Book Description
For psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Dr. David McBride, death exerts an unusual draw. Despite his profession, he has never come to terms with the violent accident that took his brother’s life, a trauma that has shaped his personality and subsequent choice of career. But when a failed suicide, Elizabeth Cruikshank, comes into his care, he finds the deepest reaches of his suppressed history being reactivated. Elizabeth is mysteriously reticent about her own past and it is not until David recalls a painting by the Italian artist Caravaggio that she finally yields her story. As she recounts the chance encounter which took her to Rome, and her tragic tale of passion and betrayal, David begins to find a strange and disturbing reflection of his own loss in the haunted “other side” of this elusive woman. Through one long night’s dialogue they journey together into a past which brings painful new insight and uncertain resolution to each of them.
The Other Side of You is a powerful meditation on art, and on love in all its manifestations. In distinctive, graceful prose, Salley Vickers explores the ways both love and art can penetrate the complexities of the human heart, to invade and change our being, and the possibilities of regeneration through another’s vision and understanding.
Customer Reviews:
"Two people with open hearts...create a reality more powerful and more salient than either individual.".......2007-06-27
Caravaggio painted two versions of the risen Christ at supper in Emmaus with two disciples after he had walked and talked with them unrecognized along the road. In one, Caravaggio puts a small feast before them and portrays Jesus with a youthful face. The other picture places a sparer repast on the table and Jesus looks as though the sufferings of his life had stamped his post-crucifixion countenance too. But both paintings depict Jesus fulfilling his promise that "where two or three gather in my name, there will I be also." As Luke, chapter 24 informs, when the disciples recognize their master, he "vanishes," and the two remind each other that their hearts were "burning inside us as he talked to us on the road."
In THE OTHER SIDE OF YOU, Dr. David McBride, a psychiatrist and analyst, in time views both paintings, one habitually exhibited in his native England and the other in Italy. He discovers in them a message...one he even conveys to a skeptical assemblage of his professional peers in place of the case studies he had prepared. His fellow psychiatrists appear puzzled rather than enlightened, but for the reader, McBride's remarks crystallize the ways art and the experiences of the characters have integrated....
For the doctor we meet initially is a man still mourning the loss of his older brother to a lorry accident when they were children. And he's also a man who carries on with a marriage that superficially floats along, but really is sinking. He's damaged and unable to connect, and his preoccupation with survivor's guilt feeds his desire to understand the minds of those who are inclined to commit suicide.
At a small psychiatric hospital called St. Christopher's, one of those who has attempted to end it all is Mrs. Elizabeth Cruikshank. At first she is a hard nut to crack, sitting silently through her sessions with McBride. But one afternoon, they stumble on a mutual appreciation for Caravaggio, and this leads to a marathon seven-hour session in which the previously recalcitrant patient reveals herself. But she does not do this as an entirely one-sided effort. McBride also contributes, showing the tender parts of himself. He isn't discarding his professional ethics by crossing forbidden boundaries; rather, he is shaping an empathetic meeting of the minds that will allow his patient to unburden herself in an environment of shared humanity.
Her hidden story is a love story that she fleshes out with the comedies of life and its own bittersweet ironies and inevitabilities. The questions of what defines "love" swirl around. Must love, to be a successful exchange, be unconditionally accepted when it is unconditionally and fully given? And what responsibility must one shoulder if one fails to wholly embrace love once it is offered? This is perhaps the pivotal consideration that both doctor and patient -- two kindred souls -- face.
In their marathon, Elizabeth and David, like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, discuss "all that happened" and in the process they become "[t]wo people with open hearts, and the willingness to speak from them" to "create a reality more powerful and salient than either individual."
Salley Vickers has crafted a beautiful contemplation on the human potentialities for bonding. The novel is both encouragement and admonition that opportunities that arise to share burning hearts ought not be carelessly wasted or cast aside out of fear.
THE OTHER SIDE OF YOU is a poignant read and one to be cherished.
The Other Side of You Psychological Yarn.......2007-05-06
This was a very short but not simple novel that explores infidelity and its effect on its main characters. This is a book that looks at psychiatrist's slow examination of his patient and his own life. The author interweaves the two stories in a unique believable way. The book speaks to interconnectedness and the importance of it in solving complex human issues. Not a shout out loud book but a very subtle whisper of a good book.
