The Unbearable Lightness of Being: A Novel (Perennial Classics)

The Unbearable Lightness of Being: A Novel (Perennial Classics)
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Oh how it made my heart ache

Bring a pencil

In life, everything matters.

Unbearable Infidelity

Weights and measures.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being: A Novel (Perennial Classics)
Milan Kundera
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060932139

Book Description

A young woman in love with a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing; one of his mistresses and her humbly faithful lover -- these are the two couples whose story is told in this masterful novel. In a world in which lives are shaped by irrevocable choices and by fortuitous events, a world in which everything occurs but once, existence seems to lose its substance, its weight. Hence, we feel "the unbearable lightness of being" not only as the consequence of our pristine actions but also in the public sphere, and the two inevitably intertwine.

Customer Reviews:

Oh how it made my heart ache.......2007-09-27

I read this book with a heavy heart and loved every moment of it. I love when a book can affect me so deeply. I felt the pain of the woman in the story and understood her completely. So tragic, yet so good. Thanks Kundera!

Bring a pencil.......2007-09-26

I finished reading this book about a week ago and still haven't been able to put together a review for it. The book is just too difficult to describe in a short review. There are so many philosophical points that Kundera is trying to make, and he never really gets around to answering the difficult questions that he brings up.

At the root of the philosophical inquiry is the question of whether lightness is good and heaviness is bad or vice versa. It's difficult to explain the problem, and that's probably why I can't find the right words to put together a good review for the book.

If you do intend to read it, I recommend having a pencil nearby to keep track of your own ideas and opinions of the problem, not to mention tracking Kundera's own usage of the characters (including the various government systems in which the human characters live) and how the philosophical question is answered for each of them.

I enjoyed the book immensely, but felt that I needed more time (and perhaps a study guide) to really get all the depth of the book.

In life, everything matters........2007-09-17

Milan Kundera (1929) is best known for The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984), The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (1979) and The Joke (1967). Because Kundera is more interested in the themes his characters represent rather than their physical appearance, his philosophical novels tend to challenge the reader, though always in a worthwhile way. He believes the reader's imagination completes the writer's vision by filling in the missing details The Art of the Novel.

Set in 1968 Prague, The Unbearable Lightness of Being tells the story of a womanizing surgeon, Tomas, who loses his employment because he is critical of Czech Communism (he compared the Soviets to Oedipus Rex). He has had more than 200 lovers in his lifetime, and is determined to live his life unfettered by things like commitment. "Kundera's Quartet" of characters also includes Tomas's wife, Tereza (a photographer), his mistress, Sabina (a painter), and her lover, Franz (a university professor). The title of Kundera's novel refers to the idea that because each of us has only one life to live, life is ultimately insignificant, and our decisions do not matter. Because our decisions do not matter, existence seems to lose its substance or weight, making our being unbearable. Tomas represents this philosophy in the novel. He feels that nothing matters, that his life has the lightness of mortality. Conversely, enigmatic Tereza carries with her the weight of the world and is heavily impacted by life. She does not judge Tomas for his infidelities, because she knows that although he sleeps with many women, he loves only her. She is fond of animals, particularly her dog, Karenin, and a pig named Mefisto. Her relationship with Tomas is the center of Kundera's novel. After meeting her by chance, Tomas gradually begins to understand through his love for Tereza that, because we only live once, everything matters. The inscription of his grave reads, "He wanted the Kingdom of God on Earth." Sabina lives her life in opposition to "kitsch" in any form, whether it is domesticity, unoriginality, mediocrity, or untruth. Her lover, Franz is a Geneva professor who seeks lightness of being through books and academia, which Sabina also considers kitsch. The Unbearable Lightness of Being is a profound novel, and among my top ten favorite novels of the last 25 years. I also recommend the currently out-of-print film adaptation of the novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Two-Disc Special Edition).

G. Merritt

Unbearable Infidelity.......2007-09-05

This book is filled with erotica and infidelity. That just totally distracted me from the message. I could not relate at all. The author seduced me with his introduction about Nietzsche's Eternal Recurrence. Infinitely many times? Nay, this life only occurs once and perhaps should be as nonce. Heaviness? NO! It is unbearably light! FORTUITOUS EVENTS! Anyway, random philosophical bits were interspersed throughout. I suppose I just rather read what people consider straight boring philosophy books.
Oh, wait just a minute. You are saying I did not read? Well, maybe I did not read deep enough, but I did read this book. Where is my girl that I can sleep with(not sexual relations)? I felt bad for the commie idealist Franz who married a wicked deceptive woman he never wanted to be with. Thanks alot for giving more propaganda for vegetarian fundamentalists. And those dogs, those slavish beings who people like so much just because people can pretty do what they want to the dog. Oh don't we wish all people were so pure and easy to manipulate to obey our every call!

