Book Description
Praise for Blood and Thunder
“Kit Carson’s role in the conquest of the Navajo during and after the Civil War remains one of the most dramatic and significant episodes in the history of the American West. Hampton Sides portrays Carson in the larger context of the conquest of the entire West, including his frequent and often lethal encounters with hostile Native Americans. Unusually, Sides gives full voice to Indian leaders themselves about their trials and tribulations in their dealings with the whites. Here is a national hero on the level of Daniel Boone, presented with all of his flaws and virtues, in the context of American people’s belief that it was their Manifest Destiny to occupy the entire West.”
—Howard Lamar, Sterling Professor Emeritus of History, Yale University and editor of The New Encyclopedia of the American West
“The story of the American West has seldom been told with such intimacy and immediacy. Legendary figures like Kit Carson leap to life and history moves at a pulse-pounding pace—sweeping the reader along with it. Hampton Sides is a terrific storyteller.”
—Candice Millard, author of The River of Doubt
“Hampton Sides doesn't just write a book, he transports the reader to another time and place. With his keen sense of drama and his crackling writing style, this master storyteller has bequeathed us a majestic history of the Old West.”
—James Bradley, author of Flags of Our Fathers and Flyboys
“Blood and Thunder is a big-hearted book whose subject is as expansive as they come. Hampton Sides tackles it with naked pleasure and narrative cunning: In his telling, the vast saga of America’s westward push has a logical center. The dusty town of Santa Fe becomes the nexus around which swirl the fortunes and strategies of a mixed set of serious overachievers, from Kit Carson, the original mountain man, to James K. Polk, the enigmatic president whose achievements, in the dreaded name of Manifest Destiny, were almost biblical in scope. Sides is alive to the exuberance and alert to the tragedy of the taking of the West.”
—Russell Shorto, author of Island at the Center of the World
“For a huge percentage of us immigrant Americans (those whose ancestors arrived after 1492), Hampton Sides fills a gaping hole in our knowledge of American history—a vivid account of how ‘The New Men’ swept away the thriving civilizations of the Native Americans in their conquest of the West.”
—Tony Hillerman
"BLOOD AND THUNDER is a balanced, thoughtful summary of the American conquistadors in the 19th century Southwest. Hampton Sides has re-created violent events and such inflammatory figures as Kit Carson without bias. Carefully researched, thoroughly enjoyable."
-Evan S. Connell, author of SON OF THE MORNING STAR, CUSTER AND THE LITTLE BIGHORN
A Magnificent History of How the West Was Really Won—a Sweeping Tale of Shame and Glory
In the fall of 1846 the venerable Navajo warrior Narbona, greatest of his people’s chieftains, looked down upon the small town of Santa Fe, the stronghold of the Mexican settlers he had been fighting his whole long life. He had come to see if the rumors were true—if an army of blue-suited soldiers had swept in from the East and utterly defeated his ancestral enemies. As Narbona gazed down on the battlements and cannons of a mighty fort the invaders had built, he realized his foes had been vanquished—but what did the arrival of these “New Men” portend for the Navajo?
Narbona could not have known that “The Army of the West,” in the midst of the longest march in American military history, was merely the vanguard of an inexorable tide fueled by a self-righteous ideology now known as “Manifest Destiny.” For twenty years the Navajo, elusive lords of a huge swath of mountainous desert and pasturelands, would ferociously resist the flood of soldiers and settlers who wished to change their ancient way of life or destroy them.
Hampton Sides’s extraordinary book brings the history of the American conquest of the West to ringing life. It is a tale with many heroes and villains, but as is found in the best history, the same person might be both. At the center of it all stands the remarkable figure of Kit Carson—the legendary trapper, scout, and soldier who embodies all the contradictions and ambiguities of the American experience in the West. Brave and clever, beloved by his contemporaries, Carson was an illiterate mountain man who twice married Indian women and understood and respected the tribes better than any other American alive. Yet he was also a cold-blooded killer who willingly followed orders tantamount to massacre. Carson’s almost unimaginable exploits made him a household name when they were written up in pulp novels known as “blood-and-thunders,” but now that name is a bitter curse for contemporary Navajo, who cannot forget his role in the travails of their ancestors.
Customer Reviews:
Blood and Thunder.......2007-10-09
This is a highly readable and comprehensive account of the adult life and times of Kit Carson and the people/places he touched. It's not a biography, but a series of vignettes documenting his involvement in a variety of professions -- from mountain man to military man -- as the needs of the West evolved. There's a great deal of information about Carson's contemporaries as well. I read the book with a map of New Mexico at hand to more closely identify the places mentioned. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Western history, including the several battles of the Civil War fought in New Mexico.
