Book Description
In These Is My Words, Sarah Agnes Prine told the spellbinding story of an extraordinary pioneer woman and her struggle to make a home in the Arizona Territories. Now, in this mesmerizing sequel, a three-year drought has made Sarah desperate for water. And just when it seems that life couldnt get worse, she learns that her brother and his family are trapped in the Great San Francisco Earthquake. A heartwarming blend of stubbornness and compassion, Sarah Agnes Prine will once again capture the hearts of readers everywhere.
Customer Reviews:
a truly satisfying sequel.......2007-09-18
I approached Sarah's Quilt with some hesitation as so often sequels just don't live up to the anticipation of the first book's enjoyment. Sarah's Quilt, however, did not disappoint. The characters of the story are so fleshed out in such subtle ways, I feel as if I have come to know and love these people. The plot is, like life itself, a bit disjointed, and takes a while to get started. Certain matters occupy Sarah's mind more than others at times, but all the storylines ultimately are resolved.
I think this book had particular meaning for me because my second son recently left home for college. With two children away, and only one left at home, I felt many of Sarah's difficulties in how to resolve being a good mother to "children" who are growing up so fast, how to care for an older mother, and questions where life is heading. I am not sure if I had read this novel when I was younger (and by "younger" I mean ten years ago) if it would have had the same impact for me. It was comforting to know that the concerns of a pioneer woman over one hundred years ago can still resonate with a middle-aged woman in 2007.
Read this book if you like historical American fiction, especially involving a strong, independent woman as main character. Also, if you like reading stories where hearth and home are considered something worth fighting for.
Amazing .......2007-08-28
I absolutely love this book. Mrs. Turner took me right back to the time period and made me feel like I was standing there watching these people's lives happen.
Where was the editor for this book?.......2007-08-07
Let me begin by saying that "These is my Words" was inspiring, and I couldn't put it down. But it feels as though the author put less effort into this novel technically, and therefore "Sarah's Quilt" didn't draw me in quite as much -- I was too busy noticing the inconsistencies in the writing.
This novel is written in diary format much like "These is my Words", but the format serves only to interrupt the flow of the story. The "diary entries" are inconsistent and cover huge chunks of time, including future days, which doesn't make sense. Also, Sarah's voice doesn't sound like she's writing in a journal, she sounds like she's writing the novel herself. I wish Turner had just written the book as a novel reflecting Sarah's history: still in Sarah's words, but without the unnecessary fictional "diary."
I found the actual story to be wholly engaging, but at the same time I agree with another reviewer who said that storylines such as Harland and his family were built up and then forgotten. I couldn't stop reading, but the disjointedness was frustrating!
My final criticism regards the title itself: Sarah's Quilt. Sarah and her mother work on this quilt throughout the story, but in the end it is just another prop. It doesn't have deep meaning or form a bond that links the story's different parts together. It's a convenient title which recalls Turner's family heirloom but has little to do with the actual story.
I DO recommend this book to people who enjoyed "Words" because Sarah Prine is such an engaging character and I enjoyed riding along with her on her journey. And I will probably buy Turner's next book based on the Prines as well. But reader beware: don't expect the same experience you had with "These is my Words."
The Perfect Follow-up to "These Is My Words" and Also a Story of It's own.......2007-07-09
Not only is "Sarah's Quilt" a wonderful sequel to "These Is My Words" but another amazing book in itself. Turner continues the amazing story of Sarah Prine's life and also the lives of those around her. It's filled with action, romance, love, problems, and solutions just as the first, and you'll never want it to end!!! "Sarah's Quilt" is a must-read!
Another Winner!.......2007-06-03
This book is wonderful. I easily fall into that place where I imagine myself there with them. Very few authors write well enough to let their readers experience that.
I wish I could think of the words to sing this book's praises properly.
If you read These Is My Words then don't miss out on Sarah's Quilt.
