong and silent, we don't get inside his character development.
Nevertheless, it's an interesting look at Japan before WWII: religion, relationship and customs.
Instead, it's sedating. Whether it's the passive nature of Stephen, the young Chinese man, or the very pedestrian writing style of the author, I found this book consistently tepid. She shows off her new knowledge about Japanese culture, giving detailed descriptions of every meal and every kimono.
She tells the story through Stephen when the caretaker, Matsu, is the central character. Because Matsu is strong and silent, we don't get inside his character development.
Nevertheless, it's an interesting look at Japan before WWII: religion, relationship and customs.
Beautiful
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-15
Review Date: 2007-08-15
A delightful story of a chinese teen, sent to japan on the eve of WW2 to recuperate after getting tuberculosis. He meets his father's servant who he gets to know and the locals, finding them friendly and welcoming even with the war. He finds the simple way of life, instead of being boring, fills his days and he is bereft when the war forces him to leave.
A wonderful piece of prose, this haunting story of the simple people and their tragic lives is a page turner.
A wonderful piece of prose, this haunting story of the simple people and their tragic lives is a page turner.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West
Published in Paperback by Holt Paperbacks (2001-01-23)
List price: $16.00
New price: $8.50
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Used price: $3.96
Collectible price: $16.00
Average review score:
An important book - Well documented and a good though sad read
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-28
Review Date: 2008-04-28
There's a saying - "history is written by the winners" and you never realise how true it really is till you read books like this one, which tells the story of the "losers" in history from their own point of view. From the moment of discovery of "the new world" it has been a story of decimation of the native tribes and this is the first account of the American West I've read that consistently gives the Indian point of view. You realise reading this that they didn't really stand much of chance against an onslaught of greed and dishonesty that engulfed their lands.
Unfortunately, this story is not unique and has been repeated, with variations, in many places in the world (eg Peru, Mexico , Australia & Canada) what is somewhat surprising is that as much as survived as it has of what the Indians thought of the constantly broken treaties and massacres of their people given their almost universal illiteracy. (Much thinner histories survive from other countries where similar events happened)
Any study of the spread of white culture in the 19th century in America should include books like this - they are a needed dose of reality and give depth to a story that otherwise is extremely one sided and provide a history that needs to be remembered in its own right.
Unfortunately, this story is not unique and has been repeated, with variations, in many places in the world (eg Peru, Mexico , Australia & Canada) what is somewhat surprising is that as much as survived as it has of what the Indians thought of the constantly broken treaties and massacres of their people given their almost universal illiteracy. (Much thinner histories survive from other countries where similar events happened)
Any study of the spread of white culture in the 19th century in America should include books like this - they are a needed dose of reality and give depth to a story that otherwise is extremely one sided and provide a history that needs to be remembered in its own right.
COWBOYS AND INDIANS
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-21
Review Date: 2008-07-21
Have you ever played cowbow and indians when you were a boy? I did and always wanted to be the cowboy. After reading this book I'd like to be a good cowboy not the ones portrayed here. Introduction-"This is not a cheerful book, but history has a way of intruding upon the present, and perhaps those who read it will have a clearer understanding of what the American Indian is, by knowing what he was. And if the readers of this book should ever chance to see the poverty, the hopelessness, and the squalor of a modern Indian reservation, they may find it possible to truly understand the reasons why. What adds a lot of value to this already exceptional book is the full page black & white pictures of Indians such as Geronimo,Sitting Bull-who killed Custard, Cochise, Lone Wolf, Red Cloud, Young-Man-Afraid-Of-His-Horses, White Horse,Little Crow,Crazy Bear, Little Big Man, and more. What is also added value is at the start of each chapter is a one page historical event calendar such as Chapter 17: 1880-June 1, population of United States is 50,155,783, 1881 Mar 4, James Garfield inaugurated as President, 1882-April 3, Jesse James shot and killed at St. Joseph, Missiouri. Sep 4, Edison switches on first commercial electric lights in New York Central Station. Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn published. and much more! There were many different tribes of Indians such as Apaches, Sioux, Brules, Sans Arcs, Blackfoot Sioux, Cheyennes, Arapahos, and more which the author effectively writes about. To me, the killing of women, little children, and babies was unfathomable. Who do you think did this? Read the book and find out! You won't be able to put it down. It took me one day to read it and I'm now going to Blockbuster to look for the DVD.