Poignant.......2007-03-20
Psychiatrist Dr.David McBride meets a new patient, a would be suicide, Elizabeth Cruickshank who was saved from death by a neighbour. Elizabeth had married on the rebound from her first real love affair, only to find herself trapped in a boring marriage to an extremely dull man. Years later and now the mother of two, she meets her old lover again and travels with him to Rome where he introduces her to the world of art, in particular that of Caravaggio. Despite desperately wanting to be with him, she leaves her lover because of her guilty conscience and regrets it, ever after, when he dies only days later. Treating Elizabeth awakens old feelings in David who had always put to the back of his mind, the fact that his brother died as a child while caring for him. Salley Vickery writes knowledgeably (she is a psychoanalyst) and with great clarity and is one of those authors who can make the reader hear every word of a conversation. I can't swear that I understood every nuance of the psychiatric side of things but enjoyed the read immensely.
Insightful, yet sad (4.5 *s).......2007-03-05
This book is a very thoughtful yet sobering look at the difficulty of establishing a relationship where the two parties actually fit. The author explores this through the voices of psychoanalyst David McBride and patient Elizabeth Cruikshank, who had attempted suicide when her chance at realizing true love with artist and teacher Thomas Carrington is abruptly ended.
The story is initiated in David's office as he and Liz, after a very halting start, attempt to understand Liz' history with Thomas. Liz in a harsh judgment of herself regards her actions as "faithless," altogether different than unfaithful.
Along this journey of discovery, the author's assessment of the possibilities for love is made rather clear. For example,
"The reasons for choice of partner are obscure and what passes for love is generally a decided mixed bag: lust, anxiety, lack of self-worth, sadism, masochism, cowardice, fear, recklessness, self-glory, simple brutality, the need to control, the urge to be looked after; most dangerous of all, the desire to save. ... Seldom, very seldom, do two people unite through sheer reciprocal joy in the other's being."
Even then, there is "the stark fact that nothing is ever settled between two human souls, for nothing is or can be settled until we are finally done and gone."
Though there is a certain amount of desperation in their lives and some developments are rather somber, both David and Elizabeth come to some realizations and understandings that permit them to move on with their lives with some contentment gained.
The book is not without its ambiguities and unevenness, especially in regards to the one tragic event in David's life, namely the death of his six-year-old brother when he was himself only five. The conversations are long but there is enough plot to keep the book moving. The insights gained from the book outweigh the general melancholy tone.
Haunting and poignant.......2006-07-15
Dr David McBride is a psychiatrist, whose life has been marked by death, leaving him to professionally specialise in the field of suicide. His patient, Elizabeth Cruikshank, has attempted suicide - not an attention seeking effort but a genuine one, foiled only by the timely arrival of a neighbour. This seems an unlikely pairing for Sally Vickers' latest effort (after the beautiful "Miss Garnet's Angel" and the less effective "Mr Golighlty's Holiday"), but it has worked magnificently, giving us a spare, thoughtfully crafted and many layered novel which says as much about modern psychiatric medicine as it does about our ability to heal each other through remembrance and simple human interaction. It is also, at many levels, a finely woven and poignant love story.
Interwoven in this story is an appreciation of Caravaggio's works (which makes you want to look at them, be warned), his ability to record the spectrum of human emotions in vivid paint, and how both patient and doctor have been touched by his masterpieces in ways that they could not foresee would have such impacts on their respective psyches.
The writing is sharp and clean, and each of the characters are finely drawn and believable. The small grouping of attendant characters - other patients, staff, family and friends are also interesting and believable, adding richness to this novel by allowing us to see that there are other factors which impact upon who our chief characters are, and how they are formed by their world.
Sally Vickers is a talented novelist whose passion for her topic and their humanity shines through every page of this fine book.
Average customer rating:
- One of my top reads this year!
- Mary Lawson has done it again!
- Mary Lawson does it again
- Great storytelling that "moves" you...
- in a nutshell
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The Other Side of the Bridge
Mary Lawson
Manufacturer: The Dial Press
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Binding: Hardcover
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Crow Lake (Today Show Book Club #7)
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The Secret River
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Suite Francaise
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One Good Turn: A Novel
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The Emperor's Children (Vintage)
ASIN: 0385340370
Release Date: 2006-09-26 |
Book Description
From the author of the beloved #1 national bestseller
Crow Lake comes an exceptional new novel of jealously, rivalry and the dangerous power of obsession.