Book Description
'Nancy Turner has scored again. Sarah's Quiltis even better than These Is My Words, and that's saying a lot.' -Tony Hillerman, author of the Joe Leaphornand Jim Chee novels T his novel is the long-awaited sequel to These Is My Words, the beloved story of a pioneer woman, Sarah Prine, which since its publication in 1998 has become a minor classic on both sides of the Atlantic. Sarah's Quiltopens in 1906 after years of drought have devastated the cattle ranches in Arizona Territory. Sarah is faced with starving cattle, a dry well, and romantic advances from a scheming neighbor. In addition, she must try to save her brother's family, who are victims of the great San Francisco earthquake. Sarah's voice is indeed as authentic as an old quilt, and her many fans will eagerly celebrateher return.
Customer Reviews:
amazing history.......2007-02-19
More amazing history as the story continues from "These is my Words". The American west and the strong women who settled it.
Sarah's Quilt.......2006-08-06
Having read "These is my words" a short time ago I could not wait until "Sarah's Quilt" arrived. Once again I became a part of Sarah's family. Nancy Turner again provides us with a portrait of woman of courage, heart and intense family loyalty.
The grace and strength with which Sarah faces the hardships of territoty life should make ever woman proud. One realizes that life today pales compared to constant struggle to survive Sarah faced. I only hope for another book to complete the story of Sarah Agnes Prine.
An amazing book!.......2006-07-30
I enjoyed this book SO much!! I almost didn't want to start reading it, because I knew if I did I would read it so fast and it be all over! I live in Tucson and really enjoyed the 'historical' point of view of the area in the late 1800's. I love the strong woman Sarah is in the story. If you read the first book "These is my Words"...you will really enjoy this one!!
It was good, but the first book was better.......2006-04-19
I enjoyed reading Sarah's Quilt, but I found I didn't love it in the same way that I loved These is My Words. Possibly it was because it was written in a different style - more of a traditional novel format than a diary, although there were still dates with each chapter. I think what bothered me the most, though, is that it seemed like there were a few places where I felt like a great storyline was starting up, only to have it completely dropped a few pages later, particularly in the case of Sarah's brother Harland and his family. I realize that these characters were not important to the major plot of the book, but I found myself getting somewhat attached to them, only to have them disappear completely from the story. However, this was only a small setback for me in an otherwise good story. I think anyone who has read and enjoyed These is My Words will definitely want to read Sarah's Quilt, but it is definitely a sequel and will probably not stand on its own.
Good but not as good.......2006-03-25
I just loved These is my Words, I couldn't put it down. This book was good also but it was missing one of my favorite characters, which made it a little sad for me. Which is why it wasn't a five star.
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- The Third's the Finest
- I can't go on, you must go on, I'll go on.
- The Human Condition Exposed
- A carcass in God's image and a contemporary skull
- worth reading....if you like that sort of thing
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Three Novels: Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable
Samuel Beckett
Manufacturer: Grove Press
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Binding: Paperback
 Beckett, Samuel
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ASIN: 0802150918 |
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Samuel Beckett's brilliance as a dramatist--as the creator of Waiting for Godot, Krapp's Last Tape, and that despairing pas de deux Endgame--has tended to overshadow his gifts as a novelist. Yet he's unmistakably one of the great fiction writers of our century. As a young man he took dictation (literally) from James Joyce, and absorbed everything that myopic maestro had to offer when it came to Anglo-Irish prosody. Still, Beckett's instincts would ultimately steer him away from Joyce's delirious play with high and low diction, toward a more concentrated, even compulsive style. His earlier novels, like Murphy or Watt, give us a taste of what was to come. But Beckett truly hit his stride with a trilogy of early-1950s masterpieces: Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable. Here he dispenses with all the customary props of contemporary fiction--including exposition, plot, and increasingly, paragraphs--and turns his attention to consciousness itself. Nobody has ever evoked the pain of existence, or the steady slide toward nonexistence, with such poetic, garrulous accuracy. And once you've attuned yourself to the epistemological vaudeville of Beckett's prose, he turns out to be the funniest writer on the planet--ever.