Highly recommend anything on or about Robert E. Howard the creator of Conan The Barbarian, Kull, Bran Mak Morn, Solomon Kane, and more! The Life & Art of REH, The Last of the Trunk, and Selected Letters.
Highly recommend anything on or about Robert E. Howard the creator of Conan The Barbarian, Kull, Bran Mak Morn, Solomon Kane, and more! The Life & Art of REH, The Last of the Trunk, and Selected Letters.
A Classic
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-02
Review Date: 2008-05-02
This book is truely a classic and a big inspiration for my own work on the Lakota Sioux who escaped to Canada. They Never Surrendered: The Lakota Sioux Band That Stayed In Canada
Amazing
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-21
Review Date: 2008-06-21
Makes me ashamed of what my people did. Why this book is not required reading for high school students is a tragic mystery. An entire section of American history that needs to be understood by all citizens.
The True Story of How the West Was Won
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-04
Review Date: 2008-05-04
The recent HBO movie based loosely on this book did no justice to these wrenching stories describing the decimation of the American Indian. Can it be that whites simply cannot comprehend the Indian culture and the tragedies tribes endured at the hands of the Great Father (as were called American presidents) and his minions?
Visit a tribal reservation and you'll witness firsthand impoverished Indians, beaten down to a shadow of their once proud selves. Brave and fearless, they fought hard for the right to live in their homelands. True conservationists, they could not comprehend our greed for land. Said Chief Joseph of the Nez Perces, "The earth was created by the assistance of the sun, and it should be left as it was. . . . The country was made without lines of demarcation, and it is no man's business to divide it. . . ."
Dee Brown's magnificent book should be required reading for all studying American history.
Visit a tribal reservation and you'll witness firsthand impoverished Indians, beaten down to a shadow of their once proud selves. Brave and fearless, they fought hard for the right to live in their homelands. True conservationists, they could not comprehend our greed for land. Said Chief Joseph of the Nez Perces, "The earth was created by the assistance of the sun, and it should be left as it was. . . . The country was made without lines of demarcation, and it is no man's business to divide it. . . ."
Dee Brown's magnificent book should be required reading for all studying American history.
The Marvel Encyclopedia
Published in Hardcover by DK ADULT (2006-10-16)
List price: $40.00
New price: $21.98
Used price: $19.23
Used price: $19.23
Average review score:
awesome
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-31
Review Date: 2008-08-31
this book is full of cool things and i really like it and i just love this book . it is so fun to read.
The Marvel Encyclopedia
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-15
Review Date: 2008-08-15
My son Jarett is 8 yrs old and very much into marvel super heros and especially the villians!!! This book is so detailed and so wonderfully illustrated. We can't believe you can learn so much about one charater in a paragraph or just one page. You will find out things you did not know. For example, what happened to Mary Jane Watsons mother!!!! But the best part is my son carries this huge book around wherever he goes. He reads in the car back and forth to karate practice and even sits on the couch and reads instead of TV or nintendo DS all the time!!!! He has not put it down since he recieved it. In fact, he put on his Christmas wish list the DC encylopedia next!!!! Thank you marvel for making such a wonderful and interesting book even a mom can enjoy with her son!!!!
Keeps the kids entertained
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-13
Review Date: 2008-08-13
My kids are young (girl-3 and boy-5) but they love going through the pictures and asking me to read about each superhero's powers. Really feeds their imagination. My daughter favorite super power is strength (like in the Incredible Hulk) and my son's is producing fire. Mine is flying. Wooooosh!
Marvel Encyc
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-11
Review Date: 2008-08-11
Bought this to help out with the Marvel Masterpiece sketch cards I was doing. A must have, very informative and full of great illustrations.
Awesome book for fully understanding the Marvel Universe
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-19
Review Date: 2008-06-19
This is one of the best superheroe books ive ever read, very well explained and pictured, recomend it to every Marvel fan.
Understanding International Conflicts: An Introduction to Theory and History (7th Edition) (MyPoliSciKit Series)
Published in Paperback by Longman (2008-07-21)
List price: $57.20
New price: $51.02
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Used price: $58.25
Average review score:
Good Detail of Topics Relating to International Politics
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-01
Review Date: 2006-03-01
I had to purchase this book as a second book for a class I had taken. This book helped cover many of the topics I had to study and this book did a better job of describing several topics relating to nationalism, imperialism history of international politics, foreign policies, international law and organization and human factors in international politics. I would recommend this book to anyone who is trying to learn the basics or even get more indepth details on certain topics of international politics.
