Railroads Books

A love "Ghost Train'. I love that some places did not change in 33 years. I love that, as a man of a certain age, he spent somewhat less time in bars and more time with nature. I love that he found people he had met 33 years ago. I love that the people were so happy to see him again.

I fantisize that I am reading 'Ghost Train', I look up and there he is sitting across from me on the train.

And, I love that he supports Barack Obama. Fired Up!

Mr. Theroux is over 65 but still doing the hard road. He is cranky as usual but more erudite, in other words he refers to Larkin, Buddhism, etc. I didnt agree with all his perceptions, especially concerning Romania where I have spent some time. I liked the Romanians and thought Bucharest a very interesting city, and Transylvania has some beautiful landscapes, but then he only spent few hours there. However, I also thought he was very good on India, where I have also travelled. He has been criticized for being egocentric in this book and, of course, he has his quirks, but he is a great writer, especially of travel literature, and as he himself would say, writers are a bit mad (or they wouldnt be writers).

I will spare few minutes of my precious time to write those lines.
I was born and raised in France, then moved to Singapore in 1992 where my daughters and I became proud Singaporean in 2006.
Yesterday I was a Borders and my eyes got caught by Mr Theroux's book "Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the track of the Great Railway Bazar" latest edition. I was in the intention of purchasing this book until I read what he said regarding his stopover in Singapore.
I was shocked by such critics, clichés and totally wrong analyses. Mr Theroux understood absolutely nothing of our country, our people, our values etc.... and think he is in position of despising us and our beautiful island.
After reading those pages with sadness and even disgust, I decided that I will not buy this book as his testimony was so wrong for Singapore that I can't trust what he will say about others countries. As a matter of fact, I will never buy another book from this author who is not worse reading.

As for Mr Theroux, it is good in a way that he did not appreciate our country so at least he will not be around as we don't need people like him.

Throughout this latest Theroux book I kept asking myself, why does he do it? Why does he punish himself with decrepit trains, filthy toilets, near poisonous food, crummy hotels, lonliness, a constant stream of strangers met on the way and never seen again? He is an old man, presumably well to do, perhaps really rich, who needs all that punishment? Obviously he does. This travel book (though like all of his books it is not a travel guide, no hotel recommendations, no must do restaurants or sights) simply is fascinating reading, although by now, having written 41 books, 17 of them travel books, there is a certain sameness that is I guess unavoidable. The names and places change but the experiences remain the same.
Still, he never bores. And while this may be his last travel book (he hints so) it is a terrific one with which to exit the stage. JDP

This thoughtful book reflects the next level in the literary evolution of the incomparable Paul Theroux --- he's more vunerable, more reflective, and more compassionate (and less the rogue and rascal) --- now that he is in his 67th year. For his many fans, this is a good thing, as we get to know him more deeply. The "ghost train" referred to in the book's title is actually Theroux's inner travels in both mind and spirit. While re-tracing, mostly in 2006, much of the route of his 1973 classic "The Great Railway Bazaar", he now focuses on the theme of "change": not only do the physical locations look different, but of course the author is different as well. Theroux is a "ghost" of his younger self, traveling like a ghost through the past of his memories, while feeling nearly invisible as he re-visits many of his old haunts (excuse the pun). However, this book has all the Theroux trademarks that the devoted reader loves and expects: exotic locales, humor, grittiness, the unexpected, the insights, the observations, the interesting local people and wacky fellow travelers. Theroux is a true master of detail and description. The sights-smells-sounds of extensive and exhaustive travel are all there, as if you were right beside him. But unlike his other non-fiction travel books, this one is specially tinged with some sadness and melancholy. Can/will he do another epic travel journey to share with us? I certainly hope so. Paul, please keep giving us your unique and valued "scribble, scribble..."