Two brothers, Arthur and Jake Dunn, are the sons of a farmer in the mid-1930s, when life is tough and another world war is looming. Arthur is reticent, solid, dutiful and set to inherit the farm and his father’s character; Jake is younger, attractive, mercurial and dangerous to know – the family misfit. When a beautiful young woman comes into the community, the fragile balance of sibling rivalry tips over the edge.
Then there is Ian, the family’s next generation, and far too sure he knows the difference between right and wrong. By now it is the fifties, and the world has changed – a little, but not enough.
These two generations in the small town of Struan, Ontario, are tragically interlocked, linked by fate and community but separated by a war which devours its young men – its unimaginable horror reaching right into the heart of this remote corner of an empire. With her astonishing ability to turn the ratchet of tension slowly and delicately, Lawson builds their story to a shocking climax. Taut with apprehension, surprising us with moments of tenderness and humour,
The Other Side of the Bridge is a compelling, humane and vividly evoked novel with an irresistible emotional undertow.
Arthur found himself staring down at the knife embedded in his foot. There was a surreal split second before the blood started to well up and then up it came, dark and thick as syrup.
Arthur looked at Jake and saw that he was staring at the knife. His expression was one of surprise, and this was something that Arthur wondered about later too. Was Jake surprised because he had never considered the possibility that he might be a less than perfect shot? Did he have that much confidence in himself, that little self-doubt?
Or was he merely surprised at how easy it was to give in to an impulse, and carry through the thought which lay in your mind? Simply to do whatever you wanted to do, and damn the consequences.
–from
The Other Side of the Bridge
Customer Reviews:
One of my top reads this year!.......2007-10-07
This book is so beautifully written and I just finished it so the words are still fresh in my mind. I think this author has a wonderful talent to create images and can write bringing it all together. This book defiinitely makes my top- rated books for this year. It is not a long book but it took me a while to read (a couple of weeks) because I found myself rereading beautiful passages and really absorbing some of the most well-said dialog. Five Stars!!
Mary Lawson has done it again!.......2007-10-02
This will be one of my favorite reads for 2007. Mary Lawson is quite a talented writer, and again has kept my attention until the very last page. Lawson accomplished excellence in developing the personalities in this story. This book was a page turner, hard to put down, and I definitely was not disappointed after reading Crow Lake.
Mary Lawson does it again.......2007-10-01
Crow Lake was a wonderful first novel and I was happy to see that Mary Lawson is not a one-hit wonder. The Other Side of the Bridge is an engaging story with beautifully drawn characters. It grabs you right from the beginning and holds you until the end. It's hard to find a book that you don't want to finish but this is one.
Great storytelling that "moves" you..........2007-09-16
Terrific storytelling in a story of a rivalry between brothers beginning in the 1930's and passing thru the great wars and the depression. Author captures the severe beauty of Northern Canada, the fragile aspects of life, the mistakes of youth and living with decisions, mistakes and consequences. Lawson brings to life this small isolated town. Scenes are authentic. The pain, hurt, happiness and goodness are felt as one turns the pages even thought the core aspects of the plot are somewhat predictable. I loved this book.
in a nutshell.......2007-08-28
i know this is said a lot and i usually don't like the word, but this book is captivating. it really is. u dont come across this kind a lot.
Book Description
Jojo Harvey is a dead ringer for Jessica Rabbit and the most ferocious literary agent in town. A former NYPD cop, she now lives in London making million-dollar book deals while trying to make partner at her firm . . . all the while sleeping with the boss man.
Lily Wright is an author who believes in karma, and is waiting for the sky to fall after stealing her former best friend's man. Though her first book failed to sell, her life turns upside down when her most recent book becomes a huge bestseller.
Gemma Hogan is an event designer extraordinaire, but her personal life is nonexistent after losing the love of her life and her best friend in one fell swoop. To make matters worse, her father has just left her mother. While taking care of her mother, she e-mails a close colleague about her frustrations, who in turn forwards the hilarious e-mails to a famous literary agent named Jojo Harvey, who just happens to represent her former friend, now enemy, Lily Wright. . . .
Written in the charming and chatty voice that has become Marian Keyes's signature style, this hilarious and heartwarming novel proves there are three sides to every story . . . especially in the world of publishing!
