A Clockwork Orange

Book Description

"Anthony Burgess reads chapters of his novel A Clockwork Orange with hair-raising drive and energy. Although it is a fantasy set in an Orwellian future, this is anything but a bedtime story." -The New York Times

Told by the central character, Alex, this brilliant, hilarious, and disturbing novel creates an alarming futuristic vision of violence, high technology, and authoritarianism.Anthony Burgess' 1963 classic stands alongside Orwell's 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World as a classic of twentieth century post-industrial alienation, often shocking us into a thoughtful exploration of the meaning of free will and the conflict between good and evil. In this recording, the author's voice lends an intoxicating lyrical dimension to the language he has so masterfully crafted.

"I do not know of any other writer who has done as much with language as Mr. Burgess has done [in A Clockwork Orange]." -William S. Burroughs

Recognized as one of the literary geniuses of our time, Anthony Burgess produced thirty-two novels, a volume of verse, sixteen works of nonfiction, and two plays. Originally a composer, his creative output also included countless musical compositions, including symphonies, operas, and jazz. The author's musicality is evident in the lyrical and dramatic reading he gives in this recording. Anthony Burgess died in 1993.

Customer Reviews:

Skorry and Bezoomy!.......2007-09-12

Even though I knew this was supposed to be one of those "must be read in your lifetime" kind of books, I was always hesitant to pick it up due to the violence I knew lurked between the covers. Not because I feared it, but because I could never quite find the right "mood" to tolerate it (especially with the newspaper, Kiterunner and such one picks up these days!) However, the book came highly recommended (mostly by men, including the 30-something librarian who I checked it out from: "oh, you're going to love it!" I don't know how he knew, but he was right). I finally cracked the cover.

Lo and behold, what indiscernible argo did I discover on the first page! For such a short book, I told myself, this would be a long read. After two or three pages of the futuristic, Russian-based slang I found that, like reading Shakespeare, the reader adjusts to the rhythm of the language. It did not prevent the story from absorbing me, and I didn't need to know the definition of every word to grasp the meaning.

Alex, the charming teenage sociopath narrator, spends the first third of the book inciting nightly acts of "ultraviolence" with his hooligan friends. In the second part, he is caught, punished, and rehabilitated. In the third, he must deal with the consequences of his violent past, and his present as a man who can no longer defend himself from them. Although written in the 60's, it's hard not picture a 1980's London backdrop complete with the punks and hooligans bringing anarchy in an alternate socialist dystopia.

A quick word on the violence. Although the narrator gleefully partakes in some terrible actions, his use of slang to describe it actually keeps it rather slapstick and prevents it from becoming overly graphic (like Fightclub, for instance). What I didn't expect at all was the humor. Some of Alex's observations are riotously funny. I even got a few strange looks while reading in public, either because I laughed too loudly, or reacted to Alex's deepening predicament with an "aah!"--a pretty good sign that I'm captivated. This says something about the skill of the writer, that he had me empathizing with (if not exactly rooting for) a depraved character who I had no business liking under normal circumstances.

The only thing that didn't quite sit with me was the inconsistent (yet original) 21st chapter. Some say this ends the novel on a lighter, more hopeful note. I don't think it needed to. Without giving too much away, what Alex hints at maturing into was, to me, far more terrifying than his old hooligan self. Especially seeing how the other adults in this book, including his parents, have turned out in this fictional future. Give me the other, albeit more sinister, end.

Outstanding!.......2007-09-08

I've been on a little reading binge lately, and I found this book to be quite exilerating. I have never read anything like it! I would have to say that this is one of my absolute favorite books. I am so happy that they decided to publish the last chapter of this book in the States. It would be completely different without it!!

I would recommend this book to anyone, I checked it out from the library for the first reading. I am going to have to add it to my collection, that's how good it is!

great.......2007-09-06

fantastic once you get the hang of the language and slang. Suggestion--watch the movie first to put a face with the characters. The movie is but a fraction of the book, so it won't spoil anything. LOVE IT!!!

Literature as Art and Social Conscience.......2007-09-06

If you are looking for a simple and straightforward novel, then this is not it.

This is a piece of literature as art by the talented British writer Anthony Burgess (1917 to 1993). I got interested in Burgess from his non-fiction works on Shakespeare and Joyce.

Even the title here is complex, and According to Burgess himself, the title is from an old Cockney expression "as queer as a clockwork orange. Burgess wrote in his later that a creature who can only perform good or evil is "a clockwork orange -- meaning that he has the appearance of an organism lovely with color and juice, but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil; or the almighty state."

So, the novel is about good and evil and as a vehicle he uses a young man Alex, who leads a life of crime and random violence including rape. He sets the story in the future but using realism. Alex narrates the tale and does so in a language called "Nadstat" which is not English but a sort of street slang. That adds to the ambiance or flavour or setting of the story.

The novel contains three parts: the narrative on Alex and his illegal activity or street crimes, the imprisonment and attempted rehabilitaion of Alex, and finally the retribution of his victims.

What does it all mean? First and foremost it is a work of art so keep that in mind. It includes various themes such as the power struggles between old and young generations, the corruption of social institutions, and politics. It is supposed to make us think about the direction of society as a whole.

Mostly Good Book........2007-08-23

If you are a fan of the dystopian drama then look no further. This book has a wonderful and imaginitive plot with a good moral to follow. Burgess's unique storytelling abilities, combined with the "Nadsat" dialect which he himself adapted for this novella, makes it a great read for any type of reader!

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Average customer rating:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
History: Fiction or Science? Astronomical methods as applied to chronology. Ptolemy's Almagest. Chronology III
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ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Average customer rating:

great!
If I had my way EVERY high school student would read it
A great message... with a meandering story
Government
Not much to this one...

Anthem
Ayn Rand , and Leonard Peikoff
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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We the Living
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ASIN: 0452281253

Book Description

Available for the first time in trade paperback--this provocative book is "an anthem sung in praise of man's ego"--from the legendary author Ayn Rand

Anthem has long been hailed as one of Ayn Rand's classic novels, and a clear predecessor to her later masterpieces, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. In Anthem, Rand examines a frightening future in which individuals have no name, no independence, and no values. Equality 7-2521 lives in the dark ages of the future where all decisions are made by committee, all people live in collectives, and all traces of individualism have been wiped out. Despite such a restrictive environment, the spark of individual thought and freedom still burns in him--a passion which he has been taught to call sinful. In a purely egalitarian world, Equality 7-2521 dares to stand apart from the herd--to think and choose for himself, to discover electricity, and to love the woman of his choice. Now he has been marked for death for committing the ultimate sin. In a world where the great "we" reign supreme, he has rediscovered the lost and holy word--"I."