This was a very unique book and I really enjoyed it! It did take me a few chapters to get completely absorbed, but after that I was thoroughly interested in the plot and how everything would be resolved.
The book is unique in multiple ways, but two stand out for me. The first of which, is that it's probably one of the least predictable books I've read lately. You can guess how the overall ending will probably turn out, but the specifics and the "how" were (at least to me) pretty unpredictable.
Also, the book uses pictures to help tell the story, instead of depicting what's already been written. For example, The text might read something like, "Hugo walked into the train station," followed by four or five drawings, one of Hugo walking into the station, one of him seeing a friend, one of him running to meet his friend, and one of him tripping. The text would then say something link, "Hugo's friend offered him a hand up." That's probably very confusing, but I hope it helps a little. I think it would be a great book for a young reader who isn't too keen on reading, because it is a thick book, but because of all the drawings, you can get through it fairly quickly, yet you still have a great sense of accomplishment. So, I think it would probably be a good jump-start sort of book.
Though, let me emphasize that, even if you are an avid reader, it's still a great book!

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RB2Y01LBZS84M A Caldecott Medal Winner. A fine achievement from Brian Selznick with this blend of graphic novel, novel and flip book. It has a scripted movie-like feel, evocative of the wonderful era of silent film. The words and illustrations work well together to unfold an engaging tale. I really liked it as an adult. It's a little too 'old' for my younger children, but I believe that older readers in 9- 15 year old bracket will get a lot out of it.

We read this book as a family. My youngest son hates to read but with this story he was the first to ask if we could read each night. Great visualizations and illustrations for the reader.

When I first picked up this book I knew I was holding something special. "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" is a story told not only through words, but also through a series of pictures (like watching an animated feature), but furthermore through the physical object of the book itself.

Mr. Selznick has created a one-of-a-kind entity that just so happens to fit on a library shelf, but that acts as so much more than a book. In general, authors tell their stories through words and filmmakers through pictures. Selznick has combined the two and come up with something that is more than just the sum of the parts.

I have a feeling we're going to see a slew of copy-cat books trying to replicate the magic that Selznick created in this "invention" of his, but my guess is that most of them will fall flat without the brilliant interplay of subject matter and form that comprise this masterpiece.

This is a book full of mystery and suspense, and keeps you rooting for Hugo and wanting to enter deeper into his world. It was truly a joy to turn each page, and as I closed the back cover, it left me with an immense smile of satisfaction on my face.

I highly recommend this as a book that can be enjoyed by people of all ages, from younger children to teens and adults. A brilliant invention!

I so enjoyed this book. The story line was interesting and the sketches worked so well at telling the story. It is like a picture book for the YA crowd. I must confess that my husband and I enjoyed it as much as our 14 year old!

Our soon to be kindergartener loves this book and often asks it to be read to her. It's a really cute story with fun illustrations.

This will be a favorite storybook for younger children preparing for the first day at school! All over the town, there are children tossing and turning in their beds, worried about teachers, friends, leaving play and family behind, "while visions of school supplies danced in their heads."

Of course, all is well! The teacher is the best and it's the parents in the end who shed a tear or two as they leave their kindergarten scholars behind!

Kids will enjoy hearing this story over and over again! A really sweet read for parents and children!

This was a GREAT book for children starting Kindergarten. My daughter was wondering why all the parents were crying at the end of the book. I guess you just have to be a parent to understand! :0)

This was supposed to be a gift for a friend's birthday party which became a second gift and of course one for my very own little girl who will be entering kindergarten now in a matter of days! A wonderful, heart felt book...not too long, just right to capture the hearts and minds of parents and kids alike! Highly recommend! A+!!

I do not recommend because it essentially presupposes that kindergarten is a scary place and that you only need to overcome your fears when entering this frightening place. That's how it seemed to me, at least.

Instead of describing kindergarten as a fun, happy, loving place, it talks about how children are at first afraid, but then learn to like it. Why even suggest that your child should be afraid?

Worse, in the book, all the parents stay in the classroom, outside the door watching. That's not how school works. The parents are not there, so why suggest that they are going to be at the door looking in during the day?

Not recommended. The other "night before" books I like, just not this one.

This is a great book to read at the start of the first grade school year.

Good story with plenty of play on words!
Kids will enjoy this, and makes for a goos converstaion starter about preparing for going back to school!

This was funny and inspiring book to read the night before school. It helped my daughter get over her anxieties about a new teacher and a new grade.

I gave all of my kindergarten students this book on the last day of school. In September when they arrived as first graders, they were all telling me how much they loved the book over the summer. One parent e-mailed me and told me how helpful she found the book to be over the summer while they were preparing for first grade. I would recommend this book highly!