None of the three entries in the trilogy is exactly amenable to summary. It's fair to say, though, that Molloy is the easiest to read, with at least a bare-bones narrative and an abundance of comical set pieces. In one famous episode, the narrator spends page after page figuring out how to vary the sucking stones he carries in his pockets:
And while I gazed thus at my stones, revolving interminable martingales all equally defective, and crushing handfuls of sand, so that the sand ran through my fingers and fell back on the strand, yes, while thus I lulled my mind and part of my body, one day suddenly it dawned on the former, dimly, that I might perhaps achieve my purpose without increasing the number of my pockets, or reducing the number of my stones, but simply by sacrificing the principle of trim. The meaning of this illumination, which suddenly began to sing within me, like a verse of Isaiah, or of Jeremiah, I did not penetrate at once, and notably the word trim, which I had never met with, in this sense, long remained obscure.
This nutty ratiocination goes on for much, much longer, until the narrator loses patience and throws the stones away. And that's a fair encapsulation of Beckett's philosophy: he argues for the essential pointlessness of life--the solitary, wretched splendor of human existence--but does so in a comic rather than a tragic register, which ends up softening or even overpowering the bleakness of his initial premise. So Malone Dies opens with a typically morbid mood-lifter ("I shall soon be quite dead at last in spite of it all") and then makes endless comedic hay out of Malone's failure to keel over. And by the time we hit The Unnamable, we're forced to wonder whether the narrator actually exists: "I, say I. Unbelieving. Questions, hypotheses, call them that. Keep going, going on, call that going, call that on." Happily, Beckett worried these same questions and hypotheses to the end of his career, with increasingly minimalistic gusto. But he never topped the intensity or linguistic brilliance of this mind-bending three-part invention. --James Marcus
Customer Reviews:
The Third's the Finest.......2006-12-01
Three powerful novels, each unique and perhaps so like (and unlike) the others in style that they stand together as much as apart, and readily stand up to evaluation, even deconstruction. I found, having never read Beckett before, The Unnamable to be the finest of the three; each reader though takes a different view. I appreciated the total lack of concern with the modern conventions of the novel in the last work, and The Unnamable lives up to its title in many ways, but draws the reader in to a world of exquisite minimalism and modernity. If experimental work of a higher order is your goal, you can hardly do better than Beckett.
I can't go on, you must go on, I'll go on........2006-07-18
Sharply influenced by James Joyce, this trilogy by Samuel Beckett is a truly remarkable achievement. It is a poetic descent into complete obscurity, words removed from their subjects, relations with no establishments. The first novel, Molloy, at least bears the semblance of a plot, and is, in my opinion, the weakest of the three. It tells two seemingly unrelated stories through a strict stream of consciousness technique. The second novel, Malone Dies, is much more abstract, bearing only a touching relation with actuality, the decaying stories and thoughts of a man resolved to die, a man trying to find his epitaph, a man in fear of the void in which there is only silence. The third novel, The Unnamable, is a unique piece in world literature. It is a novel about words, words speaking about words, narrated by a voice whose existence is melts and transforms with his ideas, an entity whose being is confirmed only by his speech. It is, to my mind, the most extreme form of stream of consciousness writing, bearing no relation to actualities, to reality, only related to ideas. The story, if one can call it that, is simply the story of the voice that tells it, a voice that wishes for the silence, that wants to find an end, the perfect sentence, the perfect phrase, who wishes to be still but is afraid to be still, who speaks words of no meaning, speaks only to avoid the silence that lies beyond his reach. This last novel is truly astonishing. A warning though: do not look for any sense of plot, character, or even reality in these books, for they are thoughts removed from the objects of thought.
The Human Condition Exposed.......2006-07-03
(old review from April 2005, on "Malone Dies")
This is the story of Malone, an old man about to die who can't do much except breathing. He's in a hospital room, maybe, and he tries to write a story, or stories.
It's a major book and it's a classic. I really loved it. I like Beckett anyway, but this book is truly awesome. Reflections on writing, living, etc. It's very ironic at times and the stories Malone writes can be really twisted. Some of which is really icky ick but unless you mind things that go off the beaten path, you'll dig it.