Download Description

A stunning and brilliantly realized future world in which individuality has been crushed is the theme of Ayn Rand's bestselling masterpiece, "Anthem". Rand presents her tale of a man who dares to make individual choices, to seek knowledge in a dark age, to love the woman of his choice. In a society in which people have no name, no independence, and no values, he is hunted for the unpardonable crime: having the courage to stand above the crowd. Introduction by Leonard Peikoff.

Customer Reviews:

great!.......2007-08-23

Of course the book is a little overdone. But I found it refreshing to read this that book celebrates individualism in a world that sometimes celebrates collectivism.

If I had my way EVERY high school student would read it.......2007-08-22

No other work I've ever come across can convey the importance of individuality and the threat it suffers from collectivism, or at least not in such a small format. This book had a profound effect on me when I first read it and it made me want to learn more.

A great message... with a meandering story.......2007-07-31

This is the first Ayn Rand book I've read, even though I was familiar with her philosophy of objectivism. The book itself is set in an alternate world, most likely during the 21st century. It is a backwards world completely controlled by the great "we" in which councils decide everything, and only the will of your "brothers" matters. It is an interesting, if at times confusing, world that she creates; but unfortunately she doesn't describe it enough to offer a firm foundation (however yes I know, it's just a novella). The main character shows great development which can be traced throughout the novel - a vivid, distinct transformation, which is wonderfully illustrated both mentally and physically by Rand.

The story, in the first three-quarters of the book, is particularly interesting, but unfortunately she wanders off-course, by forsaking the plot for the philosophical message she wishes to get across. While the philosophical message is important, as it is the basis of the book, I would've appreciated a more complete ending.

On the whole, Anthem seems to be a great introduction to Rand's philosophy and writing, but as a fictitious story it tends to fall off course. It's a short book though, so I would highly recommend it, as it offers interesting philosophical insight into the nature of individualism and collectivism.

Government.......2007-07-16

Being the normal high school slacker that I am, I chose to read this book and write a response to it, rather than read a book close to 400 pages long and give an oral response to it. And I will say at first I didn't understand anything that was going on. The writing is simple to almost the point that you see no point in reading it. The simplistic writing doesn't seem to shape up to anything. But by the time I got to the last page I couldn't believe what I had just read. It was incredible. I could have written endless pages for the school assignment. It leaves the audience with so many possiblities in the meaning of the book and it leaves you thinking. I'm off soon to purchase this book, every time I see it on the shelves at the book store I tell everyone how much I loved it, definately a reccommended read.

Not much to this one..........2007-07-13

I haven't read any of Ayn Rand's other books but this one was extremely dissapointing. The theme was very simple, and delivered so that the most simple minded would have difficulty not understanding it.

I just didn't feel like this was particularly creative, the worst part being that it is simply a poor piece of literature.

I hate to give one star but the story was seemed trite and simplistic and the writing was poor so I'm not sure if it had any redeeming factors that I could perceive.

Average customer rating:

Dandelion Wine
Not Bradbury's Best but a Fine Old World Novel.
Audio Version of This book
I live in Waukegan
Uncork and Inhale the Heady Aroma

Dandelion Wine (Grand Master Editions)
Ray Bradbury
Manufacturer: Spectra
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0553277537
Release Date: 1985-03-01

Amazon.com

World-renowned fantasist Ray Bradbury has on several occasions stepped outside the arenas of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. An unabashed romantic, his first novel in 1957 was basically a love letter to his childhood. (For those who want to undertake an even more evocative look at the dark side of youth, five years later the author would write the chilling classic Something Wicked This Way Comes.)

Dandelion Wine takes us into the summer of 1928, and to all the wondrous and magical events in the life of a 12-year-old Midwestern boy named Douglas Spaulding. This tender, openly affectionate story of a young man's voyage of discovery is certainly more mainstream than exotic. No walking dead or spaceships to Mars here. Yet those who wish to experience the unique magic of early Bradbury as a prose stylist should find Dandelion Wine most refreshing. --Stanley Wiater

Book Description

The summer of '28 was a vintage season for a growing boy. A summer of green apple trees, mowed lawns, and new sneakers. Of half-burnt firecrackers, of gathering dandelions, of Grandma's belly-busting dinner. It was a summer of sorrows and marvels and gold-fuzzed bees. A magical, timeless summer in the life of a twelve-year-old boy named Douglas Spaulding--remembered forever by the incomparable Ray Bradbury.

Customer Reviews:

Dandelion Wine.......2007-08-10

It was for my daughter. She likes to listen to books on tapes and CDs and read the book too. She was very happy with this item.

Not Bradbury's Best but a Fine Old World Novel........2007-07-30

This is the book I generally recommend to people who have not read Ray Bradbury before because it's not too complicated and yet still manages to have that spiritual, unearthly quality that all of his works are known for. And like all of his stories, this one is a bit on the wordy side. Ray is the king of description, but it would be only fair to say that he often gets carried away with too many details of surroundings and atmospheres that add nothing to the story but more words. On the other hand he probably gets paid by the word, so who could blame him?

The story takes place in Greentown, a setting he has used for other novels over the years such as "Something Wicked This Way Comes" and which is based on his own real life hometown in upstate Illinois. It's a story of two young brothers in a quintessential 1920's small town who go through the ups and downs of typical Americana small town life complete with oddball misfit neighbors and a doting grandmother. But there are thrills in store when a murderer is found to be on the lose.

A page turner to be sure.

Audio Version of This book.......2007-07-03

This audio version is just awful! You can not hear the actors voices and so you turn it up a bit. Still some voices are audible and others aren't. Then the worst part...the special effects sounds/noises. They are so loud they scare the crud out of you and drown out everything else. They where so loud they shook the walls. I got as far as 10 minutes into the first disc and had to turn it off. I have hundreds of books on CDs but this is the worst I've ever heard. Buy the book again or buy some other audio book. This one stinks!!!