Weights and measures........2007-07-09

Whatever I'll write won't do this book justice. It's a classic, plain and simple.
A great Jewish teacher -- Rabbeinu Avraham ben Ha GRA (youngest son of the saintly Vilna Gaon, or "Genius from Vilnius") -- once wrote of he and his forebears -- "We wrote tersely in order to provoke deep thought (in our readers)." Milan Kundera has done that in "The Unbearable Lightness of Being."
Flashes of mental and spiritual wrestling illuminate every page. Religion is judged to be merely a consolation. So says Dr. Tomas in discussing his son's embrace of Roman-style Christianity --
"He was down and out. The Catholics took him in and, before he knew it, he had faith. So it was gratitude that decided the issue, most likely. Human decisions are terribly simple."
But the results of human action are not so simple, as the book demonstrates. Each choice makes a ripple -- picture a stone being tossed into placid water in light of Kundera's arrangement of chapter headings. The headings appear to fan out from "Words Misunderstood" (Chapter 3).
"Lightness and Weight" (the headings for chapters 1 and 4) is a recurring theme. Yet the discussion goes beyond usual freedom-vs.-responsibilities notions. Concepts present in the lives and work of Parmenides and Beethoven are really what's being weighed.
Kundera brings us back several times to the idea that events only happen singly and incline a person toward "lightness" or "heaviness." Kundera seems to favor "heaviness" judging by the book's title and the author's implicit approval of Tomas's "descent" to "heaviness" late in the book.
"Lightness" is a consequence of our lack of knowledge for decision-making due to the fact that presumably we've never lived before and won't live again (meaning we have only "one life to live." By the way, there's an ABC soap opera with that name.)
But is that really all there is to it? Kundera doesn't probe the Jewish idea of the resusitation of the dead, in which souls from "heaven" will be reunited with their bodies and reconstituted mankind will live on a higher plane. The author doesn't hold by the reincarnation of souls -- a different idea that Judaism doesn't rule out but is more prevalent in some other religions.
Perhaps Kundera didn't explore these ideas because they are outside his own and his characters' experiences. Admittedly, the ideas are difficult to get in touch with through physical sense experience. The Communist milieu lived in by Kundera, his characters, and all of us between 1917 and 1989 (and still around to an extent) ruled out everything except that kind of experience. And, when convenient, the Communists even voided that.
An interesting idea for our gifted author and others to take up is "Does reincarnation mean that past lives and lessons learned are imprinted on the soul even if the mind isn't acutely aware of them? What are the implications of this, if any, for our current lives?"

The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell (Perennial Classics)

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Purple Haze...
A gifted writer sheds light on a difficult subject
Not easy
Aldous Huxley and mescaline
Good book for anyone intersted in the psychedelic movement

The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell (Perennial Classics)
Aldous Huxley
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Consciousness & Thought | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0060595183
Release Date: 2004-05-04

Amazon.com

Sometimes a writer has to revisit the classics, and here we find that "gonzo journalism"--gutsy first-person accounts wherein the author is part of the story--didn't originate with Hunter S. Thompson or Tom Wolfe. Aldous Huxley took some mescaline and wrote about it some 10 or 12 years earlier than those others. The book he came up with is part bemused essay and part mystical treatise--"suchness" is everywhere to be found while under the influence. This is a good example of essay writing, journal keeping, and the value of controversy--always--in one's work.

Book Description

Two classic complete books -- The Doors of Perception (originally published in 1954) and Heaven and Hell (originally published in 1956) -- in which Aldous Huxley, author of the bestselling Brave New World, explores, as only he can, the mind's remote frontiers and the unmapped areas of human consciousness. These two astounding essays are among the most profound studies of the effects of mind-expanding drugs written in the twentieth century. These two books became essential for the counterculture during the 1960s and influenced a generation's perception of life.

Customer Reviews:

Purple Haze..........2007-07-26

I have wanted to read Huxley's THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION for quite some time and purchased it from Amazon about a year ago. However, I didn't get around to reading it until this past week, when it made its way to the top of my book stack. Not knowing if I was "ready" for the subject of hallucinogen use, I opened the thin volume and it hooked me immediately.

What was most impressive to me - others have described Huxley's clinical/intellectual approach to the drug experience - was how this work delicately projected the difference of drugs being used to escape TO something, rather than FROM something. This seems key to Huxley's "experience" versus other's entertainment, excitement, boredom, or addictive purpose for experimenting.

The second book of this thin volume, HEAVEN AND HELL, was, I'm quite sure, directly impacted by Huxley's previous drug experiences, as he argues, somewhat circularly, that drug use inspires appreciation of things produced via drug use.

I enjoyed both of these short works, presumably published together because of the William Blake connection in their titles. Despite reviews to the contrary, the ideas presented within seemed entirely accessible, if somewhat dated.

A gifted writer sheds light on a difficult subject.......2007-06-16

The Doors of Perception

This book is written in the form of an essay and recounts the experiences of the author after taking mescalin for the first time. It is a fairly short read, about 80 pages, but the philosophical reflections require time to fully grasp. Huxley volunteers to be the guinea pig in a controlled experiment to observe the effects of mescalin. The resulting experience gave cause for Huxley to reflect deeply on the nature of reality and how humans shape this reality through perception. What is perceived in one state of consciousness as real can indeed become something altogether different in another. Huxley explores this intertwined relationship and places it in a larger historical context recalling the works and deeds of the visionaries and mystics of the past.

This work is a must for anyone interested in boundless possibilities that arise from hallucinogenic substances. The fact that Huxley is a very intelligent scholar as well as a gifted writer allow him to tackle a difficult subject and tell it in words that lend themselves to the initiated. Those interested in the remote frontiers and the unmapped areas of human consciousness would do well to read this.

*Side note: The band the Doors took their name from the book. The title of the book actually refers to a line in the poem The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, written by William Blake in 1793. "If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite."

Heaven and Hell

Another rather short essay (about 100 p.) from Huxley in the vain of The Doors of Perception. In it Huxley takes on the fast unknowns of Mind at Large, examining the basic properties and functions of visionary experience. This essay is basically a philosophical discourse on the possibilities that exist for visionary experience. The contrast between the positive and negative experience are characterized in the contrasting realms of Heaven and Hell. What makes this an incredibly interesting read is that all arguments made are based on plausible grounds and quite often on scientifically sound grounds. Although written over a half century ago, this work has proved a classic that stands out in a field that is still insufficiently investigated. Together with The Doors of Perception, Heaven and Hell shows that Huxley is as much a force in the world of nonfiction thought as he is in fiction. Read what this man has to say and think about it. There is a lot there to digest.