What else to say... it's a first person narrative, except for the parts that actually are stories written by Malone. The figure of Malone, alone in this strange room, is reminiscent of that of a feotus; and indeed, Malone sucks the corner of his pillow like a baby, and is treated just like a baby, since he cannot live on his own due to his very old age. The walls are also described as bones at some point, like a skull, I think, it's a bit like Malone is trapped in a head, which is the usual condition of our consciousnesses (or souls). The narrative solely comes from malone's trapped consciousness, it's what Genette would call "focalisation zero", if i'm not mistaken, which I could very well be, having skipped that book at uni. Basically, the narrator is far from omniscient and only knows what the character knows; which is logical since the character, Malone, is also the narrator. You get tons of mise en abymes with the fact that Malone, a character-narrator, writes stories. Stories within the story.
Major book of the 20th Century, I totally recommend it for anyone who likes good literature. And anyone who breathes, yeah, if you breathe, you need to read "Malone Dies". By the way, if Malone sounds like Alone, it's not a coincidence. Malone is always alone and yes he does die too, alone. Deep book about the human condition.
A carcass in God's image and a contemporary skull.......2006-04-14
The trilogy is Beckett HQ. Step right up. When you come back down might I suggest a trip through the anterooms that are Texts for Nothing? Go on, restore yourself to the feasible. Number 7 in particular is certain to unbuckle your trunions. Seriously, it is here we are reminded that heads are only wound up once. And that, as Denis Johnson might say, is almost too beautiful to laugh about.
Has anyone ever had a really good look at the blank page facing Text Number 1? The page in the library copy is blank but for this message:
Translated by the author
I couldn't believe I missed this the first time and actually did gallop back to my hut to double check. It's there alright, franker than ever:
Translated from the French by the author
Still, it's an encouragement though, isn't it? Right there you know you're in good hands. You know another thing I couldn't believe I missed the first time? The name Knott in either Johnson or Beckett.
Reading these two writers puts me in mind of that stunning little poem Emily Dickinson wrote:
The heart asks pleasure first,
And then, excuse from pain;
And then, those little anodynes
That deaden suffering;
And then, to go to sleep;
and then, if it should be
The will of its Inquisitor,
The liberty to die.
I've just remembered something and boy is my face red. The trilogy right? The Unnamable in particular.
"These few general remarks to begin with. What am I to do, what shall I do, what should I do, in my situation, how proceed?"
Isn't that just as true a twang upon an ancient chord as you are ever likely to hear in print? How proceed indeed.
worth reading....if you like that sort of thing.......2006-01-10
It seems like most of the reviews for this book fall into one of two categories. Either the reviewer thinks these novels are exquisite for what they are to a literary movement, or else they don't like them because they're boring and nothing happens. It's true that these books stand up to thorough academic scrutiny, but I also think they're fun to read. They are by no means plot-driven novels. If you're looking for a good story, keep looking. But whether or not you're able to make it through all three of these novels probably has more to do with your taste in reading than your intellectual abilities. If you're a casual reader of popular fiction, you probably won't enjoy these novels much, but if you like Joyce, Kafka, and Eggers, you'll love Beckett.
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Dangerous Friends
Peter Viertel
Manufacturer: Nan A. Talese
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0385260466
Release Date: 1992-07-01 |
Product Description
EVERY DISASTER HAS A STORY, none more thrilling this one. Set during the great San Francisco earthquake and fire, this page-turning tale of political corruption, vendettas, romance, and rescue-and-murder, is based on recently uncovered facts that will forever change our understanding of what really happened. Told by Annalisa Passarella, a feisty young reporter, the novel paints a vivid picture of life in the post-Victorian city, from the gilded ballrooms of Nob Hill to the seedy bars of the Barbary Coast; from the slave ships in the bay, to the front row seats of Enriso Caruso's sold out performance. At its center is an ongoing battle-fought even as the city burns-that pits imcompetent and unscrupulous politicians against a coalition of honest police officers, newspaper editors, citizens, and a lone federal prosecutor. leading the fight to save the city is Hunter Fallon, the rebellious indealistic scion of a family of police officers. With him at every dangerous step is Annalisa, who uses her newspaper connections and her charm to infiltrate the inner circles of the corrupt political machine. Read by Stephanie Brush. 10 CD's 11.4 Hrs.