I live in Waukegan.......2007-06-25

Although today's Waukegan (aka Green Town) is going through a rebirth as I write this, it's easy to picture Washington, Glen Rock, St James and Gennessee as Roads and Avenues while reading Dandelion Wine. Ray's ode to Waukegan is written with a great deal of LOVE. On a sunny day after reading the book, I went to each place. Most of it is still standing, but the area needs a boost.

The basic premise is 8 year old Douglas Spaulding lives life in Green Town and each experience is new to him. The book, I think, made Nostalgia fashionable. Twilight Zone copied it with the episode Walking Distance, so did Stephen King in the novella The Body, and The Wonder Years was written with similar themes. I could be wrong, but it started here with Dandelion Wine.

For anyone wanted to escape life's stresses or think of a time long gone, Dandelion Wine is for you. If only childhood could be so magical.

Unlike other readers who grew up reading this, I read it for the first time this year. This will become one of those books I read regularly.

Uncork and Inhale the Heady Aroma.......2007-06-12

I cannot add much in review of this classic novel, but I will quote a few wonderful lines that may lead you to read the book. Bradbury is magic.

"And some days, he went on, were days of hearing every trump and trill of the universe. Some days were good for tasting and some for touching. And some days were good for all the senses at once. This day now, he nodded, smelled as if a great and nameless orchard had grown up overnight beyond the hills to fill the entire visible land with its warm freshness. Their felt like rain, but there were no clouds. Momentarily, a stranger might laugh off in the woods, but there was silence...."

Out of the Silent Planet (Space Trilogy, Book One)

Average customer rating:

Not Free SF Reader
Excellent Work of Fiction and Philosophy
Classics!
Book Three is best
Great allegory and Good Science Fiction

Out of the Silent Planet (Space Trilogy, Book One)
C.S. Lewis
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0743234901

Book Description

The first book in C. S. Lewis's acclaimed Space Trilogy, which continues with Perelandra and That Hideous Strength, Out of the Silent Planet begins the adventures of the remarkable Dr. Ransom. Here, that estimable man is abducted by a megalomaniacal physicist and his accomplice and taken via spaceship to the red planet of Malacandra. The two men are in need of a human sacrifice, and Dr. Ransom would seem to fit the bill. Once on the planet, however, Ransom eludes his captors, risking his life and his chances of returning to Earth, becoming a stranger in a land that is enchanting in its difference from Earth and instructive in its similarity. First published in 1943, Out of the Silent Planet remains a mysterious and suspenseful tour de force.

Customer Reviews:

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03

If I was lamenting the state of contemporary fiction, as wikipedia mentions Lewis says in his biography, this is not what I would want to see happen to provide a cure.

A cure for insomnia, or, in a pinch, a firelighter, perhaps, but there is not much else of interest here.

Excellent Work of Fiction and Philosophy.......2007-08-01

Lewis's account of a philologist kidnapped by a pair of scientists (one a warped idealist and the other motivated strictly by greed) is a wonderful work of fiction which touches on topics such as education, philosophy and religion. Its basis in Christian belief will be clear to the educated reader, though the unfamiliar names used to describe it may make the book more palatable to those who like science fiction but are wary of being 'preached to.' Perhaps its most charming strength is its reconciliation of a scientific understanding of the universe with a view of the world to which wonder, mystery and the miraculous are critical. In this book, the two are complimentary rather than contradictory and in the end Lewis makes it abundantly clear that this was his intent. The power of language is a theme throughout and its power both to mask and reveal ideas is sublimely shown when the philologist, Ransom, must translate into an alien tongue the philosophy of the physicist Weston. What Weston uses his polished vocabulary and oratory to convey, Ransom must restate in simple words and in so doing lays bare their real meanings and inherent contradictions.
Science fiction and fantasy fans will find a competently written plot filled out with engaging characters and plenty of fascinating, detailed images of alien landscapes, flora and fauna. Though it does involve a space journey, its tone is closer to Lord of the Rings than Star Wars or Star Trek (without LOTR's epic scope). Christians will find a reminder of the beauty of their faith and anybody interested in philosophy and ethics will find plenty of material to absorb and debate.

Classics!.......2007-07-12

This was a wonderful classic that I discovered! It can be read by adults and older kids (teens). C.S. Lewis is a master!

Book Three is best.......2007-06-10

This is a fascinating book and story that must be read all the way through book three in the series to be truly understood. One needs to remember that it was written so long ago that the prose is, to me, cumbersome and Lewis goes on and on about things philosophizing at great length about the smallest issue. I felt I had to stick with it in spite of this because by the time I began to see this, I had already invested too much time in the reading of it.

Great allegory and Good Science Fiction.......2007-05-28

Clive Staples Lewis can be called the father of Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy. Out of the Silent Planet, written in 1938, is the first of a trilogy of stories. The others are Perelandra and That Hideous Strength.

Lewis is the author of many novels including, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, and the other Narnia stories as well as non-fiction works including Mere Christianity, The Abolition of Man and A Grief Observed. Lewis was a close friend of J. R. R. Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings. Both were professors at Oxford University and members of an informal literary group called the Inklings.

The science part of the story is largely dated. Lewis had little idea what space travel would be like. His Mars is a much more Earth-like planet than we now know it to be. The writing style is also somewhat dated, being told in narrative more than is done in modern literature, but it still works both as an adventure and allegory. In all of his fiction works Lewis uses allegory to teach Christianity. In the story Elwin Ransom, the protagonist, is kidnapped and transported to Mars by two acquaintances. Ransom flees his captors upon arrival on the alien world. After a couple days of travel he sees a Hross. At first he thinks it is just a beast but he realizes it is speaking and slowly they begin communication. Later he meets Oyarsa the ruler of the planet and, most likely, an archangel. Oyarsa's messengers, regular angels, are called eldila. Ransom also learns that Earth is the silent planet, cut off because it is ruled by the Bent One, a fallen angel.

As he says near the end of this story, "What we need...is not so much a body of belief as a body of people familiarized with certain ideas." His overriding purpose in Out of the Silent Planet is to familiarize a secular world with some of the principles of the Christian faith.

As the story wraps up, the narrator laments the evil he sees spreading across the world and of his hope that the direction of history might be altered. Of course Lewis knew that evil rules this world and only at the end would it be defeated.

Recommendation: To understand Christian Science Fiction, start with Out of the Silent Planet. It remains a five-star story.