Excellent book :)
Helpful Votes: 28 out of 38 total.
Review Date: 2003-12-08
Review Date: 2003-12-08
The basis for "Understanding International Conflicts: An Introduction to Theory and History" is, as the author explains in the preface, a course on international conflicts in the modern world he taught for a long time in Harvard. Nye says that the aim of the book is "to introduce students to the complexities of international politics by giving them a good grounding in the traditional realist theory before turning to liberal and constructivist approaches that became more prominent after the Cold War". I believe he excels at doing exactly that...
I found the book very interesting, and full of examples taken from history that made the concepts easier to grasp. Moreover, it takes into account the three levels of causation: the individual, the state and the international system. It also includes suggested reading material, that allows the reader to delve deeper in those subjects she/he finds more interesting...
The book is very well organized. It was a foreword, a preface, 9 chapters and an index. Each chapter deals with a main theme, and some related topics. The themes of the chapters are:
chapter 1:"Is there an enduring logic of conflict in world politics?";
chapter 2: "Origins of the great 20th century conflicts";
chapter 3: "Balance of power and World War I";
chapter 4: "The failure of collective security and World War II";
chapter 5: "The Cold War";
chapter 6: "Intervention, institutions and regional and ethnic conflicts";
chapter 7: "Globalization and interdependence";
chapter 8: "The information revolution, transnational actors, and the diffusion of power";
chapter 9: "A new world order?".
All in all, I strongly recommend this book to those interested in international relations... I think the author was successful in doing what he set out to do: he didn't want to give all the answers, he merely tried to help the readers to look for them. In his own words: "provide our students with conceptual tools that will help them shape their own answers as the future unfolds".
On the whole, a keeper :) Enjoy it !!!
An interesting book indeed
Helpful Votes: 33 out of 44 total.
Review Date: 2003-12-22
Review Date: 2003-12-22
An interesting book indeed, written by an excellent writer who took me in a journey through history beginning with the Peloponnesian war and passing through world war one and two and the cold war after that, and ending with the new world order.
The book starts with the two views of the anarchic politics ( Realism & Liberalism ) and a very wise explanation for both of them, and I liked the way the writer analyzed the two world wars and their reasons and I agree with him about the inevitability part as I believe that the war wasn't inevitable but I quote him by saying "Ironically the belief that war is inevitable played a major role in causing it", and also the part about ethics and morality is very interesting and I liked what the French diplomat said when he was asked about what's moral and his answer was "what's moral is whatever is good for France", and also the part about counterfactuals was very exciting.
I don't agree with the writer about some points concerning the Arab-Israeli conflict but the book as a whole is a very good one.
I agree with the "back to the future" theory in some points as all I see now is "the strong do what they have the power to do and the weak accepts what they have to accept".
I'll quote him again to end my review by saying "Has global society made war socially and morally unthinkable? We have to hope so, because the next hegemonic war would probably be the last".
excellent intro book to International Affairs
Helpful Votes: 37 out of 44 total.
Review Date: 1999-11-11
Review Date: 1999-11-11
One of the few textbooks I truly enjoyed, Nye's Understanding International Conflicts was a clear, easy-to-read, and yet insightful book. Its focus is on the three levels of influence on a state's behavior: the interstate system, intrastate politics, and individual. It is one of the few entry-level IA books to discuss the effect of personality on the actions of a state. Even in my graduate-level seminars and papers, I found it to be useful.
Superb, Post 9-11 Update, Excellent Adult Foundation
Helpful Votes: 45 out of 60 total.
Review Date: 2003-01-11
Review Date: 2003-01-11
First, it is vital for prospective buyers to understand that the existing reviews are three years out of date--this is a five-star tutorial on international relations that has been most recently updated after 9-11. If I were to recommend only two books on international relations, for any adult including nominally sophisticated world travelers, this would be the first book; the second would be Shultz, Godson, & Quester's wonderful edited work, "Security Studies for the 21st Century."
I really want to stress the utility of this work to adults, including those like myself who earned a couple of graduate degrees in the last century (smile). I was surprised to find no mention of the author's stellar service as Chairman of the National Intelligence Council--not only has he had full access to everything that can be known by secret as well as non-secret means, but he has kept current, and this undergraduate and affordable paperback was a great way for me--despite the 400+ books I've read (most of them reviewed on Amazon.com) in the past four plus years--to come up to speed on the rigorous methodical scholarly understanding of both historical and current theories and practices in international relations. This book is worth anyone's time, no matter how experienced or educated.