Customer Reviews:
Exciting Read Where Fiction Informs Reality.......2007-09-23
This is an exciting read about real and fictional people in the grip of historical disaster. With Hurricane Katrina providing ample evidence of leaders' incompetence in the face of natural calamity, this novel assumes even greater importance as a historically accurate portrayal of how hubris clouds judgment in a time of crisis. The interplay between fictional characters and historical persons is seamless. 1906 rings true about the civil, criminal and military leadership at the time of the great San Francisco Earthquake and fire. The superb historical detail gives a dramatic picture of time and place that more than matches any historical account; this because 1906 deftly adds the emotion and drama that accompanies real events. 1906 is more than an engaging historical drama. It is a fine example of fiction conveying truth.
A Burning Issue.......2007-07-19
"1906" is a compelling novel that has overtones on today's political scene.I got into it and it wouldn't let go. Dalessandro does a great organizational job with nicely developed and realized action. Colorful characters and scenes abound. Reads almost as if it might be a film plot. Get it!It will haunt you.It proves that history can be compelling and instructional. Brooklyn doesn't have all the excitement.
John Manbeck, former Brooklyn Borough Historian
1906.......2006-12-16
Best book I've read in a very long time. This novel paints a rich picture of what life was like in the corrupt and nearly lawless city of San Francisco at the turn of the century. Fascinating.
Ragtime On the Golden Gate.......2006-12-11
Like E.L. Doctorow's renowned "Ragtime," a pastiche of fact and fiction that provides a better picture of life in New York City a century ago than any history book, James Dallesandro's rollicking "1906" does the same for San Francisco. The city the late columnist Herb Caen dubbed "Baghdad by the Bay" actually did resemble the Baghdad we see on the nightly news after it was levelled and scorched by the devasting 1906 earthquake and the ensuing fire. Dallesandro, a longtime San Francisco-area resident and writer, weaves fact-based tales of municipal corruption at city hall as well as spiritual corruption in the fleshpots of the Barbary Coast with the high culture that brought Enrico Caruso to the San Francisco Opera. Caruso, in fact, is one of several true-life characters who populate "1906." The cast of "1906" includes people like Adam Rolf, himself a pastiche of a sort, since he is a fictional persona based on San Francisco's most-notorious corrupt political boss, Abe Ruef. And then there are heroes and villains whose existence is pure fiction but whose stories make "1906" so much more than a mere recounting of tectonic shift and fatal and fast-moving walls of flame. One of my favorite films is "San Francisco," starring Clark Gable and Jeanette MacDonald, a story spanning the city between the saloons of the Barbary Coast and theaters where the nabobs who'd grown rich as a result of the Gold Rush heard and appreciated opera. "1906" and the classic "San Francisco," with MacDonald's stirring rendition of the title tune -- are two excellent introductions to life in the greatest city of the west before, during and after the infamous earthquake and fire.
Lee Quarnstrom is a former Bay Area journalist who spent several decades observing the political and cultural lives of Northern Californians.
A Great Tribute To San Francisco's Past.......2006-10-06
I am a third generation San Franciscan and history buff. I really enjoyed "1906". As a San Francisco native, I felt it really did justice to the culture and history, the cast of truly fantastical
characters, that really did exist in San Francisco. From the Fallons to
Shainghai Kelly, to all the quirky characters in between, and the vibrant urban wilderness of Portsmouth Square and the Barbary Coast, the story really shines
a carnivalistic, epic light on that time that was the end of the west and
beginning of the modern era. And a time and history that I have always loved and been proud of.
I have always felt that there should be more art; books, songs, movies, anything devoted to this monumental part of American history, particularly with unfortunate world disasters and governments' mishandlings of them more prevalent today. And "1906" is a great example of that. People should read it. Thank you for a fun and exciting journey through a spectacular part of our past.
Book Description
In this thrilling novel set in two periods of San Francisco history, Cree Black confronts the mystery of one of the strangest victims of the Great Quake.
Bert Marchetti, an old family friend of Cree’s and an SFPD homicide inspector, has asked Cree to help investigate a human skeleton recently unearthed in the foundation of a fine Victorian home—apparently the bones of a victim of the 1906 earthquake. The bones have been sent to UC Berkeley for analysis, where their peculiar characteristics have intrigued the forensic anthropology team. They call the skeleton Wolfman.