Kyle Pratt

Atlas Shrugged: 35th Anniversary Edition

Average customer rating:

A Fabulous Book on Individualism
Those who preach selflessness do it for selfish reasons
A review for young people in their late teens
Who is John Galt?
Brilliant

Atlas Shrugged: 35th Anniversary Edition
Ayn Rand
Manufacturer: Signet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Atlas Shrugged (Cliffs Notes)
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ASIN: 0451171926

Book Description

Published in 1957, Atlas Shrugged was Ayn Rand's greatest achievement and last work of fiction. In this novel she dramatizes her unique philosophy through an intellectual mystery story that integrates ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, politics, economics, and sex.

Set in a near-future U.S.A. whose economy is collapsing as a result of the mysterious disappearance of leading innovators and industrialists, this novel presents an astounding panorama of human life-from the productive genius who becomes a worthless playboy...to the great steel industrialist who does not know that he is working for his own destruction...to the philosopher who becomes a pirate...to the woman who runs a transcontinental railroad...to the lowest track worker in her train tunnels.

Peopled by larger-than-life heroes and villains, charged with towering questions of good and evil, Atlas Shrugged is a philosophical revolution told in the form of an action thriller.

Customer Reviews:

A Fabulous Book on Individualism.......2007-10-07

I read this book in 1985, and found that it had an enormous influence on my thinking for a long time. As a result, I snapped up all her works that came to the Indian book shops. Ms. Ayn Rand was a staunch believer in individual freedom, and an enlightened capitalism. She opposed, in principle, that one man be expected to serve another, either through private charity or through enforced socialism. However, as I grew up, I found that this philosophy had a limited relevance to one's life.

The novel, nevertheless, is extremely well-written and has a very unique plot. It traces the lives of individual entrepreneurs in the land of freedom, who are being held back by laws and people who want them to serve others instead. Ayn Rand uses the characters to make long, powerful, speeches about her philosophy. She also weaves this in very deftly with the lives of the heroes, and shows what can happen when we put creative, dynamic people in bondage. There is a pleasant, surprising ending, which affects you like a fresh dawn

As fiction, the book suffers from these long speeches. As a book on Ayn Rand's philosophy, the story helps us understand her philosophy better. Her skill is such that each is meaningless without the other. Therefore, if you just read the story, skipping the speeches, you will miss most of the flavour. And if you read some of her other works, without having read this novel, you will find it very difficult to visualise the implications of her complex arguments.

While I am sort of glad today that I found a more, multi-faceted, multi-hued approach to life (than what Ms. Rand offered), I do envy you, if you haven't read this book so far. If you buy this book, you are sure to be in for a treat.

And later, even if you move on, some of her philosophy will perhaps always remain with you. And you will find yourself to be richer for it.

You may also find some of her other works interesting. I particularly recommend (The Fountainhead, Anthem, and The Virtue of Selfishness.

Those who preach selflessness do it for selfish reasons.......2007-08-11

In today's political clime Rand's writing is must reading. We are currently experiencing a resurgence in the war on the individual, with Hillary Clinton dropping quotes right and left that sound remarkably similar to statements made by Stalin and Lenin. Enough is a enough. Those who preach collectivism are trying to subjugate you. Those who preach altruism typically have their hand in someone else's pocket. As Rand says in Atlas Shrugged, "public welfare" is the banner that looters hide behind. Here Rand argues that capitalism is the ONLY just political system. The problem with many conservatives, as Rand saw them, is that though they defend capitalism they usually ground their defense in some vague notion of "God-given rights." Since religious beliefs are not rationally defensible this move greatly risks placing reason on the side of the anti-capitalists. No, Rand said, we must do what's right because it's right and not because we are told to or want to get into heaven. We must defend capitalism not because of some bizarre notion of being mandated by a supreme being but rather because it is the only political system that allows man to rise to his potential, to choose for himself, to bargain with others freely and to exercise his volition. Liberals who defend "minorities" (all the while ignoring that in one out of three of the most populated counties in America today whites are actually the minority) while engaging in collectivist attacks on "the cult of the individual" and "egoism" must contend with Rand's statement that one cannot claim to defend minorities while attacking individualism, for the smallest minority is ALWAYS the individual. People always act with selfish reasons. In order for charity to even be of any help the recipient must selfishly accept the charity. Bad competition, which levels the playing field by inhibiting the performance of rivals, drags achievers down to the mean. All the good such achievers can do for society as a whole is then eliminated, as in the "Anti-dog-eat-dog" agreement in this book. Good competition, in which people compete by perfecting their own skill and knowledge, improves everyone. Even if you are beat by someone else you are left more knowledgeable and able. I only have one question: Where is Galt's Gulch? I would like to move. This novel, originally entitled The Strike, is brilliant. The Fountainhead was about the individual vs. the collective, and this is about the producers vs. the parasites. What if the reviled "rich," those who produce the amenities others take for granted or expect the "government" to pay for, all went on strike? What then? By the way, if you like this book you will probably also like a book called Camp of the Saints. Check it out.

I love the party scene in this book. Rand perfectly points out the ultimate irony of parties: A party is supposed to be a celebration, but those who have done things worthy of celebration typically are not the kind of people who find any enjoyment in parties, whereas those who love partying are not the kind of people there is anything worth celebrating about!

The point of this book was ably made by Jon Hanson, author of a nifty little book called Good Debt, Bad Debt. The point is this: NEVER in history has there been a society that was socialist BEFORE it went capitalist. This has never happened because it would be impossible. It can only be the other way around. FIRST capitalists must BUILD and MAINTAIN a society BEFORE socialists can come and leech off of it parasitically. Socialists don't build or produce anything. They only appropriate. This is why socialism can only follow capitalism. Further, if the last remnant of the capitalist elements of society completely disintegrate, the entire structure collapses. It's not the socialists that keep things going, they just feed off of open sores.

A review for young people in their late teens.......2007-08-09

Atlas Shrugged is a captivating novel. The greatest "shortcoming" is that the book is over 50 years old. The heroine is the vice-president of a major railroad company, and most of the plot revolves around her desperate efforts to keep the railroad going. In the 21st century, when the age of railroads is long past, this is certainly dated. Indeed, Atlas Shrugged, although contemporary when written, takes on the feel of a grand masterful allegory perhaps like Dante, Chaucer, or Swift. It is just as much "fun" as Alice in Wonderland or Gulliver's Travels--and just as serious as the Divine Comedy. Yet, if you listen to a hour of local and national news on TV every evening while reading the book--half of the stories will sound as though they were lifted from the book--so timelessness and universal is Rand's story.