Customer Reviews:
Boring.......2007-08-27
I've read a few of Marian Keyes books and this is the worst by far. I was bored from page 1 and only made it to page 90 before giving up.
Slow to start but becomes a page turner!.......2007-07-30
This book is huge - over than 600 pages long and the start in my opinion was slow. It starts with Gemma's story about her dad leaving her mom and how Gemma was forced to live with her for a while. This storyline didnt grab me at all and I found boring reaidng about how gemma tried to cope with her mother, how she tried to bring here dad back etc. I must have stopped and restarted reading this book about 3 times and then when i found myself having no beach read i tought of giving it another chance..
Well it was quite worth it. After the initial drugdery of Gemma's story Jojo makes an appearance and Lily and i started to become more interested. It was nice to read also their part of the story and see Lily other than in Gemma's eyes. She is not the ogre that we think she is. When Gemma's story returned i was disappointed but at least it started to become more interesting after a while.
I also really loved reading about the behind the scenes of book publishing. After a while this book can really become a page turner because u want to know what is happening next..then when a particularly interesting thing occurs the viewpoint suddenly changes to another character's.. it can be quite frustrating but keeps the interest.
All in all i recommend this book if you can get over the fact that it is VERY VERY long and has quite a slow start - but its worth it.though i hated the ending...cos as other readers have said -there was no climax at all.
Three sides to the story..........2007-07-18
I had received this book from the publisher a while back, and I'm very disappointed in myself waiting this long to read it! I should have known better. I have now read three of Marian Keyes books, and I'm going to have to read the rest of them, knowing that they will be as good as this one!
The story revolves around three main characters and their connection to one another. Gemma's part of the tale begins when she finds out that her dad has left her mom (married 30 some years) to a woman only four years older than Gemma! Her mom has such a hard time with this, that she can't make it on her own. Gemma is not able to have overnight visitors in her apartment, because she kicks them out so she can go pick up her mom's prescription from the cute pharmacist and sleeps over her mom's house every night. Will she ever have a life of her own again or is she doomed to take care of her mom forever?
Lily was once Gemma's best friend, that is, until she stole her boyfriend Anton, who is now Lily's husband. They have a daughter together, and all is wonderful, except for the nagging guilt that never leaves Lily on how she acquired her husband. She writes a bestselling book while recovering from a mugging. It causes a stir and much popularity to follow. Now that she has the perfect life, will Gemma ever forgive her? More importantly, will she ever forgive herself?
Jo-Jo is a literary agent in London used to doing million dollar deals. She is Lily's agent, and soon to be Gemma's as well. She is unfortunately involved with her boss, Mark, who also has a wife and kids. It would be easier for her if this were a torrid affair, where the only thing she would have to worry about...is "Come in...get out!" but she's starting to fall for him while reading the Sunday paper and doing crossword puzzles together. Will he ever leave his wife, and...does she really want him to?
Though it had a bit of a slow start, it picks up later on, and...500 pages later, you are hooked! The characters were all different, believable, (even though two of them have committed adulterous crimes) and likeable. Not every story ended up in a tight little bow, as a lot of authors feel the need to do, and it never ceases to amaze me that this author can keep track of so many major (and minor) characters, yet still keep the reader interested.
You would think that the way the characters are described (infidelity abound, husbands leaving their wives, women sleeping with their boss) that the story would be cliche. This was definitely not true, because the way that the author writes a story, she uses so much detail, that you peek into these characters lives, and they become real.
Another review exclaimed that it was too much of the same thing (comparing it to Sushi for Beginners because they were in the magazine industry) but I disagree. I didn't find myself being reminded of the other book at all, and Marian Keyes has a talent for making her characters unique and real. I definitely recommend this, and her many other books.
Phenomenal book: I laughed and cried.......2007-06-30
This is the first Keyes book I've read, and after finishing it, I can't wait to read more. I picked it up off the shelf randomly and read the first few pages in the book store. I laughed out loud at a description of a haircut on page 5, and knew I had to purchase it. I even cried a bit at the end of a story. I can't remember the last time a book made me laugh and cry, and it was refreshing to be so interested in how these characters' stories would end.
The characters were developed wonderfully. I found myself wanting to shake them at times, comfort them at times, and "atta-girl!" them at times. I loved the style of the book. Although it was a bit startling to suddenly switch from one character to another at first, the approach suited the story beautifully and made this book a real page turner at the very end.