Not easy.......2007-05-12

I had an idea to find out about the use of drugs and its effect on the consiousness. I have found Aldous Huxley on the Wikipedia and bought this book. I am not native english, and it took me quite long to get through the book, because its language is so difficult to understand. It is obvious that Huxley is a writer with a very broad range of vocabulary to express things. If you are not native, prepare yourself with a huge dictionary to read the book However the contect was fabulous.

Aldous Huxley and mescaline.......2007-02-15

Huxley is a very erudite individual, and hallucinogenics were novel for the time (1950's). What we can say now is that even well educated and intelligent individuals are not very far from psychotic thinking.

Good book for anyone intersted in the psychedelic movement.......2006-12-27

Huxley reveals his thoughts on psychedelics and philosophy in "The Doors of Perception"--all while experimenting with mescaline. This book is not for the uneducated and brain-dead stoner, though. Huxley, an accomplished novelist ("Brave New World" and "The Island"), was the father of the psychedelic movement. He laid the foundation for philosophical experimentation and had an enormous influnce on later advocates like Timothy Leary, Ken Kesy, and (more recently) Daniel Pinchbeck. Those who are fans of "The Doors" will be interested to know that this is where the band recieved its name. The reading can be arduous at times but well worth the effort for anyone who is researching psychotropic drugs.

The Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting and Pruning Techniques

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Very helpful
Well worth having
A wonderful book I refer to it constantly
Garden lover's delight
The Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting and Pruning Techniques

The Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting and Pruning Techniques
Tracy DiSabato-Aust
Manufacturer: Timber Press, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0881928038

Book Description

With more than 130,000 copies sold since its original publication, The Well-Tended Perennial Garden has proven itself to be one of the most useful tools a gardener can have. Now, in this expanded edition, there's even more to learn from and enjoy. This is the first, and still the most thorough, book to detail essential practices of perennial care such as deadheading, pinching, cutting back, thinning, disbudding, and deadleafing, all of which are thoroughly explained and illustrated. More than 200 new color photographs have been added to this revised edition, showing perennials in various border situations and providing images for each of the entries in the A-to-Z encyclopedia of important perennial species. In addition, there is a new 32-page journal section, in which you can enter details, notes, and observations about the requirements and performance of perennials in your own garden. Thousands of readers have commented that The Well-Tended Perennial Garden is one of the most useful and frequently consulted books in their gardening libraries. This new, expanded edition promises to be an even more effective ally in your quest to create a beautiful, healthy, well-maintained perennial garden.

Customer Reviews:

Very helpful.......2007-10-05

I have only had this a few weeks but already have referred to it many times. It gives very practical information in a forthright manner. Definitely a great addition to my gardening library.

Well worth having.......2007-10-01

Tracy's use of the latin name as opposed to the common name is a little un-nerving for a begginer- like me - but it is one way to drum it into you so that when you go to the nursery you will find what you truly want... plus the detail to specific plants is amazing. Appendix C is worth the price of the book alone...

A wonderful book I refer to it constantly.......2007-09-30

I bought this book for my Mother-in-law and she wrote 'The information is set out in a concise format which is easily referenced. It is packed with information to help you get the most from your perennials. It is a wonderful book and I refer to it constantly.'

Garden lover's delight.......2007-09-07

I love this book! It is as beautiful as it is informational. It is delightful to read to the work of a master who can convey her heart as well as her technical skills. I am pleased to add it to my gardening book treasures.

The Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting and Pruning Techniques.......2007-09-07

I really like this book. It is very informative and was what I was looking for.

Love's Executioner: & Other Tales of Psychotherapy (Perennial Classics)

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A Masterfully told account of the tension between therapist and patient
Yalom tackles the inescapable issues of being human
fascinating
Tales of a Psychologist
Thank You Dr. Yalom

Love's Executioner: & Other Tales of Psychotherapy (Perennial Classics)
Irvin D. Yalom
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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When Nietzsche Wept: A Novel of Obsession (Perennial Classics)
Lying on the Couch: A Novel
The Schopenhauer Cure: A Novel (P.S.)

ASIN: 0060958340
Release Date: 2000-09-05

Book Description

The collection of ten absorbing tales by master psychotherapist Irvin D. Yalom uncovers the mysteries, frustrations, pathos, and humor at the heart of the therapeutic encounter. In recounting his patients' dilemmas, Yalom not only gives us a rare and enthralling glimpse into their personal desires and motivations but also tells us his own story as he struggles to reconcile his all-too human responses with his sensibility as a psychiatrist. Not since Freud has an author done so much to clarify what goes on between a psychotherapist and a patient.

Customer Reviews:

A Masterfully told account of the tension between therapist and patient.......2007-08-31

In the tales that Dr. Yalom relates in this book, he shares the accounts of his patients' problems, however, and more profoundly he shares a great deal of himself and how he responds to these problems. The image that emerges is that of a therapist who is not always right, nor always agreeable, but always human. His defects are made endearing by the fact that he is aware of them and struggles with them. He is a first rate storyteller and the glimpse he allows us into the therapeutic relation is quite worthwhile.