This will probably be the most important book (to you) that you read in your lifetime.

What is it about? It is often described as "Capitalism versus Communism", or "altruism vs selfishness"--but both descriptions seriously miss the point. What this book is really about is much more fundamental. It is about the nature of good and evil, and beyond that, the very meaning of life.

"But I'm a good person, so what value is this book to me?"--you may ask. Answer: You have certainly noticed that adult "morality" is full of all kinds of exceptions and contradictions. The truth is, the world of "morality" we adults have constructed is a sham, a fraud. It is no more than "social convention"--which is to say, "what we all more-or-less agree to"--and actually, despite all the "moral" justification, has absolutely nothing to do with morality or right-and-wrong, and often little to do with common sense.

Still, the question remains, "Why isn't simply accepting the current 'social norms' good enough?" "Go along to get along." Answer: To put it bluntly, the greatest evil the world has ever seen has been done by folks "accepting community norms" who thought they were doing good, or at least who could justify their actions as being "socially acceptable".

The truth is, you will be quite surprised when you learn the true nature of evil. Until you have read Atlas Shrugged, evil will remain a hazy mist floating just off your line of vision, which you don't look straight at, because you don't WANT it to exist. After reading Atlas Shrugged, evil snaps into sharp focus--and like a bully confronted--ceases to be a fear, and just becomes something distasteful to avoid.

As Rand richly illustrates: Just as eating too much fat can clog up your arteries, thinking "too much fat" can damage with your mental health. Some mental illness is physiological. But most mental illness is caused by unresolved internal contradictions--caused, for example, by refusing to look at evil because you PREFER to believe that it does not exist. Reality is. You do NOT have the option of living in your own private version of reality. Nevertheless, many, perhaps most, people live lives built on thier own complex lies. That turns smart people crazy, and stupid people mean and crazy.

How do you avoid "unresolved internal contradictions"? By knowing the difference between right and wrong, and never, ever, allowing a rotten board to be used in the construction of your mental house. The problem is the old "slippery slope". Lie to yourself just once, no matter how trivial the lie, and the next one will be easier. Before long, you realize that you can justify ANYTHING--and with the blessings of the popular culture. And before you know it, you've lost your soul.

As Rand preaches, the meaning of life is integrity. Living without compromise. To live a life filled with joy and pride in yourself, made possible by being free of mental conflicts. To know, not merely hope, that your mistakes were honest mistakes. To live with the knowledge that you are the best you can be, while striving to be better. To be a joy and comfort to the people you love. To give generously of your time, wealth, and love simply for the joy of doing so. To be a person who has changed the world for the better when you have gone. That's what Atlas Shrugged is really all about. All ofthe other themes, even Communism vs Capitalism are peripheral supporting themes. It is precisely because the fundamental issues are so basic and primary, that the implications are simultaneously universal--applying to all aspects of life.

The greatest real flaw in Atlas Shrugged is that Rand herself does not quite understand how her philosophy applies to inter-personal relationships. All of the heros in the story are flawed characters, because Rand's characters are based on herself, and are flawed because Rand herself was flawed. That is, Rand had such a horrible youth that her ability to love and trust was damaged. In her own flawed vision, she has largely substituted hero worship for love. Rand's heros are real heros to be admired, but not role models to emulate.

You will also find many things with which you will want to disagree, but in your heart, you will know that Rand is right. How you resolve these conflicts will be the most important decision you will make in your entire life. If you choose the truth, simply because it is the truth, then you are on the way to a life of good mental health. If you reject the truth because you PREFER a different vision or interpretation of reality--then you have already begun to lie to yourself, and you will probably have an unhappy life and be a miserable person to live with.

Who is John Galt?.......2005-07-22

This book was truely amazing. I read this book after Rand's other novels, "We The Living" and "Anthem". Atlas Shrugged is a marvelous book and her ideas, thoughts, and philosophy are noticed throughout the book, in the way she writes and through the text.

This book is very influential, at times hard to read, but overall very rewarding. The different characters and the PLOT of the book all assist each other. The plot of the book is ingenious, the story and the conclusion work very well with each other.

This book has been one of the most influential books in my life, and I think on the world. I would highly recommend anybody to read this book, and keep up with it. Keep an open mind.

Brilliant.......2005-02-22

I selected this book off the shelves of Barns and Nobles with no prior knowledge of its contents, nor its reputation for being a "classic". Thus my verdict on this book was not altered by my expectations or by what others have regarded it as. I am not going to write out the plot, because it has been done several times already in previous reviews. I found this book to be brilliant. I was not sure what to make of it after the first, rather slow hundred pages or so. However, after the basic setup of the circumstances articulated in the first section of the book, it began to pick up. The characters are charismatic, and draw you in with their brilliant insight and observations of society, and how it functions. Its philosophies are subversive of nearly all beliefs that are popularily accepted today, yet each argument against the commonly held convictions are backed up with logical arguments. Anyway, I can not do the book enough justice by trying to give a synopsis of why I feel it is great, so I advise everyone to read it and experience it for themselves.

Average customer rating:

The Infinite Narrator turns out to be . . .Groucho
Of fairy dust and cosmic equations
kid lit
Scientific Musings, Delightful Comedy, and Pure Fantasy - Imaginative Tales by a Master
ingenuous creativity, but bland at times

Cosmicomics
Italo Calvino
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0156226006

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An enchanting series of stories about the evolution of the universe. Calvino makes characters out of mathematical formulae and simple cellular structures. They disport themselves amongst galaxies, experience the solidification of planets, move from aquatic to terrestrial existence, play games with hydrogen atoms -- and have time for a love life.

Book Description

Enchanting stories about the evolution of the universe, with characters that are fashioned from mathematical formulae and cellular structures. “Naturally, we were all there, - old Qfwfq said, - where else could we have been? Nobody knew then that there could be space. Or time either: what use did we have for time, packed in there like sardines?” Translated by William Weaver. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

Customer Reviews:

The Infinite Narrator turns out to be . . .Groucho.......2007-08-13

Twelve stories of varying quality told-not by
a whale or a woodworm-but by a character who is as
old as creation. Now an infinite narrator could have
a lot of different voices. He/she/it could even be
voiceless, or speak by vibrating the molecules of
the universe.
Sorry, I got carried away there. Anyway, the voice thatCalvino chooses is the voice of in ironically-inclined
grandpa telling an unprecedented set of Just So stories.
Distance of the Moon is the easiest of these to like and
the one most sure to make it to anthologies. The Aquatic
Uncle-a story about creatures leaving the ocean and living,
joyfully, rebelliously on land-is the most socially apt.