An entertaining and rewarding read........2007-10-03
I came upon this book in searching for an understanding of the historical period in which Cormac McCarthy's masterpiece Blood Meridian is set - the SW of North America in the early to mid-19th century. The book's central theme is the life and times of Kit Carson coupled with the demise of the Navajos in the face of the onslaught of American expansion. Nonetheless, in setting these themes in context, the book addresses all the forces that bore upon them - from the relationship of the early trappers with indigenous society to the seizure of New Mexico and California - in fascinating and enlightening detail. The book is scholarly and authoritative - although there was a complete absence of reference numbers in the text itself to tie in with notes at the back of the book. Even had these been inserted, more detailed references would have better exploited the enormous amount of original research clearly conducted by the author.
The style is informal with a turn of phrase that occasionally touches on the cliche. Still, for all this it is a highly readable, entertaining and vivid account. Perhaps a little hagiographic at times, but then Carson was an extraordinarily self-contained and capable man of principle and character.
In all, this is a highly rewarding book that vividly portrays the broad vistas, horrors, tragedies, heroics and sheer physical hardships that marked the clash of civilisation in America's South West. A great read.
Bury My Soul With the Navajo.......2007-09-26
If you want to dare look into a horror that can haunt you, read this heart stabbing book. It sheds light on the history of the American west and the US government's heartless to destory a people. The details of Kit Carson are as perplexing as mankind is troubling. I also recommend two other books along the same lines: On the Trail of the Pony Express and especially Walking the Trail, One Man's Journey Along the Cherokee Trail of Tears, both by Cherokee author Jerry Ellis. Ellis was the first person in modern history to walk the 900 mile route of the Trail of Tears and the book is a Native American classic, nominated for a Pulitzer and National Book Award.
Blood and Thunder.......2007-09-20
A really exceptional book. It covers one of the most interesting series of events in the history of America with complexity and insight.
Sometimes One-Sided and Misleading.......2007-09-10
As I read through this book, I was amazed that very detailed research had been done and that both sides of the many stories/events had been told. I was severely disappointed when I read chapter 40 - The Children of the Mist when the description and events leading to, during, and after the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The author would like the casual reader to think that the whole event was endorsed by the then President of the LDS Church, Brigham Young. In my personal research, this is far from the case - the presidency of the church at that time would have never approved an act such as that. I would like to note that Mr. Sides did not give any references for quotes by Brigham Young or notes to what happened to the actual ringleaders of the massacre. This was a horrible event and the story needs to be told in the right context. These missing references make me question the quality of the real research that went into the book on a whole.
Customer Reviews:
This novel disregards the play in every way........2007-01-10
When I first saw that they had made a novelization of West Side Story, I was thrilled. West Side Story is my all-time favorite musical, and possibly my favorite movie. Ever since I did the play I have been completely in love with it.
I just finished this book this afternoon, and I must say I was EXTREMELY dissapointed. The first act of the story was not horrible, but the second act, the MOST IMPORTANT part of the story, was completed in only 30 pages. The death of Riff and Bernardo was one paragraph total. Tony's character was comppletely off, and Anita wasn't much better (Which saddens me, because Anita is my favorite character in the play).
There were key elements of the play and movie that were much different in the book, and even though it is a novelization, they could have EASILY been written. The final scene was terrible as well. Tony's death was lifeless and boring in every possible way, and Maria's monologue was pretty sad as well. Every time I watch this movie it makes me cry. Many books make me cry. This book left me bored and strongly annoyed at how terrible it was.
I strongly considered giving this book 2 stars instead of 1, for the fact that it was still West Side Story in general. But I strongly look at details, and that's what makes the play great; the small things that make it a true tragedy. The good points of the play lacked in this book. To be blunt, it sucked. Obviously you can't novelize the dancing and singing, but you can do a better interpretation than this book.
If you are interested in reading this novel, then by all means, do.
But if you are a die-hard West Side Story fan like I am, I suggest not wasting your time. It's a sad excuse for the play, and disregards it in every way.
Jason's Review.......2006-01-11
I really liked West Side Story because I love books about gangs. Also most books you can tell what's going to happen in the end but this book was a huge surprise for me. Actually when I was in the middle of this book I went out and bought a copy of the movie.
West Side Story is about a gang called the Jets who really hates a gang called the Sharks because they are Puerto Rican. The Jets feel that the PRs invaded America and they don't like it so they try and give the PR's a good kicking whenever they get the chance. But what happens when the ex-leader of the Jets falls in love with a PR? Then they have an all-out rumble to see who's the toughest one and too see whom gets to own the street. Will any one be able to stop the rumble before it goes to far?
I think readers who would like this book is someone who likes books about gangs like The Outsiders.