What a well written book! I can't wait to read others by this author.
A light, fun read.......2007-04-04
The first book I read by Marian Keyes was Angles. I never finished it, so I didn't know what to expect from this one, but I decided to give it a try because the description seemed interesting. It was a much better read, and although I wanted to reach into the book and slap Gemma a few times I found the book to be a good read. Nothing compelling. Just light and fun.
Average customer rating:
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Multicultural Detective Fiction: Murder from the Other Side (Garland Reference Library of the Humanities)
Adrien Gosselin
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
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ASIN: 0815331533 |
Book Description
This collection of original essays is the first to evaluate multicultural detective fiction from a scholarly perspective. The contributors tackle such issues as postcolonialism, feminist theory, gay/lesbian perspectives, and ethnic and cultural confrontations as they show the range of frequencies on which multicultural mystery writing sounds, beyond simply escape and entertainment. This anthology began as a special session at the 1995 Modern Language Association conference.
Average customer rating:
- High Scare and Low Scare
- Thrilling and scary
- did not disappoint
- Did that really happen?
- Voices From the Other Side: Dark Dreams II: An PeoplewholoveGoodBooks Review
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Voices From The Other Side: Dark Dreams II (Dark Dreams)
Manufacturer: Kensington
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
United States
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Due, Tananarive
| ( D )
| Authors, A-Z
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Dickey, Eric Jerome
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ASIN: 0758212321 |
Book Description
BEYOND THE SHADOWS...they linger, showing themselves only to those brave enough to perceive them...willing to see beyond human existence and into the heart of darkness. Feel the racing pulse in the primal desire of werewolves. Embrace the aura of two gifted women as they unleash power beyond imagining. Savor the aroma of otherworldly flora planted in a unique patch of earth.
THEY WALK THE NIGHT...prepared to face terrors humans were never meant to confront. Chant with an African mystic as he protects his people from an entity of unbridled malice. Ride the dusty trails of the Old West in pursuit of monstrous legends. Sail on a ship of damned souls as it languishes in the depths of forbidden waters. From the untamed wilderness of ancient times to the concrete jungles of today, these seventeen excursions into nightmares will keep you awake long past the midnight hour--and praying for daylight...
Featuring stories by Eric Jerome Dickey, Tananarive Due, L.A. Banks, Brandon Massey, Christopher Chambers, and many more, this is one collection you don't want to miss.
Customer Reviews:
High Scare and Low Scare.......2007-05-13
This book has all kinds of horror stories from the truly twisted to the inspired lol so if you like a mix or horror then this is the book for you.
Thrilling and scary.......2006-11-10
There were more "thrillers" than "scary" stories in here but that DOES NOT take away from the book at all. I must have looked up every author to write them a thank you note for contributing to this collection. GREAT book!!!
did not disappoint.......2006-08-26
With my hectic schedule, I have time for anthologies , but rarely novels. This one, (Voices From the Other Side)as well the first installment, were alot better than most "compilations of horror" I've purchased. I always look forward to the Dark Dreams series, and I hope they keep em' coming. That being said, this series is far superior to other horror fiction.....and the fact that the authors are exclusively black, is just icing on the cake.
Did that really happen?.......2006-05-08
VOICES FROM THE OTHER SIDE, edited by Brandon Massey, is a collection of short stories from many authors. In Eric Jerome Dickey's "Harlem," which is both scary and laugh-out-loud funny in places, an inmate in an asylum makes friends with one of his nurses and gets way too involved with her, seducing her and finally making a date with her. Brandon Massey's story, "Deadwoods," involves a huge tree that suddenly pops up in the yard of an unemployed suburbanite. What can he do to get rid of this evil smelling tree that harbors something frightening among its leaves? Brian Egeston's "Smoked Butt" is the story of a little girl delivering food to shut-ins. She has to travel through deep woods and her adventures are awesome and screamingly funny. In "Good 'Nough to Eat," Rickey Windell George, has an unemployed man seeking work wherever he can find it. Dancing in a male revue in a club is not his idea of a good job but it's all he can find. This tale has a shocking ending that will leave you gasping.