Who was the wolfman? What caused his anatomical deformities, and how did he end up in that grand hilltop home? Cree’s historical research takes her back to the unholy glory days of the Barbary Coast, old San Francisco’s infamous red-light district. As she assists at the forensics lab, she also begins to realize that Bert Marchetti’s involvement with the case is more complex than he has let on. Her narrative is illuminated by entries from the 1889 diary of Lydia Schweitzer, a Victorian woman with her own secrets—and her own compelling interest in the person who would come to be known as the wolfman. A vivid and elegantly plotted thriller that reveals San Francisco’s hidden face across two centuries, Bones of the Barbary Coast tells the story of two women determined to face human nature’s darkest aspects with courage and compassion.
Customer Reviews:
So much potential but..........2007-09-05
I've never picked up a Cree Black book before, so I admit that my review may be a little off since I can't take the whole series into account.
I read the first couple pages of this book and was really intrigued; lots of forensic info, a smattering of history, and a hint at some supernatural. I figured it would be right up my alley! It started out fairly well; half forensics show/CSI, half hard-boiled detective. But I knew I was in trouble when I got to the first chapter with Ray alone. It seemed like a flimsy characterization for me and what OTHERS said about Ray was more interesting than what Ray said himself. It's always great for an author to show rather than tell and it didn't seem to be happening here. I get that Hecht wanted to hold onto a couple things until later in the end, but being too mysterious can be a turnoff for readers.
The diary parts could have been so much stronger. Without a diary, we would never have gotten very far into the character of Lydia--- or would we? I get the impression that Cree is psychic and can look into things when she's in the right setting. Wouldn't it have been so much more interesting if she could have found one object that pulled her into Lydia's mind, rather than a diary that wasn't quite as interesting as I'd hoped? Again, Hecht falls a bit flat with characterization. I felt like he was trying so hard to get into the mind of a woman but he just missed the boat by a bit. The problem is writing for the period, which is again why it would have made much more sense thematically to let Cree channel Lydia somehow, rather than have tell-all chapters where Lydia's "diary" clues us in.
I also never, ever bought Cree's relationship with Ray. Maybe this is a problem that came up since I'm not as familiar with the character, but she was presented as an intuitive, no-nonsense woman who didn't put up with a lot of crap. So why on EARTH would she tolerate Ray's weirdness? Just pity doesn't cut it!
But with all of that aside, I still enjoyed it much more than I normally enjoy books in that genre. It was a fun read and all the little details about San Francisco were great as well. Hecht has a lot of talent and obviously put a lot of work into this book, but I just felt like he squandered a lot of the opportunities he set up for himself by talking so much about Cree's interest in the paranormal.
Almost as good.......2007-04-09
I really enjoyed the first two Cree Black novels. I think the paranormal aspect lends a great twist to the mystery theme, but this book had no paranormal aspects.
The story and subplots kept my interest anyways and I found myself reading the book into the wee hours, but the end seemed rushed and left too much hanging.
My library does not have this or the 2nd Cree Black novel on audio books, so I read the hardcovers back to back. I think that also kept the momentum going for the Bones of the Barbary Coast.
"Everybody was a werewolf".......2007-01-18
Dan Hecht has written two previous books about Cree Black, a psychologist and 'psychic' investigator with a knack for paranormal contact. In these books she and her partners become enmeshed in what are, for the most part mystery stories where past events are a determinant in a present situation. You could describe them as forensic parapsychology and not be wrong.
Bones of the Barbary Coast is a different animal. The story revolves around the discovery of a skeleton of a human being with a weird deformity that makes the victim appear to be part wolf. There is no apparent murder here, the death was caused by the collapse of a house during the San Francisco earthquake. Cree is asked to come to San Francisco to investigate by an old friend of the family. So you are led to expect some psychic event, but one never really materializes. Instead Cree finds herself in a difficult investigation and discovers some remarkable, but not murderous facts.