Each chapter has a very satisfactory mix of figures, maps, chronologies, and photos--a special value is a block chart showing the causes for major wars or periods of conflict at the three levels of analysis--international system, national, and key individual personalities, and I found these quite original and helpful.
Excellent reference and orientation work. Took five hours to read, with annotation--this is not a mind-glazer, it's a mind-exerciser.
Sitting Bull
Published in Hardcover by Westholme Publishing (2008-04-28)
List price: $29.95
New price: $19.72
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Used price: $20.74
Average review score:
Tatank Iyotake - Sitting Bull; A Great Man, a pretty good book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-03
Review Date: 2008-09-03
Tatanka Iyotake - Sitting Bull - was not the killer of Custer. He was certainly no villain. He was a spiritual leader of our People. According to my ancestors, who handed this story down to my generation, Custer killed himself rather than take what he had coming - and had fully earned - at the Battle of the Greasy Grass / what the majority culture calls "the Little Bighorn". I'm a great-grandmother now, writing through my man's account, and I have no reason to doubt the truth of the story my ancestors told.
We kept it among ourselves because of the repercussions we suffered back then, and still suffer today. To this day, we Lakota out here in "Dakota" Territory are harrassed in every way, all too often. Not as openly as used to be, but it's still there - the coffee-shop talk, the disparaging stereotypes, stuff like that. I call it, "the Custer effect". My People beat the crap out of Custer and his goons that June day so long ago, and whites have been crying about it ever since, and trying to "prove what really happened".
Custer was no hero; he was a murderer of babies and women, unarmed warriors and the elderly. Sitting Bull was a man of great pride and honor and strength. This book is worth reading more than once. Thanks for writing it!
We kept it among ourselves because of the repercussions we suffered back then, and still suffer today. To this day, we Lakota out here in "Dakota" Territory are harrassed in every way, all too often. Not as openly as used to be, but it's still there - the coffee-shop talk, the disparaging stereotypes, stuff like that. I call it, "the Custer effect". My People beat the crap out of Custer and his goons that June day so long ago, and whites have been crying about it ever since, and trying to "prove what really happened".
Custer was no hero; he was a murderer of babies and women, unarmed warriors and the elderly. Sitting Bull was a man of great pride and honor and strength. This book is worth reading more than once. Thanks for writing it!
Good book sad story.
Helpful Votes: 13 out of 14 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-12
Review Date: 2008-08-12
SITTING BULL
Bill Yenne
Sitting Bull by Bill Yenne is an interesting read. Yenne utilizes Stanley Vestal, Jerome Stillson of the New York Herald, Sitting Bull's Hieroglyphic Autobiography, and an assortment of first hand accounts to present this historic American Indian. For all of us "Custer People", there is a chapter on the Little Bighorn Battle in which Yenne writes "Custer probably feared that if he delayed his attack for another twenty-four hours - as he planned - then Gibbon would be a day closer and Custer would have to share this victory with him". There is an argument which establishes a good book. The book is filled with informative and controversial quotes. Yenne frequently dwells on Washington's government officials arguing over the necessary actions to solve their Indian dilemma. Politicians and red tape do not make a good western adventure, unfortunately that was their role in the history of the American West. I want to be with Custer out on the plains or in an Indian camp, not in an office in Washington.
Overall, the book was very good. Even the cover with Sitting Bull's picture and autograph is notable.
Bill Yenne
Sitting Bull by Bill Yenne is an interesting read. Yenne utilizes Stanley Vestal, Jerome Stillson of the New York Herald, Sitting Bull's Hieroglyphic Autobiography, and an assortment of first hand accounts to present this historic American Indian. For all of us "Custer People", there is a chapter on the Little Bighorn Battle in which Yenne writes "Custer probably feared that if he delayed his attack for another twenty-four hours - as he planned - then Gibbon would be a day closer and Custer would have to share this victory with him". There is an argument which establishes a good book. The book is filled with informative and controversial quotes. Yenne frequently dwells on Washington's government officials arguing over the necessary actions to solve their Indian dilemma. Politicians and red tape do not make a good western adventure, unfortunately that was their role in the history of the American West. I want to be with Custer out on the plains or in an Indian camp, not in an office in Washington.
Overall, the book was very good. Even the cover with Sitting Bull's picture and autograph is notable.