All the stories in the book were very good, each with its own shock value. Brandon Massey has put together a collection of stories - some funny, some horrifying - but all of them hold your interest and you find yourself wondering, as you read each one, how this particular one can possibly turn out. To the credit of the many writers, the end is always unexpected and sometimes downright zany. The writing style of Tananarive Due's "Upstairs" is reminiscent of Joplin's Ghost, while Terrence Taylor's "The Share" is heart wrenchingly realistic in a totally abnormal way. Maurice Broaddus, with his "Black Frontiers" brings us a taste of our lost history, along with Christopher Chambers' "Leviathan," a smooth reading but frightening story about the Middle Passage. It is a book worth reading if you like looking over your shoulder or peering into dark corners.
Reviewed by Alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Voices From the Other Side: Dark Dreams II: An PeoplewholoveGoodBooks Review.......2006-05-02
Voices From the Other Side: Dark Dreams II edited by Brandon Massey contains horror and science-fiction stories from some of today's hottest African-American writers. Harlem by Eric Jerome Dickey is the story of one woman's revenge on the man who killed her husband, Deadwoods by Brandon Massey is the story of one man who reclaims his identity after fighting mysterious beings that planted a deadly tree in his backyard, Natural Instinct by LA Banks is the story of two werewolves who find love and each other despite being part of an dying breed, Upstairs by Tananarive Due is the story of one girl who meets a mysterious man who may or may not be a killer. There are also stories by Michael Boatman, (an actor who has been on Arliss, Spin City etc etc), Maurice Broaddus, Terence Taylor, along with several others. Voices from The Other Side is more creepy than scary but whether you're an horror fan or not, you will enjoy some of the stories in this book. I give this book 3 1/2 stars. Reviewed by Shay C of PeoplewholoveGoodBooks.
Customer Reviews:
amazing.......2007-01-04
reading this book, I assumed it was a commentary on WW1 and WW2. nope 1908. and that alone makes this book amazing.
the first parts of this book have impressive oblique social satire and are very deep (but a bit melancholy) the last section of this book is pure mayhem with a bugs bunny warner brothers cartoon tone thats completely entertaining and hilarious. yet keeps up the biting social satire.
From pedestrian beginnings to a searing nightmare of reason........2003-01-01
One senses that this indulgent and dazzling exercise in ferocious derangement and, arguably, allegory, must read less awkwardly in the original German. You will not read this for its literary style, which is clumsy at times, but for its pure, rarefied, winningly repulsive air of pre-War Euro-decadence, for its uncanny presentiments of the coming horrors of the 20th century, and for its profligate richness of bizarre imagery. The book is fuel for dreams of the weirdest kind. This is appropriate, because in it Kubin seeks to portray a "Dream Realm" -- very far from the one Morpheus rules over in The Sandman -- created at the whim of a ludicrously wealthy and myserious aristocrat. This Dream Realm, aka the city of Pearl, is situated in Asia, but represents, among other things, a vision of pre-industrial Europe stagnating, suppurating, and sinking into its indolent self -- but at least avoiding the horrors of modernization and liberalism! With a wink, then (the book is quite funny in a scabrous way), Kubin deals with such issues as race, the media, psychoanalysis, religion (gnosticism in particular), death, and sexuality. He does so inconclusively, but with unflagging inventiveness, and a real eye for the startling mental picture and the horrific detail.
masterpiece of surrealism.......2002-10-30
Perhaps I should have said a masterpiece of fantasticism. I believe the author was an artist in the school of the fantastic or fantasmic in the early 20th century. His only work of literature, this book is truly one of the strangest pieces I have ever read. I was initially introduced to it by my college German prof who had a love for this kind of apochryphal lit, and passed on that love to me. I have since read this many, many times. I don't want to give too much away, but the basic story has a young man and his wife invited to live in a newly founded realm in Asia. This realm has been founded by an old school chum, Patera, whose concept is that only things that enhance moods can be permitted into the country, and these things should usually be old and have a kind of emotional evocative power, so to speak. The young couple find themselves in a realm of moods, both depression and manic, and it is a very strange trip, indeed. I recommend this book to anyone who doesn't have a compulsive need for analytical, linear reason in a book!
A prophetic classic.......2002-09-12
Two aspects make this book worth reading today:
It was written 1908, before the world wars, and
its haunting images were most prophetic.
Secondly, a key idea makes this books both a psycholgical
and surreal experience: The mood of a man and the state of his
soul are mirrored in the physical and social state
of the city he reigns.
Alfred Kubin is better known for his illustrations (of say
E.A. Poe's short stories), and this is his only work of
fiction.