The other part of the story revolves around Bert Marchetti, who asked her to come to town, and Cameron Raymond, an X-ray specialist who helps with the study of the bones. Marchetti is a cop on the verge of retirement, profoundly unhappy about his accomplishments and desperate for one last, redeeming arrest. Raymond is a man who has remade his life, but who bears a terrible scarred face as the result of a brutal arrest. The brutality in question was from Marchetti, and you can cut the enmity between the two with a knife.
These two men and Cree, who plays this novel solo are all lonely poles in a drama that parallels the slowly emerging story of the wolfman. These are set aside by disease, by loss, and by fear of the isolation each has to deal with in a story where redemption is a rare commodity. Each must face their flaws and either come to terms with them or fail tragically.
As you can see this is far more a novel than a genre mystery or suspense story. If you've followed the series you may experience some initial discomfort as Hecht sets out into uncharted waters. But, as truth would have it, this is a very readable story, with much that is worthwhile if disquieting. For those that have noticed the author's strong writing skills, this will be a worthwhile exercise.
Could have been better.......2007-01-17
I love the Cree Black series, and I loved this book until the end. It just left so many open ends. Throughout the book, you're waiting for things to move, you hit the climax and then everything grinds to a screeching halt, and you say to yourself, "That's it?". Still a big fan and looking forward to the next book, though!
I COULD NOT FINISH IT.......2006-11-26
I really looked forward to reading this book because I liked all of the books by Daniel Hecht that I have read. City Masks was very good and I thought Land of Echoes was great. I tried so hard to finish this book but I was fighting boredom and finally gave up.
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The Once and Future King (Cliffs Notes)
Daniel Moran
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The Once and Future King
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The Book of Merlyn
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Spark Notes Once & Future King
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Biography - King Arthur: His Life And Legends (A&E DVD Archives)
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Julius Caesar (Cliffs Notes)
ASIN: 0764585509 |
Book Description
The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format.
Based on medieval Arthurian legends, CliffsNotes on The Once and Future King is a twentieth-century version of young Arthur's quest for the sword Excalibur and his claim to the throne of England. Including many well-known and much-loved episodes with Merlyn, the sorcerer; Morgan La Fay, the witch; and knights jousting and hounds engaged in the hunt, White's novel adds to the lore surrounding the person of King Arthur.
This study guide covers all four volumes of The Once and Future King with special emphasis given to the most popular volume, The Sword in the Stone. Other features that help you study include
- Character analyses of major players
- Personal background of the author, T.H. White
- A critical essay on Arthurian films
- A review section that tests your knowledge
- A Resource Center full of books, articles, and Web sites
Classic literature or modern modern-day treasure — you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.
Download Description
Based on medieval Arthurian legends, The Once and Future King isa twentieth-century version of young Arthur's quest for the swordExcalibur and his claim to the throne of England. Including manywell-known and much-loved episodes with Merlyn, the sorcerer; Morgan LaFay, the witch; and knights jousting and hounds engaged in the hunt,White's novel adds to the lore surrounding the person of King Arthur.
CliffsNotes brings you this easy-to-understand study guide that coversall four volumes of The Once and Future King with specialemphasis given to the most popular volume, The Sword in theStone. The other three novellas are treated within critical essays.
Customer Reviews:
Great Duke Talent Search prep aid.......2007-03-17
This book has hlped my daughter make the connections for her prep work Duke.
Shipping Sham.......2002-08-10
Cliffnotes are Cliffnotes but who you buy them from is what counts. This seller charges more for shipping than the cost of the book. Shop around guys, highway robbery here!!
A great Help.......2000-08-13
I was sugested to read the book the once and future king. I did not know if I wanted to spend that much time on a book so I purchased the cliff's notes. After reading them I had to read the book and it was fabulas. The fact that I already knew what the book was about also helped me understand the book.
A Whole New Perspective.......2000-06-27
A few weeks ago I recieved my school reading list. I was happy that the Once and Future King was on it because I had already read it. I purchased the Cliff Notes. The refreshed my memory with out taking to much time. I also liked how they list the characters and what they did in the beginning of the book. That way if you forget you can always look it up. The comments that are contained also help widen my perspective on what the book means. I think that everyone who has read the book should purchase these cliff notes.