Yalom tackles the inescapable issues of being human.......2007-08-10

A friend gave me this book a few days ago. My friend is very well-educated, has lived all over the world, and has experienced more than most people. When he gave me the book, he said to me, "This book reflects my vision of the world". How could I help but be intrigued? Opening the book, he then read the following passage from the Preface: "Four givens are particularly relevant for psycho-therapy: the inevitability of death for each of us and for those we love; the freedom to make our lives as we will; our ultimate aloneness; and, finally, the absence of any obvious meaning or sense to life." When I recently read the novel LIFE AND FATE, which takes its characters through the massive Battle of Stalingrad and Stalin's Great Terror, I couldn't help thinking how poor in material for great novels is the typical life of a prosperous, well-educated professional living today in the OECD. Compared to the intensity of the experiences described in LIFE AND FATE, even wonderful writers like Ian McEwan are boring. But, as the Preface accurately foreshadows, there is nothing boring about LOVE'S EXECUTIONER, because my friend is right-- the four issues described in the Preface do indeed define the human condition. In a sense, LOVE'S EXECUTIONER offers, in the broadest possible sense, the ancient wisdom found in Psalms 90: "Teach us to number our days: that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." Dr. Yalom is quite frank about what he considers the "magical" thinking and "delusion" involved in religious belief, however. Aside from his commitment to unflinchingly acknowledge the truths he describes in his Preface (and therefore, "Teach us to number our days"), Dr. Yalom's faith resides in the healing potential of the relationship between the therapist and the patient. This could be generalised to incorporate the Second Commandment to "Love thy neighbour as thyself" with its emphasis on human relationships and mutual openness, but one senses that Dr. Yalom would acknowledge this point, at best, with a sardonic shrug--"Whatever gets you through the night." Yalom is his own main character, and LOVE'S EXECUTIONER is a dramatic account of how the "character" Dr. Yalom undergoes dramatic encounters with deeply troubled characters not unlike the way the "character" Dante encounters vividly depicted souls in Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. Like Dante's DIVINE COMEDY, LOVE'S EXECUTIONER is episodic. The ten tales all vary and will affect individual reader's differently. For some reason, I found the case of the morbidly obsese woman deeply moving, while being most unsettled by the cases of the elderly neurobiologist and the elderly accountant--perhaps because they were the patients most similar to me. thers will relate to other patients, but what Yalom consistently does in each of these stories is to bring out the fascinating richness and complexity of human beings, the many layers and conflicting motivations and emotions, and by doing so he fully justifies the intense struggles and engagement of "Dr. Yalom", the character, in his efforts to diagnose and heal his patients, all of whom, whether likable or not, seem intensely alive in the pages of LOVE'S EXECUTIONER. This not to say that Yalom is a genius of the order of Dante, of course, but these tales have an intensity that can be compared to the effect of great literature. Dr. Yalom derives his authority, not from artistic genius (although he is a skillful and sophisticated writer) but from the fact that he is intimately familiar with terrain that frightens and intimidates most of us: severe psychological distress, grief, suicidal feelings, depression, unresolvable anxiety. Like Dr. Szczeklik, the author of CATHARSIS, Dr. Yalom maintains his poise under circumstances in which most of us would be acutely uncomfortable, and probably ineffectual. The fact that these two doctors can calmly navigate the ground of life and death, of insanity and inner darkness, sets them apart and makes their books compelling.

fascinating.......2007-05-22

I am generally not a fan of modern psychological methods and their inability to face the spectre of death and the fundamental decay of our 'modern' civilisation (primitive cultures were much more sensible in their organization in comparison with the capitalist terror we have created).. This is precisely why dr. yalom's book appeals to me.. It is a certain breed of existensial psychology that looks at death head on.. but credit must also be given to yalom's obvious personal report with his patients and his understanding of humanity (something experience seems to play a key role in)..
I have never been so struck by the personal accounts of the theraputic process in the very moving stories yalom has compiled here.. I found myself completely absorbed from the first pages on.. I feel that i have greatly benefited from reading this book.

Tales of a Psychologist.......2007-05-07

Irving Yalom is very frank and very blunt about countertrasference situations with his patients. Very interesting vignettes that I highly recommend for students, professionals, and faculty alike.

Thank You Dr. Yalom.......2007-04-29

An incredible book. Dr. Yalom restored my faith in therapists and human beings. I have read the book twice and given to many friends as gift. The most healing aspect of the book is one's realization that EVERY individual is flawed, conflicted, volunerable ... and the journey of self-discovery and acceptance is the only path to reaching inner-peace and content.

The Encyclopedia of Grasses for Livable Landscapes

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The Encyclopedia of Grasses for Livable Landscapes
Rick Darke
Manufacturer: Timber Press, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0881928178

Book Description

In this new book noted grass expert and advocate Rick Darke addresses both the aesthetic qualities of grasses in private gardens and the opportunities and challenges of using them in wild and constructed public landscapes. All the true grasses, sedges, rushes, restios, and cattails that possess ornamental merit or that can contribute to ecological plantings are described, and practical matters of propagation, growth, and maintenance are also covered. More than 1000 stunning photographs show details of individual plants and hundreds of gardens and landscapes in which grasses play a prominent part. This worthy successor to The Color Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses is a new type of design reference that sets a standard for inspired, sustainable use of grasses.

The Bell Jar: A Novel (Perennial Classics)

Average customer rating:

A wonderful read!
Twisting and Turning
Very Impressive
Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
It's her

The Bell Jar: A Novel (Perennial Classics)
Sylvia Plath
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0060930187

Amazon.com

Plath was an excellent poet but is known to many for this largely autobiographical novel. The Bell Jar tells the story of a gifted young woman's mental breakdown beginning during a summer internship as a junior editor at a magazine in New York City in the early 1950s. The real Plath committed suicide in 1963 and left behind this scathingly sad, honest and perfectly-written book, which remains one of the best-told tales of a woman's descent into insanity.

Book Description

The Bell Jar chronicles the crack-up of Esther Greenwood: brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under--maybe for the last time. Sylvia Plath masterfully draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that Esther's insanity becomes completely real and even rational, as probable and accessible an experiece as going to the movies. Such deep penetration into the dark and harrowing corners of the psyche is an extraordinary accomplishment and has made The Bell Jar a haunting American classic.

Download Description

This first-person narrative of a young woman with an existential mental problem struggling toward adulthood is often seen as Ms. Plath'sautobiography.