I give it 5 stars.......2003-05-21
Personally I think that this is proboly the best book I have ever read. This Story tells a tale based on a modern day Romeo and Juliet. Although the story is based on the dramatic story Romeo and Juliet, I find A West Side Story well writen and very touching. The book is set in New York City, and tells how two rival gangs (the Jets, and Sharks). The 2 gangs are fighting over a section of the city. When one member of the Sharks finds love in one of the Jets' sister, the Jet gets very angry. In a street fight the Shark kills his lovers' brother, the shark retreats to a local hide out. later that night the Shark is gunned down by a rival gang member. In the end the 2 gans realize that there is no reason to fight. I love the book.
It will blow your mind!.......2002-06-04
West Side Story by Irving Shulman is an excellent book about two rival street gangs in New York City. The Jets are the white gang; the Sharks are the Puerto Ricans. Barnardo, the leader of the Sharks, has a younger sister named Maria. Problems arise when Maria falls in love with Tony, a member of the Jets. I've seen the movie and read the book. I love them both.
I ain't believin' this is still in print!!!.......2002-04-07
One big difference between a novel that is made into a movie and a novelization of an existing movie is that you can take the thing to work enjoy during lunch. I mean, the actual story you saw onscreen. Also, it's still there in the bookcase years later. The problem is that novelizations normally go out of print almost as soon as the second-run theaters stop running the flick. Maybe there's a new edition if the networks run the film, usually not. If not for the title, it would be too easy to write this book off based on its shortness, but you have to remember that the story itself only covers a few days. Also, in this book, our cast gets last names that aren't in the stage production or the film: Riff Lorton, Tony Wyzek, Bernardo and Maria Nunez, Chino Martin. One adult gets a real name--youth center operator Murray Benowitz--we used to only know him as "Glad Hand". Drugstore owner Doc doesn't get one, though. The cops--Schrank and Krupke--don't get first names either. One other thing this book proves--Jerome Preisler and Jack Gregory didn't invent the reverse process of the bringing of a story from the screen to the page. Like the play and the movie, this one is simple, but it's great.
Average customer rating:
- The Cheesecake Factory rendered in prose
- A Rewarding Tale
- Beverly Penn by The Waterboys
- An extremely disappointing effort
- The World According to Mark
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Winter's Tale
Mark Helprin
Manufacturer: Harcourt
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0151972036 |
Book Description
A bestseller that takes readers on a journey to New York of the Belle Epoque, where Peter Lake attempts to rob a Manhattan mansion only to find the daughter of the house at home. Thus begins the love between the middle-aged Irishman and Beverly Penn, a young girl who is dying. “This novel...is a gifted writer’s love affair with the language” (Newsday).
Customer Reviews:
The Cheesecake Factory rendered in prose.......2007-09-28
The moral and artistic equivalent of a Thomas Kincaide painting. A video game with very high production values, where you're forced to read long passages of turgid travel journaling before you can get to the next level and keep playing.
There's a convenient portable heaven that serves the same function as "and then I woke up and it was all a dream." This object is one of many deus-ex-machinas in a plot that delivers whatever its characters need, exactly at the moment they need it: luck, money, skill at cards, prestigious newspaper jobs, disease-and-fertility-free sex partners, magical flying horses, the vocabulary of a PhD candidate in linguistics, mechanical engineering skills, romantic soulmates -- anything anyone might strive and work and pine for, these characters get, just in time, and then never use again. Helprin does all this knowingly; fate, luck, and the absence of consequence seems to be part of the point. But so what? I can't care about characters who are unchallenged and unchallenging, and who can't be harmed.
Mark Helprin deserves one star for gorgeous confectionary prose. There are acres of pretty passages, some truly lovely metaphors. The prose is at all times aware of its gorgeousness -- it's a shellacked, stage-directed supermodel, scrupulously careful of its costume. I kept wishing something with a soul could break out of there, but a character with real complications would leave muddy shoeprints all over, distracting readers from the so-beautiful descriptions of fantasy landscapes, non-beings and un-things.
What comes through most strongly to me is that this is the work of someone who wants to be known as a Great Prose Writer. Mark Helprin's prose begs to be petted, adored, admired -- and it really is worthy of admiration. But the story isn't. I'm left wondering what the story is even about. "Love"? "Redemption"? How can those concepts resonate in the absence of characters vulnerable enough to embody them? Unlike some of the truly great prose stylists (Nabokov, Martin Amis), Mark Helprin isn't challenging. At all. Because his characters are automatons; they do as they're told, patiently servicing once cliche after another in a plot that seems to exist only to convey Mark Helprin's prose.