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The Letters of Jack London: Vol. 1: 1896-1905; Vol. 2: 1906-1912; Vol. 3: 1913-1916, Standard set
Jack London
Manufacturer: Stanford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0804712271 |
Book Description
Jack London has long been recognized as one of the most colorful figures in American literature. From his birth in San Francisco in 1876 until his death in 1916, he lived a life rich with experiences and emotional intensity. Factory worker at 14; able-bodied seaman at 17; hobo and convict at 18; “Boy Socialist” of Oakland at 19; Klondike argonaut at 21; the “American Kipling” at 24, renowned author, social crusader, journalist, and war correspondent at 28; world traveler and adventurer at 31; prize-winning stock-breeder and scientific farmer at 35; self-made millionaire by the time of his death at 40: the facts became a legend in London’s own lifetime.
In less than 20 years, London produced some 500 non-fiction pieces, 200 short stories, and 19 novels (over 50 books in all). Of these books, at least three (The Call of the Wild, White Fang,
and The Sea Wolf
) have become world classics. London is America’s most widely translated authors (into more than 80 languages), and although his works have been neglected until recently by academic critics, he is finally winning recognition as a major figure in American literary history.
Comprising 1,554 carefully annotated letters, this three-volume work is the first full-scale, comprehensive collection of London’t correspoThe image that emerges from London’s letters is of an unpretentious, often sensitive human being, extraordinarily open and sometimes brutally candid. He was capable of writing deeply moving, poetic love letters, but he was also capable, when writing to or about those he considered enemies, of a dark bitterness and vicious invective. Like most of his published work, many of his letters ware simply good reading, written with his characteristic verve and blunt wit.
This edition is lavishly illustrated, including 112 photographs, most of them from the London Family albums and many published for the first time.
Book Description
Beginning in January 1906, Clemens dictated in some 242 sittings a long and complex autobiographical manuscript. He published selected chapters from this extensive dictation in the North American Review, in 26 installments, and it is this version that is published here. "Reading along, one becomes aware of being spoken to by this book, that it is really a chat," Arthur Miller writes in his introduction. "It is wonderfully visual, full of recollected pictures, the best kind of listening. You can just about hear him laughing, or his voice growing husky in the sad parts. Clearly there are long rambles with no particular thematic relevance beyond the simple pleasure of the telling, like rummaging through cabinets and closets and trying on discarded shoes, old gloves and a half-remembered jacket or two." In this volume, Miller writes, "the author who more than any other was the surveyor who marked the boundaries of American literature" reflects on his childhood, ponders his career as a writer, and recalls the joy and the pain of being a husband and a father.
Customer Reviews:
An American Humorist writes about Americans.......1999-06-11
Mark Twain is the quintesential American curmudgeon. His style formed an era and no one could ever reproduce him although many have tried. Read the book and meet the Man. I laughed out loud and at times was gripped with the wringing unrelenting pathos of this great master. I had to laugh at myself a time or two...
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The Essential Samuel Beckett: An Illustrated Biography, Revised Edition
Enoch Brater
Manufacturer: Thames & Hudson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Waiting for Godot: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts
ASIN: 0500284113 |
Book Description
Since Enoch Brater's essential study of Samuel Beckett's life and works was originally published before Beckett died, the author has taken the opportunity of this paperback reprint to bring his subject up to date. Beckett was undoubtedly a difficult writer, and one of the virtues of this biography is to give the general reader easier access to all aspects of his work, particularly the more elliptic theater and prose pieces of his later years. Brater follows Beckett's career from the early days in Ireland to the efflorescence in his chosen expatriate home in France just after the Second World War, and beyond that to his success in the rest of the world as a result of the universal appeal of his cryptic, moving play Waiting for Godot.
Brater emphasizes the Irish rhythms in Beckett's writing and examines, at all stages, the intriguing relationship between his fiction and his compositions for theater, film, and television. Supported by a generous selection of photographs, including many examples of Beckett productions in all parts of the world, this is the indispensable guide to understanding one of the literary geniuses of the twentieth century. 122 b/w illustrations. The first edition was published under the title Why Beckett?.
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