The Bell Jar is a delicate plunge into the mind of someone losing sanity.

Customer Reviews:

A wonderful read!.......2007-10-11

Great book! Beautifully written. It is a novel that I plan to keep on my bookshelf indefinitely.

Twisting and Turning.......2007-10-06

I picked up The Bell Jar by chance, I was looking through Barnes and Noble, I saw it, and asked my mother what she thought of it.
"Oh it's about someone like you and your sisters, crazy."
Instantly I bought it (I picked the one with the fabulous cover of course!)
I read it in 1.5 hours.
It is a delicious read. You can really taste the words and the madness inside of the character. It amplifies madness and beauty. It sits on a place of honor, on my shelf of favorites.
Buy it and read it. The story will sweep you off your feet and drag you into the realms of madness.
Taste and see.

Very Impressive.......2007-10-04

Living with bipolar disorder myself, she captures some of the nuances of depression and describes them very well. The nonchalant approach to ending one's own life, like doing the laundry or cutting the grass comes across accurately. (from experience) The emotional struggles, most who have suffered with major depression will find something deeply connecting with this book. Read and comprehend this book the way it was meant to be, you will find another world that does exist in some of us.

I have found her writing so captivating, the descriptions, simple but effective. She saw a different world, as most of us do, but to write the way she does takes talent. This book led me to read her unabridged journals. An amazing, intelligent but damaged woman.

Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.......2007-10-03

Insanity is a weird thing - most people are `insane' to some degree or the other - while a minority succumb to the polarities of the disease and swing back and forth much like a pendulum.

Sylvia Plath fell into the latter category, and while the positive end of her spectrum meant that she created some shockingly good work, the negative end ensured that she would meet a tragic and self-inflicted end. Her suicide I think, remains the most mechanical, yet most poetic death of all the great writers, and it's a pity that shes often remembered as `that woman poet who stuck her head in an oven' when in fact she was well spoken, eloquent woman whose command over the English language was much vaster and encompassing than yours or mine.

"The Bell Jar", her only full length fictional prose work, is almost autobiographical in patches. The publishers make it clear that this is not Plaths' own story, but you cannot help but identify the lead character as Plath herself. The way I see it is this - Sylvia created a fictional character, but gave it her mind and thoughts, leading to one of the most fascinating fictional characters in modern prose. To me, this was the literary equivalent of a convergence of both David Lynch's masterpieces "Inland Empire" and "Mulholland Drive". The same "a woman in trouble, yet she doesn't know it yet" theme permeates the entire novel, and by the time it reaches its (somewhat obvious) conclusion, you're left wondering how Plath didn't invest more of her time in churning out full fledged prose novels.

Simply put, this novel chronicles the descent of a womans' mind, but its so much more than that. It speaks of mental disease with a frankness that the author probably didn't quite comprehend at the time. Maybe she did, but either way, I think what she was doing her was to capture the state of her own mind frame by frame until that fateful day in real life when she so notoriously took her own life. "The Bell Jar" has its moment of adolescent wandering and naivete, which I found quite endearing considering the age of the author when she wrote this. Perhaps she wasn't mature enough to deal with life as she grew older, or maybe she was too caught up in her own web of literary wonder to crawl out of it. I think all the great poets were afflicted to some degree with this disease, and Plath is no exception.

If you're interested in a semi-autobiographical (though the blurb won't admit it!) book by a great poet, this is the book for you. Its never boring, and is quite an easy read as Sylvia trades in her famous double entendre poetic metaphors for more easily accessible and simply written language. Short crisp sentences. Clear dialogue. And yet, the sentences get shorter, and thoughts get more fragmented as we plummet with the author into the very depths of insanity. An unforgettable, and somewhat scary experience - but as a book lover, one you should definitely experience.

Five Stars.

It's her.......2007-09-05

A review??? It's Sylvia Plath, need we say more...Master of work..Master of poem, totally the greatest...

Average customer rating:

A product of the Cold War era
Alas, Babylon 1959
Alas, Babylon
Powerful and memorable - certainly the best of the post-nuclear war genre
very good book

Alas, Babylon (Perennial Classics)
Pat Frank
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0060741872
Release Date: 2005-07-05

Book Description

The classic apocalyptic novel that stunned the world.

Customer Reviews:

A product of the Cold War era.......2007-09-07

This book was written in a time when nuclear war seemed probable. Bomb shelters were practical things to buy and "duck-and-cover" was being used in schools. Looking back, it seems silly to think like that. We, the people of the 21st century, understand that a cache of nuclear weapons--except in the hands of madmen--are only useful for pschological warfare. We also grasp more fully the power and environmental hazzards of a nuclear strike. Because of our 50+ years of accumilated knowledge, ALAS, BABYLON may be a hard pill for some to swallow, but it isn't without merrit.

The problems with the book, first. The war, besides being relegated to pure background noise, is just thin. It's a setup that doesn't seem believable today. The effects of the nuclear strike are greatly under estimated. Considering that everything around Fort Repose (the fictional setting of this book) has been devastated by Russian nukes, it is highly unlikely that radiological fallout would not contaminate the area entirely. Ultimately, this leads the book to an overly "rosy" conclusion. (In a post-Katrina United States, we know the inneptitude with which the government reacted to a disaster we saw coming, and that two years later we still haven't fully restored that one region that was hit. How are we to believe a nuclear disaster of this scale, one that we had no time to prepare for, could start to be mended only one year later?)

But ALAS, BABYLON is not bad. In spite of some iffy dialog and their improbable resourcefulness, the characters are what make this book interesting. Randy Bragg (our main character) is certainly a progressive when taken in the context his time. The interaction of Randy and his surroudings gives us great insight into the mind of Pat Frank, I think.