If you want a book where everything becomes clear at the end,
you want something else. If you enjoy being disturbed,
go ahead and read it!
Average customer rating:
- Don't hate the Player, Hate the Game....
- An Enjoyable Read!
- Ummmmmmmm...
- I saw it coming but still liked it
- Love the Book Disapointing Ending
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The Other Side of the Game
Anita Diggs
Manufacturer: Kensington
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0758210493 |
Customer Reviews:
Don't hate the Player, Hate the Game...........2006-12-02
Asha Mitchell & Saundra Patterson are sisters with the same mom and different dads. They are totally different in personality and morals, lifestyles. Asha lives the free style life, she has no desire to settle down and she knows how to play the game to get what she wants, well that is until the tables flip and tradegy steps in when she ends her relationship with Randy. Now Nick has to see if he can tame Asha. Saundra on the other hand is the level headed, love struck one who is embarking on her wedding day, she lives with her dad and has a good life going, except there are secrets that she just doesn't know about. Evelyn is the stand in mom for Saundra and the rock behind Phil, but little does Evelyn know she is just a pawn in the game. When the tables start turning everything gets crazy and everyone's world is turned upside down.
This story is interesting and has twists and turns in it, but I didn't like the way it ends. I look forward to seeing the sequel, because Asha and Nick are going to be a trip and I want to see how exclusive they can be. The Other Side of the Game is a quick good read.
An Enjoyable Read!.......2006-07-27
The Other Side of the Game was totally enjoyable. Anita Doreen Diggs explores the lives of two half sisters, Asha and Saundra. After their mother passes away, one is raised in a home with a loving and adorning father, with the help of his girlfriend, and the other pretty much had to raise herself.
Over the years the girls remain close, and as young women, they've come to depend on one another to 'keep the other in line'. Their views on life and how it should be lived is like night and day. One is naive and believes all is right with the world, while the other sees the world for what it really is, and will do whatever it takes to get her's.
There is a totally unexpected twist in the story which will totally take you by surprise. Which really goes to show the clever and creative mind of the author.
Although I would have preferred for the chapters to have been a little longer due to the fact I wanted more from each character, I like how the author expertly weaved each character together.
I recommend this book highly! If you don't already have your copy, then you should scroll up to the top of this page and order your copy today.
Valerie A. Withers
Author of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. & The Choices That We Make
Ummmmmmmm..........2006-04-18
This book was okay. It took me a minute to get into it, but it was good. Asha was hurt by her first, she got pregnant in high school, he didn't want her, she had an abortion, finally she despise men. She devotes herself to no man, she does not want to love any man. She has a man to pay her bills, a man to buy her clothes, a man to sex her and a man to wine and dine her.
Her sister, Sauna turned her life around, when their mother died, and she moved in w her father. Asha father wasn't around, and she stayed at their apartment. Sauna's father's girlfriend, Evelyn helped her to become a Vegan, a natural oil, free spirit woman. Asha and Sauna aren't as close as they used to be.
Phil, Sauna's father has a BIG SECRET.
The questions: Why hasn't Sauna's father decided to marry Ebvelyn after six years?
When will Asha find a man and treat him well? Will someone have to DIE for her to wake up?
When will Phil speak onm his HUGE SECRET?
This was a good book, I will read more books she writes.
I saw it coming but still liked it.......2006-02-10
I liked this book. I knew what was going to happen from the first few chapters but I liked it. It was different. The writer did a good job.
Very contemporary :)
Love the Book Disapointing Ending.......2006-02-03
I love the author and the book was very good, and all through the book was a page turner, I just was disappointed when I got to the end, and it just left me in a blank stare and was thirsting for more, I hope that the sequel Denzel's Lips turns out to have a better ending. Very enjoyable about the two sisters that are grieving within their lives...........