But all of them, even in the hands of a playful narrator who
himself/herself/itself has no shape until the very last story, are
remarkably about love.

Does any of this make sense? Well, probably not. But it
makes something: a playful, avuncular poem maybe,or maybe
just a great read.

--Lynn Hoffman, author of THE NEW SHORT COURSE IN WINE and
the novel bang BANG. ISBN 9781601640005

Of fairy dust and cosmic equations.......2006-11-02

Amazing, and though it's hard to write a cliche like this after reading something so incredibly original, it truly is unlike anything else you'll ever read. Calvino uses higher math elements as his characters and the construction of the universe and probably the destruction of time as his story line. Like the best of carnival rides, who knows what the heck's going on? But the ride is fantastic and just exists in its own space. Have fun with this-- but be careful: you might get lost at the outer/inner rim of creation.

kid lit.......2006-04-23

I really liked this book, not because it only took 2 days to read such a short collection of pages, but because it was like reading a child's book about the creation of the universe. Calvino is so very creative, I can't help but wonder if he was stoned when he thought of this idea...Non, non, ce n'est pas possible. Read it if you yourself are creative and looking for something fun to read. If you are overly serious and melancholic, then do not bother.

Scientific Musings, Delightful Comedy, and Pure Fantasy - Imaginative Tales by a Master.......2006-02-09

How does one describe Italo Calvino? A superb, imaginative story teller? A startlingly creative writer? Author of provocative, compelling, fantastical fiction?

Cosmicomics is a superb introduction to a uniquely remarkable author, a storyteller in a class by himself. These twelve tales begin with cosmological observations such as "At one time, according to Sir George H. Darwin, the moon was very close to the earth". What follows is a first person (or perhaps, first entity would be more precise), imaginative account, loosely tied to the introductory scientific premise.

The protagonists are decidedly strange, perhaps atomic scale particles, mathematical expressions, cellular structures, simple biological forms, or extinct creatures. Calvino never quite describes the story teller, leaving us to exercise our imagination. What is clear, however, is that these entities, rather remarkably, exhibit behaviors like jealousy, arrogance, self-delusions, rivalries, and ambition. Similarly, relationships between particles, or force fields, cells, or whatever, are described not by complicated equations, but are cast in familiar terms: we find uncles, spouses, lovers, and enemies.

The plots defy easy categorization. One involves a blind mollusk (no visual organ) contemplating the invisible beauty of his/her (gender is somewhat non-specific) colorful, spiral, carbonate shell. Another is a poignant account of two lovers separated by evolutionary divergence. A third involves two rivals falling endlessly along some gravitationally curved path. I was especially intrigued with a rather sensitive (and long-lived) character, becoming the subject of observations from distant galaxies, is deeply disturbed by his inability to alter his past actions, now forever fixed in light waves propagating across the universe.

Some reviewers have argued that not all stories are entirely successful. I agree. Some accounts are less structured and wandered around, becoming lost in Calvino's fantasy world. Nonetheless, I find myself returning to these stories for a second and third reading. I am compelled to award five stars to Cosmicomics: one star for superb story telling, one for exotic characters, one for scientific muddling, one for provocative observations, and one for delightful comedy.

ingenuous creativity, but bland at times.......2006-01-24

This is a collection of science-fiction short stories about the infinity of our universe, through the experience of Qfwfq, the main character. The infinity of space in our universe is also transposed into the infinity of time, and consequently Qfwfq is immortal and often shapeless. The beauty of the book emanates from the radical originality of Calvino's creative thought process. In these stories, he applies a scientific process to his humor, describing the vagaries of his characters, situations and the space of the universe in general, with scientific reasoning.

The first story, "Distance to the Moon", is my personal favorite. It starts with an era when the moon is so close to the earth that it is reachable with a ladder! The earth inhabitants harness this condition by raking in the cheese that is a natural resource on moon! The core of the story describes how this era comes to pass and blends into our current cosmo-geographic co-ordinates. The ending is most satisfying as it ties together many of our earthy myths, for example, cheese on the moon, and a maiden playing the harp on the moon, into this story, thus describing how these legends came into existence.

However, I cannot say the same of all the other stories. Calvino often dwells too much in his pseudo-scientific humor, which becomes a drag to even a scientist like me. The greater part of many of the stories are dedicated just to the concepts, characters and situations that are the creative genius of Calvino. As a consequence, the story itself goes nowhere, and is essentially a scientific meditation on these zany concepts. This is my opinion on stories like "A Sign in Space", "All at One Point" and "Game without end". Having said that there is still a lot of life and dynamism in many other stories like "The Dinosaurs", and "The Aquatic Uncle". All in all, a refreshingly original creation, although some stories are just that and not too much more.

Average customer rating:

(3.5): An Important Yet Flawed Novel...
Not Burroughs' best
linear rotted cell roadway
The postmodern novel, except without the lies
Useless

Naked Lunch
William S. Burroughs
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0802132952

Amazon.com

"He was," as Salon's Gary Kamyia notes, "20th-century drug culture's Poe, its Artaud, its Baudelaire. He was the prophet of the literature of pure experience, a phenomenologist of dread.... Burroughs had the scary genius to turn the junk wasteland into a parallel universe, one as thoroughly and obsessively rendered as Blake's."

Why has this homosexual ex-junkie, whose claim to fame rests entirely on one book--the hallucinogenic ravings of a heroin addict--so seized the collective imagination? Burroughs wrote Naked Lunch in a Tangier, Morocco, hotel room between 1954 and 1957. Allen Ginsberg and his beatnik cronies burst onto the scene, rescued the manuscript from the food-encrusted floor, and introduced some order to the pages. It was published in Paris in 1959 by the notorious Olympia Press and in the U.S. in 1962; the landmark obscenity trial that ensued served to end literary censorship in America.