This book works better as a tool to understanding American society (race relations, the state of optimism, fear of war, misinformation, etc.) in the Fifties, than it does as an actual tale. When viewed in that context, ALAS, BABYLON is quite good.

Alas, Babylon 1959.......2007-08-10

Plot Kernel - The people within a small town in Florida cope with uncertainty and the limitations of supply after their area is spared from the devastation of a massive nuclear exchange between the U.S. and Russia.

Alas, Babylon.......2007-08-07

Great book. I first read this book in college, 30 years ago. Some parts of this book have stayed with me all the years since that time. For instance, the description of "valuable items" traded in the market place, including safety pins and pencils. The struggle to survive of the regular citizens of this small town makes me want to go learn something about survival skills, or hope that I am at ground zero of a bomb myself.

Powerful and memorable - certainly the best of the post-nuclear war genre.......2007-07-04

I first read this book as a teen in the 70s and it had a powerful effect on me then. The images conveyed by this novel have stayed with me ever since. There are scenes from this book that I vividly remember more than 30 years later and I recently decided to reread it. Judging from some of the other reviews, there are many readers who share this view and have returned again and again to this novel. There are lots of other reviews that contain detailed plot summaries which I won't repeat here. The story revolves around the survivors of an all-out nuclear war living in rural Florida in the late 1950s. The day after the attack isn't too different than the before for Randy Bragg and his family who are located far from any military or civilian targets. Over a few days though it dawns on Bragg and the other residents of Fort Repose that many of the things that have been taken for granted in modern society (like regular deliveries of food to the grocery store) are long gone and likely will never return. There will be no more deliveries of heating oil, money is worthless, and once the small amount of gasoline is gone, everyone walks. If anyone still believes in the folly of a 'winnable' all-out nuclear war, they should read this book. One aspect of this genre (and this book in particular) that I find compelling is how the author treats the problem of what things from modern society will disappear and how will they be replaced. There are many obvious things (electricity, refrigeration, medicine, etc.), but many more mundane problems (e.g. shoes) that will become progressively more important months or years after the initial attack. Randy Bragg and his cohorts encounter and overcome a wide range of obstacles in their fight to survive. If I had any negative comment about this book, it is in fact far too optimistic about the fate of the survivors. Randy Bragg and his family never seriously have to contend with the fall-out, famine, and disease that would afflict all survivors to a greater or lesser degree. These things are touched upon (and even encountered), but they don't affect the residents of Fort Repose in a severe way. In any case, this is a powerful story about survival and the attempt to maintain and rebuild civilization after the catastrophic destruction of our organized society. A great book though that you will never forget, definitely worth the money to buy as you'll likely want to read it again and again.

very good book.......2007-06-27

somewhat outdated in belveability, however, it could still happen today. This book was written at the height of the Cold War and the fears of nuclear war. well written and worth ther time it takes to read it.

The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language (Perennial Classics)

Average customer rating:

Disappointing chatterbox
B.F. Skinner
Utterly fascinating
The Language Instinct
Bringing Science Home

The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language (Perennial Classics)
Steven Pinker
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Neuropsychology | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0060958332
Release Date: 2000-11-07

Book Description

In this classic study, the world's leading expert on language and the mind lucidly explains everything you always wanted to know about languages: how it works, how children learn it, how it changes, how the brain computes it, and how it envolved. With wit, erudition, and deft use it everyday examples of humor and wordplay, Steven Pinker weaves our vast knowledge of language into a compelling story: language is a human instinct, wired into our brains by evolution like web spinning in spiders or sonar bats. The Language Instinct received the William James Book Prize from the American Psychological Association and the Public Interest Award from the Linguistics Society of America.

Customer Reviews:

Disappointing chatterbox.......2007-10-10

Maybe the man has something to say. He must have, he gets so much attention and praise. Maybe what he says is mostly right. (Not fully, so much I am sure of. There is just too much random chattering.)
My problem is, I find him unreadable. He gets praised for his 'accessibility'. What does that mean? Simplemindedness? (or do I dislike him because of his hairstyle on the cover photo?)
The man is not proving anything, even if all of his hypotheses are true. They might be. I might even wish they were.
Somebody wrote in a review here, the book is somewhere between Chomsky and Gladwell. I assumed, mistakenly, that this meant, the book is a cross of boredom and hokuspokus. That was not what the reviewer meant.
But I conclude that it is what he ought to have meant.
When do I get a readable and competent book about language and evolution?

B.F. Skinner.......2007-10-09

His ideas are condemned like all valid science that exposes truth we will not accept. Hopefully time will give B.F. Skinner the credit he deserves. The most important scientist ever!!! Read his book. It is accurate.

Utterly fascinating.......2007-09-22

When I was a freshman in college I used my roommate's computer all the time. She frequently had this book open on her desk as part of her study of HumBio (Human Biology). At some point I picked it up to take a look...and I didn't put it down until I was finished. An outstanding, utterly readable and deeply compelling look at the structures of the brain, the mind they inform and the human culture they produce. Highly recommended for all humans.

The Language Instinct.......2007-09-17

This book exploded for me. As a student in the 1970s, I had been taught that language determined thought (no word, no concept, right?) and this book reverses that completely. When Pinker notes, in the chapter called "The Tower of Babel," that a Martian would observe that human beings speak a single language, albeit one composed of 6,000 dialects, it lands with a "crash." This has been a tough book to put down -- it demands to be read and savored. The middle portions about grammar make me regret having napped through my English classes in (ironically) Grammar School when we diagrammed sentences and learned about S(ubject)V(erb)Object. It's never too late!

Bringing Science Home.......2007-09-14

Human language, from BEV to ASL and everything in between, is a genetically endowed by-product of human evolution, that even though it may set us apart from every other organism, it is no more unique to humans than a trunk is to an elephant or wings is to a bird. This is an essential point that Pinker makes, one that throws SSSM and other standard-setting scientists out the window, making way for the public to grasp a general understanding of the science of language.