Book Description
Just as the remaining trade sanctions against Vietnam are being lifted comes The Other Side of Heaven, a collection of short stories by American and Vietnamese writers about the Vietnam War (or the 'American War,' depending on who is speaking). 'This book was born out of the meeting of two people who, if they had met two decades previously,' writes Karlin in his introduction, 'would have tried to kill each other.' Stunning in both scope and content, this collection strips away the uniforms and propaganda to reveal the fearful, nave peoples of both sides engulfed in a war with consequences neither could imagine. Soldiers, villagers, spies, assassins, men, women, children and the dead speak their piece in stories grouped by varied facets of the war and its aftermath (Hauntings, Exiles, Legacies, etc.), with each entry original in its interpretation but interchangeable in the vividness of its pain and horror. Though many contributions are noteworthy, six are outstanding: Bao Ninh's 'Wandering Souls,' Xuan Thieu's 'Please Don't Knock on the Door,' Nguyen Quang Lap's 'The Sound of Harness Bells,' David McLean's 'Marine Corps Issue,' and Tim O'Brien's 'Speaking of Courage.' The message of this monumental book is summed up in George Evans's 'A Walk in the Garden of Heaven,' which runs through the book like a current, a piece of it opening each section: 'We've destroyed too much to be sentimental... Wars are always lost. Even if you win.' Clearly, it is the fervent hope of the authors and editors united in The Other Side of Heaven that readers of all nationalities will understand.-Publishers Weekly
Customer Reviews:
REVIEW QUOTES.......2001-09-05
"Stunning in both scope and content..." --Publishers Weekly
"Karlin has established a reputation as a superb prose stylist. His uncanny ability to examine the human condition by juxtaposing historical periods and tracing the dramatic impact of one person's history on other characters and consequent events has won him praise...This excellent novel is highly recommended..."
--Multicultural Perspectives
"A superb collection." --Kirkus Reviews
A Two-Sided Perspective.......2000-04-02
The layout of the book is rather interesting, and serves to make the point of the authors clear. Each section of the collection is prefaced by a part of a poem that illuminates the struggles victims on both sides of the war faced. The anthology is also organized in a form that alternates between American and Vietnamese short stories. The plight that the Vietnamese people faced during the Vietname war is often overshadowed by America's turmoil, and it is helpful to see both sides of the coin. Some very formidable Vietnamese authors are included in the anthology, so it is also a helpful way to introduce oneself to Vietnamese literature. I think that the book is very worthwhile, and it makes an interesting attempt at healing the scar which divides two nations.
Useful for Exploring Different Perspectives.......2000-03-29
If you, like me, have gotten your impressions of Vietnam and the Vietnam War mostly through American movies, the American press, American books, etc., this anthology of short stories can be a worthwhile way of exposing yourself to other perspectives.
I don't mean to imply that most Americans have encountered only pro-American and pro-war propaganda. Quite the contrary. Actually a lot of the popular movies and such about the Vietnam War present the American role in that country quite negatively. But whether the Americans are the heroes or the villains, they're still the main focus. The Vietnamese typically are portrayed as a mysterious "Other," who serve merely as extras in a drama about complex, flesh and blood, American persons.
Half of the stories in this anthology are written from the Vietnamese perspective. Even within that, of course, there are countless sub-perspectives. The reader is given the opportunity to see the war through the eyes of Vietnamese men, women, civilians, soldiers, those allied with the Americans, those battling against the Americans, those who stayed in Vietnam after the war, those who left, etc. I definitely appreciated that.
Having said that, I can only give this book 2-3 stars, because only a handful of the stories, a handful of the scenes, drew me in or seemed particularly memorable. I felt myself forcing my way through a lot of the book. I am not a literary critic, and I fully admit that this is merely a subjective reaction on my part, so I would urge people to give the book a chance and draw their own conclusions. The stories only made a deep connection with me quite infrequently and I have to give an honest rating based on that, but others might find themselves affected quite differently.
I suppose one could find fault with the tendency of the stories to present the characters just a little too sympathetically. You'll find very few "bad guys" in here. Presumably those would be the American politicians, generals, etc., and they're left out of these stories almost completely. Instead, the stories focus on the Vietnamese, and on the type of powerless Americans whom we are supposed to more or less relieve of responsibility for the evils of the war-the grunt during the war and the veteran back home afterwards. And these characters are mostly presented in a way that conveys the message that if you really understood their circumstances and what went into the things they did, you wouldn't condemn these folks. Not all that objectionable a sentiment certainly, but still, I wouldn't have minded stories with just a little more bite, even at the cost of some of the reconciliation and healing.
Average customer rating:
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Best of the West 4: New Stories from the Wide Side of the Missouri (Best of the West)
James Thomas
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 039330793X |
Average customer rating:
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Best of the West 5, New Stories from the Wide Side of the Missouri (Best of the West)
James Thomas
Manufacturer: W W Norton & Co Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0393309622 |
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