A Rewarding Tale.......2007-06-03
Before delving into Winter's Tale, you must suspend your disbelief. Time will not proceed in a straight line, and travel through it will be possible. Cities and characters will disappear and reappear elsewhere. Horses will fly, the dead will come alive, and clouds will swallow people, places, and even cruise ships. To believe in these elements, you'll need to believe in magic. A challenge, yes, but if you're up to it, you're in for a real treat.
Helprin's novel tells the story of Peter Lake, an orphan turned bayman turned master thief who falls in love with a young heiress dying of consumption in 1920's New York. Their love transcends place, time, and even death, as we seen when, about a third of the way into the novel, the plot jumps ahead to New York at the turn of the millennium and Peter Lake reappears in Manhattan without having aged a day. As he struggles to reclaim his past, we are introduced to several newcomers to the city whose lives become intertwined with each other and with Peter Lake in a universal quest for love, justice, and God.
Always guided by a power higher than themselves, Helprin's characters embody the author's own sense of right and wrong, and their world is one in which good triumphs over evil, beauty shines through darkness, and perfect justice is possible. Helprin's voice is one of enchanting optimism, and his magical prose carries the complex story as it weaves characters and time periods together. Most enjoyable are his descriptions of New York, a city that Helprin clearly loves and brings to life, not only as the backdrop for his story, but as the central and most important character in the novel.
Despite Helprin's skill as a writer - or perhaps because of it - Winter's Tale is not an easy read. The story can be quite confusing and its magical elements difficult to grasp. While most of his metaphors (of which there are many) are strikingly clear, some are a bit opaque and can weigh down the pace of the story, especially in the middle and weakest third of the novel.
However, Helprin's captivating prose and uplifting themes overshadow the novel's flaws. Just as Helprin's characters are rewarded for their struggle, so the reader will be rewarded with this positively inspiring tale.
Beverly Penn by The Waterboys.......2007-04-22
This will probably be of limited interest to most of you but I just discovered an odd link between 2 artists whose work I admire: Mark Helprin, the author of this great novel Winter's Tale and The Waterboys, the talented rock group led by the great singer / songwriter Mike Scott. On the expanded 2 cd reissue of their acclaimed mid 80's album This Is The Sea there is a song called Beverly Penn, about a main character in Winter's Tale. It turns out that this is a truly wonderful song, a great tribute from one artist to another. Here are the lyrics to Beverly Penn:
Girl sleeping on a mansion roof
under a wintery sky
wrapped she is in furs and sable
starlight in her eye
and what is the name of this creature?
where did she live and when?
who was it and why was it
that Peter Lake loved Beverly Penn
Four O'Clock on a marble morning
water pouring on her skin
in fever her life bursts open
and a hurricane blows in
when high from the dreams of this creature
a thief on a horse descends
it was dawn and it was December
and Peter Lake loved Beverly Penn
It was all of a windy day
and the sky was full of crows
when her lovely soul ascended
she just close her heart and rose
and whither the soul of this creature?
tell me the story again
of scarves and songs and the skin of space
and how Peter Lake loved Beverly Penn
I would dive in a freezing river
set fire to a hundred men
if I could for just one time
love somebody the way that he loved Beverly Penn
An extremely disappointing effort.......2007-04-20
I had been planning on reading "Winter's Tale" for several years after hearing some friends rave about Helprin's writing. The novel is divided into four sections. The first section of the book (the romance between Beverly and Peter Lake) bore out the praise - it was beautifully written, very imaginative and affecting. The second section tells of the arrival in New York of several characters who will be important in the rest of the novel. It was OK.
The third section is bad and the fourth section - 250 pages of rambling and incoherent hyperbolic verbal diarrhea - is a disaster. Helprin seems to have completely lost self-control as work on this novel progressed. The novel descends into a hectic and pointless series of grandiloquently-described episodes in which telling a story has been entirely subsumed in verbiage.
My recommendation is that you read the first section (about 200 pages) and just put the book down. You will have had a rewarding read and sampled Helprin's often beautiful writing. Oh, this should have been such a better book than it was.
The World According to Mark.......2007-01-29
Published in 1983 in the midst of the Reagan (Counter) Revolution, WINTER'S TALE reenacts the 19th century cult of the self-made man (and, somewhat liberally, woman) as the true American Hero. In short, Helprin extols the pre-Progressive Era as a glorious, if messy, alternative to the "immoral" effects of welfare state liberalism.
Regressively repackaging the fabulist techniques of South America's magical realists, Helprin creates for our edification a small band of geniuses who fight for the right to express their personal excellence (through neo-liberal capitalism) against the leveling tide of utopian utilitarianism (aka Marxism/60s Liberalism). All his characters are exalted individuals, even the villain, and so all become very quickly tiresome. Because they are geniuses, they don't learn anything as the story progresses. Instead we learn that genius must be given every opportunity to express itself, as long as it is for the benefit of mankind. As such, WINTER'S TALE violates the core idea of what a novel is.