Excellent! I was a little skeptical at first, but this book is wonderful. My 6 year old has read the book on her own and the illustrations were very helpful to assist her in identifying some new words on the page.

She has enjoyed the book so much that she has decided to include the book in her summer book report reading list. It is just the correct length for a child entering first grade. My daughter's school only has 1 of each grade, but it has helped her realize to give things a chance. She realizes there will be new children and she may not be seated right next to her friends but there are many other things for her to explore.

First grade can be scary. It's entering what my daughter's school calls 'the upper grades'.

Overall, the book is one that both children and parents will enjoy with it's great ending.

"The Story About Ping" is a book I have read to my children and now my grandchildren. It is a simple but fun tale about a small duck who gets separated from his family. In watching the events that occur to Ping before he is reunited with his family, we see many real life elements of the Chinese culture. This is a great book that could lead to a discussion about the importance and love of all family members, as well as the historical and cultural past of China.

I purchased this book because I had lost the school library's copy and it was my husband's favourite book as a child. When it arrived I read it to every class from Kindergarten to year six and they all loved it. It was a good lead into the Beijing Games but it also led into a study of cormorants, river dwelling, mapping,relationships and counting.I can highly recommend this ageless story.

I read this book to my daughter when she was a little girl and she loved it. The book is about a little duck that lives on a boat on the yellow Yantze river in China. The little duck leaves his family to go explore and finds himself in great danger, almost ending up as duck soup! He finds his way home again though, and realizes just how good it is to be "home".

Something special about this little duck who wants to avoid a punshment and winds up in more trouble than he bargained for. In the end he accepts his punshment and returns to the home he loves.

The use of language in this book is poetical. There is a beautiful rhythem to the words.

The pictures are timeless and memorable.

People who find this book cruel are taking it too seriously. Most of all, this book has been loved by all 5 of my children. It is clever and fun, and has a happy ending. I plan to continue reading it to children and maybe someday grandchildren.

Our 16-month-old twin girls have a vocabulary of four words: Ma-ma, Da-da, ba-ba (bottle), and "Pop!" That's what they say when they see this book come out for their bedtime story. They love the pictures and the sound of the words. They look and listen with rapturous interest, and often scream like banshees at the end until I read the book a second time.

The book is fun for parents, too. It's a disconnected, almost surreal series of vignettes. The ever-popular segment featuring the flying Mr. Brown is longer than most, and the recurring character of Pup provides a hint of continuity. Not that kids will care about any of this; it's just a fun ride with the inimitable Dr. Seuss.

Suggested follow-up: "Ten Apples Up On Top" (again by Dr. S), which is our girls' second-favorite book.

Let's note first that this book isn't actually intended as a readaloud book, nor is it intended for children much younger than the age of six.

The format of the book reflects this. It's a bit long for toddlers (who aren't known for having great attention spans), and the different spreads are disconnected - when a kid is at the age where they struggle to read "All, Ball, We All Play Ball", the last thing they need to worry about is what they read two pages before!

Can it be used as a readaloud? No doubt! But don't be disappointed if it doesn't work for you and your kid that way.

That said, this is a wonderful early reader. Simple rhyming text, with the main words in large print at the top of the page; and really funny illustrations.

I really suggest this one.

My 12 month old's favorite book is "The Foot Book" by Dr. Seuss. So I bought her several other Dr. Seuss books for her birthday. She really likes this book. The other Dr. Seuss books that I purchased are a little long and wordy for her for right now, but "Hop on Pop" is perfect for this stage-and it's nice that it comes in board book form.

Hop On Pop
By Dr. Seuss

I found this book to be a valuable reading tool for the beginning reader.
When I helped my first grader with summer reading, not only did she picked up the words, but my kindergartener was reading this book as well.

Generations of readers have enjoyed the rhyming words of Hop On Pop. Make sure you pick up a copy for your family.

Jill Ammon Vanderwood
Author: Through the Rug
Through The Rug: Follow That Dog (Through the Rug)

We read this to our son and it was one of his favorites - he always had to act out the title!. We got a copy of this classic for him so he can read it to our grandson, Andrew. Grampa will be sure to encourage little Drew to Hop on his Pop!