A great birthday gift
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-31
Review Date: 2008-05-31
I bought this book for my brother-in-law for his birthday. It was the perfect gift for him and his interest in Native Americans. Great buy.
Sitting Bull
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-29
Review Date: 2008-05-29
Purchased this for my husband who is Lakota. It is a lengthy book, but very interesting and well written.
A Dramatic and Scholarly History
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-30
Review Date: 2008-06-30
Just finished reading "Sitting Bull." Enjoyed it very, very much. There are wonderful photos and maps, one including good old Highmore, SD. The book is a dramatic and scholarly accomplishment. Professor Yellowtail's glowing endorsement must feel like a crowning feather. Has he given the author an Indian name?!
I was surprised to learn that Sitting Bull was only with Bill Cody's Wild West in 1885 and never went to Europe, never performed for Queen Victoria. As the book points out, it was his deaf stepson, later known as John Sitting Bull, who toured Europe with Cody's Wild West during a few years after the turn of the century. Indeed, the popular confusion about this persists and resurfaced the other day at lunch with our tennis players. How nice to have it right!
I was surprised to learn that Sitting Bull was only with Bill Cody's Wild West in 1885 and never went to Europe, never performed for Queen Victoria. As the book points out, it was his deaf stepson, later known as John Sitting Bull, who toured Europe with Cody's Wild West during a few years after the turn of the century. Indeed, the popular confusion about this persists and resurfaced the other day at lunch with our tennis players. How nice to have it right!
The Complete Far Side 1980-1994 (2 vol set)
Published in Hardcover by Andrews McMeel Publishing (2003-10)
List price: $150.00
New price: $83.65
Used price: $85.00
Collectible price: $150.00
Used price: $85.00
Collectible price: $150.00
Average review score:
The Far Side
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-23
Review Date: 2008-07-23
At last the complete Far Side collection is contained in one set. Every cartoon drawn by Gary Larson is included herein. Far Side fans will revel in the fact that they no longer have to pour through old microfilm versions of local newspapers at libraries to find all the off the wall, bizarre humor of cxavemen in outhouses, or bears, cows, sheep all behaving like nerdy humans, or any of the other strange concoctions Larson came up with. This set is rather expensive, but the tru fan will find the money for it.
Beautiful! Fantastic! But....
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-11
Review Date: 2008-07-11
I would love to reccomend this fantastic collection of one of the greatest ever comic artists, except for one thing...
The Far Side should be enjoyed under the covers, by flashlight, when your parents say you should be asleep. That's how I remember enjoying the Far Side. If you really want to LOVE this comic, buy the smaller, more portable books to snuggle up with. Happy reading!
The Far Side should be enjoyed under the covers, by flashlight, when your parents say you should be asleep. That's how I remember enjoying the Far Side. If you really want to LOVE this comic, buy the smaller, more portable books to snuggle up with. Happy reading!
Excellent and comprehensive
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-10
Review Date: 2008-07-10
Every Far Side ever published - can't go wrong with that. Hardback with good quality paper. A perfect resource for PowerPoint presentations.
excellent
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-27
Review Date: 2008-05-27
Prompt delivery, perfect condition, excellent product. I've waited a long time to get me hands on this gift for my wife. She's a Far Side nut!
A Masterpiece Of Comic Brillance
Helpful Votes: 10 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-22
Review Date: 2008-07-22
"Every one of these cartoons is just something that drifted into my head when I was alone with my thoughts. And, for better or worse, I `jotted them down. It was only later, when perhaps I received an angry letter from someone, that it struck me: Hey! Some one's been reading my diary!"
Gary Larson, from the preface to The Complete Far Side
How do you explain 'Far Side'? A brilliant comedic view of the absurd and unusual? An inspiring cartoon that entertains and inspires? My family loves cards and for each birthday we all receive more than a few cards, and most of them are from 'Far Side'. We look forward to those cards. At Christmas there are calendars and mugs. We are a family of Far Side. But it took my best friend to give me the gift of Far Side that is impressive.
When the first Far Side appeared millions of us could not get enough. The cartoons debuted in January 1980 and we have bought more than 40 million Far Side books and more than 60 million calendars. The demand for The Far Side has been insatiable. I received the hefty, deluxe, two-volume slip cased set as a gift. The slipcase is gorgeous with a lovely ribbon surrounding it. The volumes are printed in full color, milled paper, The Complete Far Side is a superb gift that takes its place alongside collector's-edition art books.