Real novels tend to be suspicious of the exalted, especially of those who occupy exalted positions based on birth or social class. Helprin, while not a supporter of an aristocracy based on birth, does believe in a perverted version of the Jeffersonian idea of a natural aristocracy. Perverted because it fails to take into account the barriers erected by elites to the expression of this American idea of a wise and benevolent meritocracy. It therefore suits his neo-liberal ideological bent to set the larger part of his story at a time in American history where there was more class fluidity, a time before the large corporate enterprises and their hierarchical management structures began to foreclose the possibility of true individualism.
And so he hypocritically points to this pre-corporatist time as a valid model for our hyper-corporate era without having to take into consideration today's anti-individualist ethos. Writers like Swift, Defoe, Dickens, Melville, Hugo and Zola exposed the hypocrisy of the new economic elite who supplanted the old aristocracy by turning a burning interrogatory spotlight on the cruel iniquities generated by the bourgeoisie and their partners in government. Helprin shines a soft-focus light on the savage iniquities of the Industrial Revolution and decides, all in all, it was a better time.
WINTER'S TALE suffers from an underlying ideological framework that treats characters as hostages to an argument for the rightness and naturalness of neo-liberal paternalism. Unlike a real novel, WINTER'S TALE papers over the cracks in our belief in the resurrected values of Calvinist capitalism, tightens the ideological blinders that support such a view, and keeps true believer's prejudices firmly, and for many, blessedly, intact.
Book Description
Negatives Expose Positive Images
A photographer's daughter preserved her father's archive of hundreds of black and white negatives. The Images are of a media neglected population of people living in Asbury Park, New Jersey's West Side. She shares her memories about the people and places captured in the photographs that were taken almost seventy years ago.
The Author/Photographer Madonna Carter Jackson has selected over 200 photographs that document the varied influences, innumerous contributions of social, civic, and community pride. You will see an amazing visual display of pictures from the 1940's through 1980, some of streets and avenues that no longer exist in the one square mile town on the Jersey coast. Readers of all ages will enjoy and relate to the reminiscing and will without a doubt, have memories of their own sparked by the display of nostalgia regardless of where they live. African American's sought to find a better life during this period, and you will be able to see life being lived lovely through this pictorial journey as seen through the camera lens of Joseph A. Carter, Sr. (1917-1980)
Amazon.com
Fitzgerald's first novel, reprinted in the handsome Everyman's Library series of literary classic, uses numerous formal experiments to tell the story of Amory Blaine, as he grows up during the crazy years following the First World War. It also contains a new introduction by Craig Raine that describes critical and popular reception of the book when it came out in 1920.
Book Description
This Side of Paradise, F. Scott Fitzgerald's romantic and witty first novel, was written when the author was only twenty-three years old. This semiautobiographical story of the handsome, indulged, and idealistic Princeton student Amory Blaine received critical raves and catapulted Fitzgerald to instant fame. Now, readers can enjoy the newly edited, authorized version of this early classic of the Jazz Age, based on Fitzgerald's original manuscript. In this definitive text, This Side of Paradise captures the rhythms and romance of Fitzgerald's youth and offers a poignant portrait of the "Lost Generation."
Download Description
There was, also, a curious strain of weakness running crosswise through his make-up ... a harsh phrase from the lips of an older boy (older boys usually detested him) was liable to sweep him off his poise into surly sensitiveness, or timid stupidity ... he was a slave to his own moods and he felt that though he was capable of recklessness and audacity, he possessed neither courage, perseverance, nor self-respect.
Customer Reviews:
At times sophomoric but ultimately dazzling and memorable.......2007-08-25
In the beginning of the book, I was turned off by its seeming self-indulgent tone and nature. A brilliant, handsome, self-centered young man goes to prep school, then to Princeton, then out in into the world. The story seemed obviously autobiographical, and I knew what had happened to F. Scott Fitzgerald: a short, romantic but unpleasant, alcoholic life. So I read on, with the thought, "This is explaining why his life was such a disaster", so maybe that can be a reason to keep reading. (Also, I wrote a lot of largely autobiographical, very poor -- not that This Side of Paradise was poor in any way -- fiction when I was in my twenties, so maybe that was bothering me, as I identified too much with Fitzgerald's self-obsession.) And, as Amory Blaine's (the Fitzgerald-like protagonist's) story progressed, it became more entrancing and the self-centeredness less an obstacle and more of the heart of the novel itself. In the end, I would have to summarize that it was a beautiful, brilliant, compelling book, at least as good as Fitzgerald's other work. It's about the experience of the transition from childhood to adult life as viewed by a priviledged (although he wastes/loses his advantages), wonderful (if not very likable at times), artistic genius -- expressed aptly through prose as well as poetry and playscript-type sequences.