This is a very accurate study on fairy tales: everyone who wonders what's there beyond a story can easily find an answer. The book contains classical versions of some of the most famous fairy tales (Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, Cinderella, Bluebeard and Hansel and Gretel), including their multicultural variants, and for everyone of these there is a deep exploration about their social, historical, psychological aspects etc.

My daughter needed this for school and buying all her books here instead of the site the school works with saved a lot of money. Great condition, would buy again.

A collection of fairy tales that have lasted throughout the years, "The Classic Fairy Tales" also offers many essays by the experts in fairy tale. The very best critics including Jack Zipes and Maria Tater, have written well-thought out essays varying from Disney's involvement in fairy tales to the sexuality of these tales. These essays along with the eight stories (Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, Cinderella, Bluebeard, Hansel and Gretel, four short tales by Hans Christian Anderson, and three by Oscar Wilde) and you get a book which will help you understand not only the tales themselves, but the ideologies, social connections, and cultural importance. This book is definitely a good read.

An excellent book if you are struggling with the aquisition of variant sources for a particular fairy tale. A compendium of the well known, and the not so well know fairt tales, this book offers various incantations of 8 fary tales in their entirity. Following this, of particular interest to myself, are written criticisms and analysis of such tales by some of the most recognised names in fairy tale writing including Jack Zipes. Regardless of whether this book contains the tale you are looking for, the broader text that the book offers is certainly worth a look. A much more generalised idea is portrayed with regard to such topics as social origins, cultural resilience and the cultural implications and history of fairy tales as an independent genre. This book serves to bridge the gap between fairy tales that seem to bear no relationship to each other by looking at how these tales have come to be what they are.

(This is an old review I wrote somewhere else before, 20th April 2005.)


This book is a collection of both classical fairy tales and contemporary ones, though you never get the contemporary ones without their former classical models. Mostly, the book is divided into some six or seven sections devoted to the most well known tales out there: Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Bluebeard, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel. There's also a section about Andersen and one about Wilde.

For each section there is an introduction by Maria Tatar, usually an excellent one. Also, since this is a Norton Critical Edition, you get a whole part of the book devoted to essays by the most recognised critics of fairy tales. Some of those are dubious, and bashed by other essays included there, and rightly so. Be careful about the psychoanalytical ones. But basically it's interesting to see how thoughts evolve from one essay to another, because they're put in such an order that they exist in a continuous current of thought, and that gives a neat unity to this book, as far as the essay side of it is concerned.

Excellent book to get into fairy tales with a critical mind.

This is a book I thoroughly enjoyed as a child. I began to borrow it from the library for my own two boys and decided, finally, to order one from Amazon for my son's birthday. We returned the borrowed book to the library the day before his birthday and there were many tears. So, you can imagine my son's elation to open up his very own "Little Engine That Could" on his birthday. A fantastic book! There is also a newly released version with gorgeous illustrations. Check that one out as well. Great books are one of the greatest gifts you can give your children.

The story itself is great-- I like sharing its meaning with the little "I can't do it" children who are in my life. Children seem to like the pictures in this book. However, the quality of the binding is not as great as I hoped it would be-- it's already starting to pull apart after just several readings.

Love it. My kids love it. We first saw this book in a larger version at our pediatrician's office and we read it while waiting to be seen. My daughter loved it so much that I looked it up as soon as we returned home. The story is so well known, I won't even bother to rehash it. Even though I think I can... (A little humor there)

As usual, the visual component is very important as far as I'm concerned and the vintage art is fabulous. It reminds me of things I saw while cleaning up my grandparents' house. Left behind story books and toys from my mother and her sister. Very nostalgic.

This particular version of the book is quite small which I like, but my daughter wants a larger version. I believe it is available in a lager size here at Amazon.

This was my favorite gift to give this year to everyone from our daughter to my coworker - an important lesson to learn told in a classic story.

I have a 2-year old son and he enjoys looking at the pictures in this book. Since it's small, he can take it anywhere. He hasn't ripped any pages yet! I would like to buy the full-size book later. I think the full-size one will be better for storytelling. Shipping was so fast we got this book in no time!