Pinker makes language, and everything it emcompasses, accessible to the general public; with catchy chapter titles to hilarious examples and rips on "language mavens", this text is the utmost route to linguistics. Honestly, what more can up expect from a master of language? Regardless of that fast, what better way to understand Mentalese than with clear-cut examples and scientific backing? How would one scuff through morphology, phonetics, syntax, and the theory of Universal Grammer without being able to make a connection with examples from bunk-media clippings and hasty scientifically backed theories? Some may critique his wordy and lengthy style, but he/she must consider his audience. What is easier clearly expressed ideas and examples in plane ole' English or Chomsky-short-hand (p.96)?

Its Linguistics 101 with a twist. Not many people want to read dry text unless he/she has to. Pinker lightly peruses the tip of the iceberg, with explanations on Pidgin, Creole, the meaning of Standardized testing, Baby Geniuses, and theories on the origin of language, as well as fine points made by other linguistics that Pinker may not agree with, he satisfies the criteris for an introduction to language syllabus.

Language Instinct shines a bright light on a topic that is more important now and in the future than ever before, especially during a time of extreme globalization, language is the key to understanding many aspects of communication and Pinker targets a huge audience. Above all I would consider Pinker a credible and reliable source of information. And this is important, especially in this day and age, where anyone can write-off anything as fact.

However, I must say that Pinker clearly expresses the downfall of being so well-informed. It is important to draw a mental picture for one that is not so familiar with the concepts found in this book. But the fact of the matter is that tt is easy to get carried away in the nitty-gritty boroque examples that carry on for pages.

Last, perhaps Pinkers main set-back would be his theory on the language gene.

Overall, Pinker has a good grasp on his knowledge and writing style. He brings science down a notch so that the understanding of language can become accessible to those that it matters to most, everyone! This is a great introduction to Chomskian Theory. As a general advocate or good communication, Pinkers efforts to eduacte the public on language as a tool for understanding the owrld, mind, and culture should not go without notice.

The Crying of Lot 49 (Perennial Fiction Library)

Average customer rating:

Good Trip
Funny and human.
Monty Python meets the Illuminatus! Trilogy
1966 Literati Need Only Apply
A Short Anthem

The Crying of Lot 49 (Perennial Fiction Library)
Thomas Pynchon
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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White Noise (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century)
V. (Perennial Classics)
Gravity's Rainbow
Gravity's Rainbow (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
Against the Day

ASIN: 006091307X
Release Date: 2006-11-07

Book Description

The highly original satire about Oedipa Maas, a woman who finds herself enmeshed in a worldwide conspiracy, meets some extremely interesting characters, and attains a not inconsiderable amount of self knowledge.

Customer Reviews:

Good Trip.......2007-08-01

I'd always stayed away from Pynchon's novels because A) They are longer than the average Harry Potter book and B) They sound bizarre. "The Crying of Lot 49" then was a good way to get my feet wet because at least it was only 150 pages. Somehow I'm sure it's just as bizarre as his other novels. And yet for as strange as it was, it was a compelling novel that kept me reading right through to the end.

The story is about Oedipa Maas, a young suburban housewife with a DJ husband nicknamed "Mucho" at the local rock n' roll station in Kinneret, California. She receives a letter from the estate of a former flame named Pierce, a billionaire with his hands in all sorts of pots. Oedipa has been named an executor and so travels San Narcisco, where she meets the lawyer Metzger, once a child actor named Baby Igor.

This leads to an affair, which would have been where most novels would stop, but the affair is only the tip of the iceberg here. In looking over some of Pierce's properties like the weapons manufacturer Yoyodyne, Oedipa starts to see a muted post horn everywhere--on a restroom wall, on Pierce's stamps, on a Yoyodyne engineer's notepad--and becomes convinced after watching a rather gory play that there's a secret postal system known as Tristero that has been operating in Europe and the US for 400 years. Her search for answers causes her to delve deeper into madness. A trip back home finds her husband and shrink hooked on LSD, the latter taking her hostage when police find out he worked with the Nazis at a concentration camp.

In the end we're left with questions instead of answers, which is a little irritating. But in a novel that seems to be about the breakdown of reality and communication, what do you expect?

This novel was published in 1965 and really was prophetic about the turmoil upcoming as the Vietnam War escalated and rampant drug use--including LSD--caused most of a generation to lose touch with reality.

I couldn't help thinking that if I knew more about science like entropy and thermal dynamics and if I had been born before 1964 I would have understood more of the satire and wit employed here. That's the risk you take in writing a satire, though.

At any rate, this book was fascinating in spite--or because of--all its strangeness. If you're looking to take a good trip without the aid of chemical enhancement, here you go.

Funny and human........2007-07-07

I read this in college and laughed quite a bit, so it was nice to find that the book remains as funny twenty years later. I read it on an airplane trip from Japan and laughed out loud at several points.

What I didn't pick up twenty years ago was the book's generosity of spirit. America is a lonely place and Pynchon illustrates this isolation both through the conceit of the Trystero mail service and the gradual crack-up of his central character. All of his characters try to connect with something lasting but America's rootlessness frustrates them.

An aura of 'specialness' surrounds Pynchon's books, as much for the reclusiveness of their author as for their own brilliance. Don't let this aura scare you away from what is, at base, a greathearted book.

Monty Python meets the Illuminatus! Trilogy.......2007-06-22

Pynchon is an author you either love or hate. I love him, but I also understand why many people don't: one has to have a taste for absurdist humor and obscure references to really appreciate his work.

If you're new to Pynchon, start with The Crying of Lot 49. It's mercifully brief (152 pages), genuinely funny, and has quite a few neat concepts in it.