Autobiography of Fitzgerald? Probably [91].......2007-06-17
Some novels are great stories. Some novels are stories greatly written or told. And, in rare instances, some novels are greatly written great stories. This is one of those rare novels.
This novel closely follows the prepubescent Amory Blaine through his 20's. In the beginning, he is a spoiled boy whose father is distant and mother is a great but disturbed woman. With cash in their pockets, Amory and his mother, Beatrice, enjoy one another as best of friends. Home schooled, he is little boy Fauntleroy during the turn of the century America.
Things change, step by step, with Amory's character increasing while his bank account is decreasing. Fitzgerald calls Amory the Egotist in Book One, and then dons the title "Personage" for that same, but now grown, Amory in Book Two.
This is very autobiographical. Amory, an Irish Catholic (like Fitzgerald), lives his high school years in St. Paul (like Fitzgerald) then attends prep school (like Fitzgerald) as he is a privileged youth (like Fitzgerald) and later attends Princeton (like Fitzgerald) where he becomes part of Princeton's Triangle Club (like Fitzgerald) and follows Princeton for the Army (like Fitzgerald). Book One, in fact, was written while Fitzgerald was attending Princeton.
What makes this novel more interesting than other Fitzgerald novels are the different - and somewhat raw - items within it pages. Scribner initially rejected the book because of it being raw. The rawness is evidenced by numerous poems tossed about within it - great stuff. There are added poems from girls he adored - more great stuff. The letters are also great and pithy. And, in the "Debutante" chapter of Book Two, he writes in playwright form the Amory wooing of beautiful Rosalind. In his short novel there is poetry, prose and a play. Although somewhat disjointed, it works. And, works magnificently.
The ending really shows you something about the young man. He preaches Russia's Socialism to a fat capitalist who kindly gives the Princetonian a ride. Ayn Rand (the Russian born writer who immigrated to America) almost rebuts this portion of the book with her 1957 "Atlas Shrugged." Remember, Stalin and the ugly head of Soviet Socialism did not exist at the time of "This Side of Paradise." Rand, and her people, lived through some of the Red Terror and by 1957 had learned much more about how Russian implementation of Socialism seriously deviated from the ideology espoused by Marx and his peers.
Fitzgerald is a great writer. Maybe America's greatest of the 20th century. And, this close-to-home rendition of thought and emotion, may be the most poignant depiction of what the author felt and feared. If you have any interest in Fitzgerald, this novel is for you.
The book that launched a thousand ships.......2007-05-07
It's not Fitzgerald's best (Gatsby and The Beautiful and Damned share that distinction), but if you love modern American literature, then you are lucky to have this document of the youthful enthusiasm, exuberance, self-assuredness, and early blossoming of one or our greatest most tragic writers. This is Fitzgerald's foray and kickstart into the world of glamorous literati that he longed for and attained in this first novel. We should all marvel at that accomplishment and rejoice with Amory Blaine's own cocky venture into life's jaunt.
Apparently misunderstood.......2006-09-06
For all the reviews that mention how egotistical and arrogant Amory is, well, that's the point! The book deals with how he goes from being so egotistical to finding out that there's more to life than his self-indulgence. He learns a great deal, and is faced with moral choices that he must deal with. He feels so guilty in places that he mentally projects the devil staring him down, which is a heck of a way to learn your moral stance on something. Fitzgerald admits Amory's arrogance throughout the book and never makes Amory unaware of it, either. But look at it as Amory's life lessons and get swept away in the magical quality of the prose, which for a young man writing his first novel is astounding in parts. Also, for those who find it corny, etc., try to remember that it was published in 1920. Lots of perfectly serious things from that time would seem corny today.
Read this F Scott novel last.......2006-08-12
F Scotts first novel really should be the last thing you read,as it is a pot pourri of the themes and styles F Scott used to mesmerizing effect in his other novels and many short stories.
I felt that,had this been my first encounter with F Scott;I wouldn't have come back for more.It starts off like a witty Oscar Wilde tale,then heads into meloncholy and philosophy,and at times tries to be too literary for its own good.
But I found 'This side' hugely important and enjoyable having read his 3 other completed novels;Pat Hobby and the benchmark of all short stories,the wonderful "Diamond as big as the Ritz".(Only Richard Yates' 'The Builders' or 'Liars in Love' can be said to have reached that mark-but please list others you feel are as good;I can't read everything and appreciate pointers!)
'This side' is a great slice of history and F Scott displays his many writing gifts throughout.That 'This side' doesnt quite run smoothly or consistently is ,I admit, a trivial criticism.F Scott was just 23 when this was published and helped change the style of the novel.