My 2 year old son loves this book. He's loved it since he was about 9 months old. It's rhyming and fun to read out loud with bright and interesting illustrations. Sure to be a hit for any boy who loves trains!

This is my 20 month old son's FAVORITE book. He constantly wants it to be read and re-read to him....and this is the only book that he asks for (even though we have a lot of other good ones). For any kids that love trains, this is a great book. And for parents, it's an enjoyable/easy read. And the illustrations are very nice too.

I have read this book to a baby I babysit for, and he loves it! I've been reading it to him since he was 4 months old and he still likes to have it read to him over and over again! The primary colors in the book make it so vivid and colorful and you can be very animated when you read it, they love it! I ordered one for my sister's new baby!

This simple, rhyming book about a toy train has been read and re-read in this house. My girls absolutely MUST hear this book at least five times a day. We're on our third copy, as the first two were destroyed from overuse. My only criticism is that the book is not of more sturdy construction. If you have toddlers and pre-school age children, this book is a must have!

Our boy already loved Tugga-Tugga Tugboat and My Truck is Stuck, so I had an idea that he would like this book by the same author/illustrator combo, especially because he likes trains.

Well, this was his favorite of the three. The drawings are charming, the story sufficiently uncomplicated for a nearly-three-year-old, and he wanted us to read nothing else for weeks. Highly recommended.

Reading Theroux's travel literature, one wonders why he left home - the people he meets are almost universally irritating for him, and he takes little interest in much else except perhaps his own physical discomforts and prejudices. Of course we love to hate this type of splenetic and cantankerousness writing, not unlike Tobias Smollett's 1786 Travels Through France And Italy (Smollett also took a 'Grand Tour'). Theroux models himself an anti-tourist, resisting seeing the sites but when forced he rarely has anything positive to say. This appeals to the reader who wants to travel without being a tourist, but in the end comes across as crass and of little value. He is at his best describing the lowest encounters, prostitutes seem to fill the most interesting stories (it's unclear if he partakes but he does imbibe in smoking a fair amount of hashish). Theroux followed the "hippie trail" for part of the way but found them, like most everyone, open to ridicule.

There are some interesting historical curiosities. He traveled through Vietnam in late 1973 when the US military was pulling out, and so he got to see first-hand the deserted bases overtaken by squatters, stripped of every valuable not unlike what happened to Iraq in the wake of the US invasion in 2003, and perhaps not unlike what might happen again in the near future. He also makes a literary connection between the Vietnam War and Conrad's Heart of Darkness, well before the appearance of Apocalypse Now (1979). The best scene in the book I think is with the 3 Americans living on the beach with some Vietnamese women.

In the end this is an important book in the travel literature canon because Theroux set out to create something new and found a wide following of readers helping to revive interest in the genre, but he was eclipsed by writers like Bruce Chatwin (In Patagonia) who really did move the state of the art out of the 19th century into a modern aesthetic.

This fabulous account of getting on the train in London and riding trains (including the decrepit Orient Express) through Europe, across Asia as far east as Japan, then looping back to Europe on the Trans-Siberian, is not a bit dated, even though it was first published in 1975. Theroux is sometimes cross and prickly, but he doesn't miss a thing, and he ventures into places (and eats things) that most people never would. Because he is also a novelist, he's deft at limning the appearances and characters of the people he meets, and these people, who are variously vain, odd, smelly, crazy, foolish, bigoted, or just eccentric, give this travelogue--and indeed all of Theroux's travel narratives--the quality of a Dickens novel. I've read and enjoyed several of his other rail narratives, including "The Old Patagonian Express" (Central and South America) , "Kingdom by the Sea" (United Kingdom), and "Dark Star Safari" (Africa). I'd start with this one, though, with its wonderful section on Vietnam in the last year of the war and its melancholy voyage across Leonid Brezhnev's sclerotic Soviet Union. As with all good books, it will transport you to places you did not know existed, even in this era of Google Earth. As for those who don't care for Theroux's sometimes cranky persona, well, there are always the twittering ecstasies of Peter Mayle ("A Year in Provence," etc.) or--worse--Frances Mayes ("Under the Tuscan Sun," etc.). Theroux's sojourns will never inspire busloads of tourists or the astronomical appreciation of the local real estate.