"A masterpiece of comic brilliance, The Complete Far Side contains every Far Side cartoon ever syndicated -- over 4,000 if you must know -- presented in (more or less) chronological order by year of publication, with more than 1,100 that have never before appeared in a book." publisher.
There are more Far Side cartoons in these volumes that Larson created after his retirement: 13 of them appeared in the last Far Side book, Last Chapter and Worse, and six cartoons that ran as a special feature in The New York Times' Science Times section as The Far Side of Science. Gary Larson offers a glimpse into the mind of The Far Side in quirky and introductions to each of the 14 chapters. Complaint letters, fan letters, and queries from readers appear. Actor, author, and comedian Steve Martin offers his thoughts in a foreword, and Gary Larson's former editor describes what it was like to be "the guy who could explain every Far Side cartoon."
During its 14-year run, The Far Side was syndicated to over 1,900 daily newspapers. It has been translated into a total of 17 different languages.
For his work with The Far Side, Gary Larson received the Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year from the National Cartoonists Society in both 1991 and 1994. The National Cartoonists Society also named The Far Side Best Syndicated Panel in 1985 and 1987. In 1993 The Far Side was awarded the Max & Moritz Prize for Best International Comic Strip/Panel by the International Comics Salon. In 1995, Larson's animated film Gary Larson's Tales From The Far Side won the Grand Prix at the Annecy International Animation Festival in Annecy, France. His second animated film, Gary Larson's Tales From The Far Side II, premiered in 1997 in the United States at the Telluride Film Festival and in Europe at the Venice International Film Festival.
Gary Larson has always made use of biology and science. It seems he likes to put animals in human situations, like the praying mantis woman accusing another of having an affair with her mate and being told "Surely you know that I would only eat my own husband", or the cow with a bib and knife and fork sitting behind a big pile of steaks proclaiming to the herd that they tasted a bit like chicken. Surreal, crazy talk, if you like it you'll love it. Some people never understand the humour. It can vary from simple & obvious, to oblique and obscure. However, most of my family and friends understand the humor all too well:-)
It has taken me awhile to read every page of these two volumes. A laugh out loud and/or guffaw, but always, always a smile on my face when I was faced with the humor. Some are so obscure that I am still wondering what they really were all about. but I enjoyed them all the same. This is a gift of a lifetime. My family when visiting all seem to veer toward the two volumes in their slipcase perched so invitingly on my coffee table. One of us will start reading out loud, and soon we will all be engulfed in laughter.
Highly, Highly Recommended. prisrob 07-22-08
Last Chapter and Worse
Unnatural Selections
Gary Larson, from the preface to The Complete Far Side
How do you explain 'Far Side'? A brilliant comedic view of the absurd and unusual? An inspiring cartoon that entertains and inspires? My family loves cards and for each birthday we all receive more than a few cards, and most of them are from 'Far Side'. We look forward to those cards. At Christmas there are calendars and mugs. We are a family of Far Side. But it took my best friend to give me the gift of Far Side that is impressive.
When the first Far Side appeared millions of us could not get enough. The cartoons debuted in January 1980 and we have bought more than 40 million Far Side books and more than 60 million calendars. The demand for The Far Side has been insatiable. I received the hefty, deluxe, two-volume slip cased set as a gift. The slipcase is gorgeous with a lovely ribbon surrounding it. The volumes are printed in full color, milled paper, The Complete Far Side is a superb gift that takes its place alongside collector's-edition art books.
"A masterpiece of comic brilliance, The Complete Far Side contains every Far Side cartoon ever syndicated -- over 4,000 if you must know -- presented in (more or less) chronological order by year of publication, with more than 1,100 that have never before appeared in a book." publisher.
There are more Far Side cartoons in these volumes that Larson created after his retirement: 13 of them appeared in the last Far Side book, Last Chapter and Worse, and six cartoons that ran as a special feature in The New York Times' Science Times section as The Far Side of Science. Gary Larson offers a glimpse into the mind of The Far Side in quirky and introductions to each of the 14 chapters. Complaint letters, fan letters, and queries from readers appear. Actor, author, and comedian Steve Martin offers his thoughts in a foreword, and Gary Larson's former editor describes what it was like to be "the guy who could explain every Far Side cartoon."
During its 14-year run, The Far Side was syndicated to over 1,900 daily newspapers. It has been translated into a total of 17 different languages.