Book Description
We are proud to present this songbook featuring 8 piano/vocal selections from this timeless musical by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. Includes these classic songs: America * Cool * I Feel Pretty * Maria * One Hand, One Heart * Something's Coming * Somewhere * Tonight.
Customer Reviews:
West Side Vocal Score.......2007-09-18
If you want to play/arrange/orchestrate or simply see the genius of Berstein, this is the way to go. As an arranger, I needed reference to orchestrate a West Side Story Medley for a show, and I'm not talking your regular "standard" tunes. This vocal score is also a piano reduction of the orchestrations and was aboslutely what I needed. You can see nearly every instrument line, counter melody, even instrument indications. This was the best $50.00 I may have every spent. Saved me hours and hours of trying to "lift" off the lines. They were all there, even for the dance sections from Cool & The Rumble, which is what I really needed. Don't hestitate if you're looking for the real Berstein stuff!
For the intermediate.......2006-12-28
The book is medium-it isn't an easy book you only play once and then you're bored, but it isn't very difficult. Some of the arrangements are needlessly crazy, but some are well done. A piano player of about 3-5 years is about the right level.
Great transcription of the full score.......2006-04-21
If you're looking for a faithful translation from the full score, this is the one. This score is based on Bernstein latest revision as reflected in the Carreras Te Kanawa recording (1985).
But be warned, this score is only for upper-intermediate/advanced pianist, classically trained. It's not a fakebook, it's not a simplified/reduced piano score for casual use. The arrangement gives two alternatives for playing some part of the song, and you can choose to play it the hard way or the easier way (which is still rather difficult). The hard way is of course the most faithful to the orchestral score.
For example, the dance part in "America" can be played by using single notes of the left hands rather than using full chord, which is great if you're trying to cope with the tempo. The arrangement for the slow pieces such as "one hand one heart", "maria", "tonight", and "somewhere" is really beautiful.
Tip: Listen to the "west side story" conducted by Bernstein himself to get a grasp of the tempo, dynamics and phrasing.
West Side Story is Fabulous.......2000-04-12
The music from West Side Story is captivating, and I love being able to relive it again and again. Hearing the music from the show takes you back to the story of a modern-day Romeo and Juliet.
Book Description
Red Wassenich, who coined of the phrase "Keep Austin Weird," is tour guide to the weirder side of Austin, Texas, through this endlessly entertaining text and over 180 color photos of colorful places, people, and doings in the state's capital city. Tour the Cathedral of Junk, a three-story, sixty-ton behemoth made with hubcaps, TVs, and over 700 bicycles. Meet Leslie, the cross-dressing, semi-homeless perennial mayoral candidate. Party at the Spamarama, Austin's premier weird cook-off, known for its Spam-filled dishes from "gourmet" and "insane" recipes. Keep your eyes peeled for cruising art cars or take a Segway tour of downtown. Shop in South 1st Street's weird businesses, including Roadhouse Relics and Unemployed Democrats. Sports fans must see Austin's Roller Derby, starring the Texas Rollergirls, and bowl at the Dart Bowl, where bowling kitsch is king. For the adventurous, there is no better guide to Austin!
Customer Reviews:
An essential guide........2007-04-24
If you're new to Austin, thinking about visiting, or even if you've lived there for a while and are interested in what all the "Keep Austin Weird" fuss is about, this is an essential guide, and a lavishly illustrated one. If you're looking for a synopsis and photographs about the weird/unique things of Austin- you'll find it here- from the Annual Spamarama to eccentric political candidates to the Texas Chili Parlor to Satan's Cheerleaders. To my knowledge, this is the only book on Austin of its kind, and so is an essential resource for those who are thinking about visiting the city or native Austinites who want to learn more about it.
Average customer rating:
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West Side Pictorial
Mallory Hope Ferrell
Manufacturer: Heimburger House Pub. Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0911581510 |
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- Dancin and Singin in the streets
- A logical pairing of 2 great theatrical works
- Jeany's review
- romeo and juliet
- romeo and juliet
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Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story
Manufacturer: Laurel Leaf
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West Side Story
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Nickel And Dimed
ASIN: 0440974836
Release Date: 1965-08-15 |
Book Description
The tragedy of love thwarted by fate has always intrigued writers. In the sixteenth century, William Shakespeare took this theme and fashioned one of the world's great plays: Romeo And Juliet. In our own time, Shakespeare's drama has been used as a basis for the overwhelmingly successful musical play West Side Story. Though one of these works is set among the nobility of Verona, and the other among immigrant families of New York's West Side, both tell the story of the plight of young star-crossed" lovers.