Burroughs's literary experiment--the much-touted "cut-up" technique--mirrored the workings of a junkie's brain. But it was junk coupled with vision: Burroughs makes teeming amalgam of allegory, sci-fi, and non-linear narration, all wrapped in a blend of humor--slapstick, Swiftian, slang-infested humor. What is Naked Lunch about? People turn into blobs amidst the sort of evil that R. Crumb, in the decades to come, would inimitably flesh out with his dark and creepy cartoon images. Perhaps the most easily grasped part of Naked Lunch is its America-bashing, replete with slang and vitriol. Read it and see for yourself.

Book Description

Since its original publication in Paris in 1959, Naked Lunch has become one of the most important novels of the 20th century. Exerting its influence on the work of authors like Thomas Pynchon, J. G. Ballard, and William Gibson, on the relationship of art and obscenity, and on the shape of music, film, and media generally, it is one of the books that redefined not just literature but American culture. Now, nearly forty years after the book's first U.S. appearance, Burroughs scholar Barry Miles and Burroughs's longtime editor James Grauerholz have given us an edition of the book which includes many editorial corrections to errors present in the existing text, and incorporates Burroughs's notes on the text, several essays he wrote over the years about the book, and, most excitingly, an appendix of twenty percent new material and alternate drafts from the original manuscript, which predates the edition eventually was published by Olympia Press in Paris. For the Burroughs enthusiast and the neophyte, this volume is a valuable and fresh experience of perhaps his most enduring artistic legacy.

Customer Reviews:

(3.5): An Important Yet Flawed Novel..........2007-03-02

I'm not sure how to digest "Naked Lunch" let alone write a review about it. Burroughs' text is one of the most important to come out of the Beats, yet it's hard to read and didn't leave me with any sense of satisfaction. The novel is a true example of a novel driven purely by style and form and I think it hurst the overall vision of the text. I understand that the cut and splice and often tangential writing is meant to recreate a junk addicts perspective, yet at the end of the day, if nothing comes out of the text other than "some of the anecdotes were really something," it's hard to say how successful the novel is. Did I like it? At times. Did I enjoy reading it? Somewhat. I most certainly think it's a novel that has an important place in American History and within American Literature, but I don't think it stands up to "On the Road" and some of the other texts to come out of the Beat Generation.

Not Burroughs' best.......2006-09-08

Although NL has been acclaimed as genius, WSB himself didn't think it was successful. Those of you who are turned off by the contrived shocking imagery of NL and won't read another WSB novel: Please reconsider and read some of his later, more "mature" post-60's novels; Wild Boys, Exterminator! (short stories) Cities of the Red Night, Western Lands, etc.
Those are the books where Burroughs' 'voice' comes through, and makes his earlier writings (NL, Nova Express) seem almost childish.

linear rotted cell roadway.......2006-09-07

Wide dog fulcrum by standard turning smoking litre soft generations. Sons made independent significance account anything apart selfishly. Concise life success ghettoes? Greater time edit enjoy hours grace magazines commitment suspect.

Heroic attractive penalties baby utopian ovary stop animals. Logical taking reasonable serpent brother amidst setting consumers. Bed perspective each closer? Interest leisure volume leaving.

Indoors strictly priority eating. Violent curve maid departure.

The postmodern novel, except without the lies.......2006-07-01

The concept of the postmodern novel is confusion between symbol and meaning, explained through self-aware metaphor; Burroughs takes this further and makes a radio show of many small skits associated invisibly (topically; philosophically) around the concept of modern breakdown. He borrows from every source, pulp, science fiction, psychological thrillers, literature (Melville!), and even advertisements in order to create this highly metaphorical book. Where James Joyce and Thomas Pynchon created highly styled postmodern books, they never came close to this degree of truth and understanding of the human condition -- and how it might be transcended. This is one of my favorite books of all time and I will never tire of reading it, although many of the acts in the book are things that make me alternately blush or hide in fear.

Useless.......2006-06-27

For any number of reasons I can probably say that this is one of the worst books I have ever read. I understand that a lot of people think this is genius. I am not one of them. Personally, I don't find endless descriptions of sex with minority boys to be very entertaining reading, let alone genius. I also don't find pointless prose that appears to have no discernable thread of thought to have much value. Personally, I like to read good story tellers, authors like Tom Robbins or Salman Rushdie. Naked Lunch is about as opposed to them as you can reasonably get.

This is one of those books that sounds a lot better when someone translates it for you. In reading the preface where Norman Mailer talks about it in the context of the court proceedings in the 1960s, the book sounds interesting and culturally pertinent. However, upon reading it the book falls far short of the lofty status we get from Mailer's answers on the stand. I understand how Alan Ginsberg, a proclaimed NAMBLA member, would find it's material suitable. I wonder about Mailer though. While I'll never take a stand against a person's writing what they want, I do take pause when someone recommends something like this.

This is not literature so much as a heroin clouded view of the author's own serious problems and his interpretation of our culture's deficiencies. The notion that this is the "naked" truth, or lunch as it is so called, is so absurd that the book should never have been accepted as remotely resembling cult literature, in the past, present, or future. Who reads this and resonates with it? Who thinks, "Yes, gay sex with boys is what my mind is all about? Oh, and all the better that they're Arabs!" Very few people, the author included. Burroughs himself admits this was difficult to write. This is probably due to the fact that the vignettes portrayed here do not, in fact, represent anything so much as the anarchy resplendent in the author's own mind while he struggled with various addictions. As a case study in heroin and morphine addiction, this may have some merit. As a counterculture commentary on society I find it worthless.

This isn't about my sensibilities being assaulted - far from it. If I can read & enjoy Robbins's linguistic forays into sex with nuns, I can handle just about anything. I'm not offended with flying sperm so much as I am insulted that anyone felt this was worth reading; that I was lured into thinking this was a work of art. It's not.

Sometimes I read books that don't suit me, but I understand why someone would like it. This book falls squarely in the camp where people feel they need to proclaim it genius because they're so confused or intimidated by it. This book is far from genius. The author admits it was put together from scraps of things written while he was in his heavy heroin addiction, and that he vaguely remembers much of it. I don't see how, or in what context, this book will appeal to anyone other than a case study of a certain segment of people at a certain instance in time in America.

Average customer rating:

hysterical fun
Exquisit Child
5 whole stars of fun
The Extraordinary Girl

Matilda (Puffin Modern Classics)
Roald Dahl
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0142402532

Book Description

Matilda is a sweet five-year-old with extraordinary mental powers—powers she uses to teach her school's evil head mistress a lesson she'll never forget!