For his work with The Far Side, Gary Larson received the Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year from the National Cartoonists Society in both 1991 and 1994. The National Cartoonists Society also named The Far Side Best Syndicated Panel in 1985 and 1987. In 1993 The Far Side was awarded the Max & Moritz Prize for Best International Comic Strip/Panel by the International Comics Salon. In 1995, Larson's animated film Gary Larson's Tales From The Far Side won the Grand Prix at the Annecy International Animation Festival in Annecy, France. His second animated film, Gary Larson's Tales From The Far Side II, premiered in 1997 in the United States at the Telluride Film Festival and in Europe at the Venice International Film Festival.
Gary Larson has always made use of biology and science. It seems he likes to put animals in human situations, like the praying mantis woman accusing another of having an affair with her mate and being told "Surely you know that I would only eat my own husband", or the cow with a bib and knife and fork sitting behind a big pile of steaks proclaiming to the herd that they tasted a bit like chicken. Surreal, crazy talk, if you like it you'll love it. Some people never understand the humour. It can vary from simple & obvious, to oblique and obscure. However, most of my family and friends understand the humor all too well:-)
It has taken me awhile to read every page of these two volumes. A laugh out loud and/or guffaw, but always, always a smile on my face when I was faced with the humor. Some are so obscure that I am still wondering what they really were all about. but I enjoyed them all the same. This is a gift of a lifetime. My family when visiting all seem to veer toward the two volumes in their slipcase perched so invitingly on my coffee table. One of us will start reading out loud, and soon we will all be engulfed in laughter.
Highly, Highly Recommended. prisrob 07-22-08
Last Chapter and Worse
Unnatural Selections
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Related Subjects: Military History US History
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The Enquiry was written after the Treatise. Hume, though he claimed the opposite, seems never to have really recovered from the blow he took from seeing his Treatise "fall dead born from the press." As a result, his Enquiry is far more cautious in the steps it takes. (For those of you who have read both, yes, I swear, Hume IS more cautious. Compare the claims.) A more robust philosophical stance is taken in his Treatise, while a more focused stance is taken in his Enquiry.
The Enquiry is mainly a work of epistemology and as such, scrutinizes our methods of acquiring knowledge. Making perhaps the most radical (and poignant) claim in all of modern philosophy, it posits, and supports, that there is NO causation, only conjunction. That, for example, when we see a glass drop and break, we cannot say we know gravity caused this (in the way we know two plus two equals four). All we see is constant conjunction. The connection is lacking, i.e., it is not inconceivable that the glass wouldn't bounce, turn to ash, or dissolve into sand (the way it is inconceivable that two plus two equals five). This, in effect, nullifies all the so called "laws" of nature that are formed by science. (Note that this does not state that there are no laws of nature, just that we really can never make the claim that we ever really know there are laws of nature.)
This could be thought of as the philosophical shot heard round the world. Agree or disagree, Hume must be answered. Hume has historically been charged with creating an intellectual and philosophical cul-de-sac with his skepticism. To paraphrase Bertrand Russell, Hume makes a claim which none can refute, but at the same time one which none can accept. In effect, Hume's philosophy seems to bind the human mind, stopping its journey of discovery and ultimately accomplishing what his predecessor, John Locke, set out to do, i.e., map the extent of human knowledge.
However, where one may see Hume's philosophy as shackles and fetters in the search for truth, one could also equally see his philosophy as liberation. Implicit in his philosophy is the idea that ANYTHING is possible. There are no shackles, no fetters, no limits; only those that we create for ourselves. Our limits are self-imposed, constructs of our observance (and inference) of connection. In this way Hume appears in the same light as the Eastern masters seeing that reality is not what we have (through experiential knowledge) believed it to be. It is something much more wondrous. In Zen, our causal thinking is the only barrier between the person and enlightenment. Hume could be seen as implying that when the idea of causality is removed, with only conjunction remaining in its place, the state of true knowledge and wisdom (true zen) is achieved.
This, of course, is only idle speculation. But it is stated so as to demonstrate the richness and immense possibility Hume's philosophy possesses when seen in the correct light. Instead of saying, "Nothing is certain," after reading Hume, one can say, with equal validity, "Anything is possible." The first statement approaches philosophy with despair. The second approaches it with a sense of childlike wonder and hope at the immense possibilities of reality. It approaches life as a beginning, not an ending. It approaches life as the philosopher approaches it.