As Norris Houghton writes in his introduction: "What we see is that all four young people strive to consummate the happiness at the threshold on which they stand and which they have tasted so briefly. All four are deprived of the opportunity to do so, the Renaissance couple by the caprice of fate, today's youngsters by the prejudice and hatred engendered around them....
"Poets and playwrights will continue to write of youthful lovers whom fate drives into and out of each other's lives. The spectacle will always trouble and move us, even as the two dramas in this volume do today."
Customer Reviews:
Dancin and Singin in the streets.......2004-04-22
I liked the movie. I admit, yes this teen, has a soundtrack of west side story. I found the movie very funny when the guys where singing and dancing but admittedly I cried at the end. This story was very good.
A logical pairing of 2 great theatrical works.......2002-12-06
This is two books in one: the text of William Shakespeare's tragedy "Romeo and Juliet" and the text of "West Side Story," the 20th century musical with a book by Arthur Laurents and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The book also includes an introduction by Norris Houghton, who notes, among other things, that WSS is based on R&J. Each text tells the story of a love affair between a young woman and a young man who are caught between warring factions.
I find it stimulating and useful to have these two pieces, linked in theme but separated by centuries, together in one volume. Each is a great text on its own, but having them together may help the reader to see each piece in a different light. One of the things I find most striking as one moves from R&J to WSS is how the latter text adds the element of ethnic tension to the fundamental story of "star-crossed lovers."
R&J is more than just a classic piece of literature; it's also a touchstone of pop culture (hey, it's even been incorporated into a "Brady Bunch" episode!). Despite the passage of centuries, I find Shakespeare's portrayal of the joy and pain of forbidden love to remain relevant and compelling. And R&J holds up as a reader's text, even with the availability of filmed versions. I think that WSS, being a musical play, naturally loses some impact as a text strictly on the page, but nevertheless I found it a rewarding reader's text also. One might try listening to a CD of WSS's songs as an accompaniment to reading the text.
To supplement WSS's portrayal of urban Puerto Ricans, I recommend that interested readers seek out some writings by "Nuyorican" authors; to start with, try Roberto Santiago's illuminating anthology "Boricuas: Influential Puerto Rican Writings."
Jeany's review.......2002-08-10
Romeo & Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is written by William Shakespeare, it contains lots of old English(reason why I find it difficult to read it). It is a very tragic story that took place in Old Verona, Italy. As all tragic stories, it has a tragic heroe (person who suffers a big problem as a result of his deffects), in this case there are two tragic heroes, Romeo and Juliet. They died because they didn't know how to control their inapproppriated love, by inapproppriated I mean that their love couldn't be permited because their familes hated each other more than death . The story has been adapted into many stories, plays, Etc. The best character is the Nurse. The only one who expresses her feellings without hidding them.
romeo and juliet.......2002-08-03
This book was written by William Shakespeare and it has the old language. Romeo and Juliet is a tragic story, interesting, full of problems and the story is attractive. The story is about 2 families that are in a feud. The families are Capulet and Montague. Romeo Montague is a boy who is very romantic. He falls in love with Juliet Capulet. Romeo tries to be with Juliet and Juliet too but because of the feud they can't be together. The pair have friends who help them. Many deaths are involved in the story. After the problems they plan to be together. In the end the pair dies because of love.
romeo and juliet.......2002-08-03
This book was written by William Shakespeare and it has the old language. Romeo and Juliet is a tragic story, interesting, full of problems and the story is attractive. The story is about 2 families that are in a feud. The families are Capulet and Montague. Romeo Montague is a boy who is very romantic. He falls in love with Juliet Capulet. Romeo tries to be with Juliet and Juliet too but because of the feud they can't be together. The pair have friends who help them. Many deaths are involved in the story. After the problems they plan to be together. In the end the pair dies because of love.
Book Description
In the decades following World War II, cities across the United States saw an influx of African American families into otherwise homogeneously white areas. This racial transformation of urban neighborhoods led many whites to migrate to the suburbs, producing the phenomenon commonly known as white flight. In Block by Block, Amanda I. Seligman draws on the surprisingly understudied West Side communities of Chicago to shed new light on this story of postwar urban America.
Seligman's study reveals that the responses of white West Siders to racial changes occurring in their neighborhoods were both multifaceted and extensive. She shows that, despite rehabilitation efforts, deterioration in these areas began long before the color of their inhabitants changed from white to black. And ultimately, the riots that erupted on Chicago's West Side and across the country in the mid-1960s stemmed not only from the tribulations specific to blacks in urban centers but also from the legacy of accumulated neglect after decades of white occupancy. Seligman's careful and evenhanded account will be essential to understanding that the "flight" of whites to the suburbs was the eventual result of a series of responses to transformations in Chicago's physical and social landscape, occurring one block at a time.
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