Although it's often unclear what's "really" going on, this is deliberate -- the main character herself is unsure if she has stumbled upon an a grand, surreal conspiracy, or an elaborate practical joke. The more she (and the reader) learn, the murkier things become, and there are no easy answers here. That alone should tell you if this book is for you.

Based on the complaints of the 1-star reviews, it's obvious that some people prefer black and white facts spoon-fed to them. I don't doubt that they found Lot 49 confusing and inaccessible. Like I said, Pynchon isn't for everyone -- and that's fine. However, if you're willing to invest the effort, it's most rewarding. I've read it several times now, and it just gets funnier.

1966 Literati Need Only Apply.......2007-05-28

One problem with social satire, even at its most perceptive and subversive, is that it becomes dated almost immediately if the author focuses on current trends and cultural references. This novel by the otherwise masterful Pynchon might still be useful for fans of his experiments with language and his unconventional plot constructions. But for the rest of us, this book's badly outdated references, overwrought prose, incongruous conspiracies, and sheer mid-60s detached irony are tiresome and increasingly pointless. It was surely the fashion of the time, in satirical writing, to construct a shell of a plotline that is then used to explore eccentric characters and their shallow connections to the impersonal anomie of modern life. Fair enough, but the hipsters and literati of 1966 were probably the only parties likely to be wowed by this book's self-obsessed puns and inside-joke allegories. But even if you can stomach the dated references, this novel's laborious dialogue and shallow character interactions all swamp a thin plotline that goes nowhere except for the unenlightening self-knowledge gained by the already very thinly-constructed lead character. This novel is probably still a worthy masterpiece for those readers who find it rewarding to conquer a novel that makes reading a work of labor. But for those looking for enlightenment, or even just a rewarding or fun challenge, you'd surely prefer something more timeless and less self-obsessed. [~doomsdayer520~]

A Short Anthem.......2007-03-29

This is a great book for first time Pynchon fans because it's relatively short, highly interesting throughout, and keeps a rolling sense of humor. The adventures of Mrs. Maas are intriguing enough and the writing style flows enough that you can enjoy the book with or without scrutinizing the hefty dosages of post-modern symbolism that comes along with it. The complex "mystery" that Oedipa is trying to solve throughout the book is a medium for strange and little known facts about the Pony Express, as well as the postal service. The line between historic fact and author's fiction is sufficiently obscured to both fascinate the reader and to warrant the book's placement in it's respective genre. This attribute together with the bewildered ending makes the book both an anthem of Pynchonality as well as an anthem in post-modernism. if you want to know what post-modernism is, you can do it while having a blast with an entertaining book. This one convey's the meaning of genre perfectly with the wink and laugh of fine storytelling.
J. Lyon Layden
The Other Side of Yore

Tao Te Ching: A New English Version (Perennial Classics)

Average customer rating:

Always new
A fine translation if some fine thinking
A wonderful companion to A Thousand Names for Joy
mini tao
I love audio books!

Tao Te Ching: A New English Version (Perennial Classics)
Lao Tzu
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Inspirational & Religious | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Eastern Philosophy | Other Eastern Religions | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

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My Friend Leonard
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A Million Little Pieces
A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are

ASIN: 0061142662
Release Date: 2006-09-05

Book Description

In eighty-one brief chapters, Lao-tzu's Tao Te Ching, or Book of the Way, provides advice that imparts balance and perspective, a serene and generous spirit, and teaches us how to work for the good with the effortless skill that comes from being in accord with the Tao—the basic principle of the universe.

Stephen Mitchell's bestselling version has been widely acclaimed as a gift to contemporary culture.

Download Description

Lao-tzu's Tao Te Ching, or Book of the Way, is the classic manual on the art of living, and one of the wonders of the world. In eighty-one brief chapters, the Tao Te Ching looks at the basic predicament of being alive and gives advice that imparts balance and perspective, a serene and generous spirit. This book is about wisdom in action. It teaches how to work for the good with the effortless skill that comes from being in accord with the Tao (the basic principle of the universe) and applies equally to good government and sexual love; to child rearing, business, and ecology.

Stephen Mitchell's bestselling version has been widely acclaimed as a gift to contemporary culture.

Customer Reviews:

Always new.......2007-09-16

This book can be read over and over. Every time it is a fresh new experience.

A fine translation if some fine thinking.......2007-09-15

A fine translation. For the new entrant, perhaps seeking that second book to follow the Tao of Pooh, or for an old friend of the Master, Stephen Mitchell's contemporary English translation get's it right. From the comfortably blended gender pronoun usage, to it's succinct but engaging notes, Mitchell's translation carries Lao-tzu's wisdom to 21st century English speakers with grace. The pocket edition is entirely sufficient to the task.

A wonderful companion to A Thousand Names for Joy.......2007-09-03

The author is Byron Katie's husband, and she used this version of his book to provide the structure for her wonderful, poetic muse on life and The Work, her brilliant take on how to accept reality and set yourself free (first described in Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life.)

My wife and I read the section from the Tao, then the corresponding chapter from Katie's book (most are less than a page to 3-4 pages) every morning at breakfast. Always leaves us with a smile of insight and wonder, even in those times when we don't exactly know how we'd live the way she describes in a given chapter.

Unless you insist on a literal translation from the Chinese as mentioned above, this is a fresh and clean way to experience the Tao, and, if you get Katie's book (I'm buying both today for my daughter), you'll get a nice synergistic reward from experiencing the two together, day by day.

mini tao.......2007-09-01

A personal library must-have. Small enough to carry everywhere. Simple wisdom. Prerequisite to Wayne Dyer's "Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life"

I love audio books!.......2007-05-22

I like to listen in my car and always hear something new. What a beautiful book. thanks!

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