Customer Reviews:

hysterical fun.......2007-09-28

I feel sad for anyone who has seen the movie before reading this book because it certainly doesn't do it justice. Dahl is by far my favorite children's author and he never runs out of witty hilarity that's peppered throughout each book. Matilda is no exception. Dahl puts a spin on the orphaned child motif by empowering children. He also spices it up with a big of magic that's directly connected to Matilda's love of reading and her knack for creative problem solving. Matilda's lovable, humble, and a wonderful model for young readers who, well...love to read.

Exquisit Child.......2007-06-01

I adored Matilda. She was born into an abusive family with dim-witted parents. All they do is watch t.v and never pay attention to Matilda. She goes to the library every single day, and checks out tons of books to take home, things like Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol, Moby Dick, Oliver Twist, ETC. Her parents are so annoyed, that they send her off to school, where Ms. Trunchball, the headmistress, is very ugly, mean, and nasty to children. She hates them all. But Matilda soon falls in love with her teacher, Ms. Honey, and then she developes an exquisit power to move things with her eyes. I would love a power like that. I borrowed it off my teacher's book-shelf, took it home, and din't return it until the very last day of school! I would rather read this than watch t.v~!

5 whole stars of fun.......2007-05-29

I LOVED LOVED LOVED Matilda. She got control over her dimwitted parents. By all that reading, she got fabulous mind power to MOVE THINGS WITH HER OWN EYEBALLS! I would love a power like that! Ms. Trunchball was mean! She twirled a girl by her hair! She said she was never a child. How could that be? And I wonder how her parents could wtch so much T.V, and be so rude! Espiecally to a teacher! Her father was u-fair, too. Selling cars like that to people! What a twit! I also watched the movie, I saw the book on my teacher's book shelf, I picked it up, and I just got hooked! I borrowed it, and I didn't give it back until the very last day of school! i think the book is WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY better than the movie is! I also can't take it that Matilda read GREAT EXPECTATIONS at 4 years old! And all those other ones! I can't wait till I go back to the library again and check it out! You'll love this book, I Garentee.

The Extraordinary Girl.......2007-05-24

Matilda by Roald Dahl will always be a classic. Matilda is a five year old girl from the U.K. who finds herself able to do extraordinary things. She is a brilliant person who comes from gormless parents and a family of crooks. However, along her journey she falls in love with her teacher, Miss Honey, and learns family doesn't have to be blood related. I loved the fictional story of Matilda, but thought the author could have taken more time developing the story and been more descriptive. Also, I wasn't quite sure who the book was written for because the vocabulary was exquisite, but the story was for a child. Therefore, I recommend this book for teenage girls. After you read the book, watch the movie and see the characters you love in even more depth!

Average customer rating:

fantastical
Good Book
To Find What You Truly Want
Present
Neverending Story

The Neverending Story
Michael Ende
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0140074317

Customer Reviews:

fantastical.......2007-07-31

this is one of the most beautiful books i have ever read. i come back to it because i feel that there is a very important message in it.

in buddhism there is a profound experience called anatta, also known as no self or the unborn. this experience where you no longer have an 'I' is an experience of pristine emptiness. a bit like the emptiness of pure water... you can see and feel it within you... well my emptiness was attacked by this grey meaningless 'nothingness' and i found that i had to create a new 'i' for myself. otherwise, i think i would have been lost totally in limbo.

since this experience, i have come even more to see this story as true and a real magical interface with our aspect of reality. nothingness is real and it is attacking our world. just look at the grey concrete tower blocks, the grey streets in some of our cities. the unemotional coldness and indifference so many people feel nowadays.

this man did not write this story, it birthed itself. michael ende merely held the pen and bastian bulthazzar bux leaped through a magical doorway into our world.

so watch out for the nothingness, the grey wolves are on the prowl...

love snow-flake xxx

Good Book.......2007-07-26

This book will take you away,,, to the neverending story. I like how the book differenciates the story itself with different color print (the book the boy reads is in a different color) so you know which part is the story and which part is the book the boy in the story is reading! Buy it in hardcover, it gives you a sense of permanence.

To Find What You Truly Want.......2007-07-06

If you've never seen the movie version of "The Neverending Story," then read the book first. If you have seen one of the movies, then read the book as soon as possible, since neither of the movies do the book justice.

The story starts out with young Bastian Balthasar Bux going into a bookstore and stealing a book entitled "The Neverending Story." For reasons he can't explain, Bastian felt that he had to have the book. Shutting himself up in the school attic, he reads about Atreyu, the chosen messenger to find a cure for the Childlike Empress and prevent The Nothing from destroying Fantastica. Atreyu discovers that the Childlike Empress needs a new name, and that only someone from the human world, the savior, can give her one. The savior turns out to be none other than Bastian himself! He thinks of a new name for her once he reads about her, but he must say her name out loud for Fantastica to be saved. Fearing what the Childlike Empress will think of him once she sees him, Bastian holds off saying the name aloud. Eventually, when Fantastica's destruction is imminent, Bastian says her new name out loud, and he is drawn into Fantastica, and transformed into a handsome, heroic-looking figure. The Childlike Empress tells Bastian that whatever he wishes for will come true, until he finds out what he truly wants. Unfortunately, he soon finds out that for every wish, he loses a memory of his life in the human world. I will leave off at this point, except to point out that Bastian journeys in his wishes from self-centeredness to self-giving.

"The Neverending Story" is a multi-layered work that people of all ages can enjoy. In addition to being a wonderfully readable fantasy/adventure story, it is rich in philosophy and symbolism. For example, The Nothing that is slowly destroying Fantastica could be symbolic of people losing their capacity for imagination and creativity. In addition, Bastian's quest to find out what he really wants is immensely rich in its philosophical implications, not to mention Campbell-ite hero quest overtones. Hopefully a movie will be re-made (possible as a mini-series) that will follow the book more closely and do this great work justice.

Present.......2007-07-03

I like many other people have seen the movie, and I love it. Last Christmas a friend gave me the book.
It is a beautiful story and a classic.

Neverending Story.......2007-05-17

This is a wonderful story that draws you into it just like it did Bastian. It's a must read for adults as well as children. I was looking for the same printing of the book I had found in a local library in the 1980's which was larger and printed in different color inks. Even though this edition of the book is like a hardbound paperback, the story is just as good.

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