F Books

I really enjoyed this essay. I have always been interested in the freedom of the will problem and I thought that this essay provided a good description of the problem and some very interesting discussion. Schopenhauer writes very clearly and in a manner that kept me interested throughout the hundred pages of the essay. Schopenhauer starts out with a consideration of what is meant by "freedom of the will." He considers the statement that "I can do what I will" to be irrelevant to the question of freedom of the will since he says that "...the will is already presupposed...for it assumes that the will has already been decided." He goes on to say, "The assertion does not at all speak about the dependence or independence of the occurrence of the act of volition itself."

The real question that Schopenhauer seems to be interested in is whether an individual can will what he or she wills; he does not think that this is the case. Schopenhauer arrives at the opinion that "...man's will is his authentic self, the true core of his being...he himself is as he wills and wills as he is" such that, "You can do what you will, but in any given moment of your life you can will only one definite thing and absolutely nothing other than that one thing." He then goes on to talk about causality and what compels the will to act in one way or another (i.e., motives) always coming back to what he sees as a confusion when people use the fact that they can do what they will as an argument for free will. Schopenhauer argues that an individual's statement of "...`I can do this' is in reality a hypothetical and carries with it the additional clause, `if I did not prefer the other.' But this addition annuls the ability to will." Schopenhauer considers the notion of an uncaused cause to be unintelligible and at variance with observation. "If freedom of the will were presupposed, every human action would be an inexplicable miracle--an effect without a cause...here we are supposed to think something which determines without being determined, which depends on nothing, but on which the other depends."

One question that often comes up when talking about the absence of freedom of will is "What then happens to individual responsibility?" Schopenhauer answers this by saying that people are responsible for their own characters and that others judge individuals based on the outward signs (actions) that belie their inward character. "So the responsibility of which he is conscious falls upon the act only provisionally and ostensibly, but basically it falls upon his character--for this he feels responsible. And it is for his character that the others also make him responsible." So then Schopenhauer seems to be saying that people are judged based on their actions and underlying motives since these together show evidence of their true nature.

On a somewhat unrelated note, Schopenhauer's relationship with Hegel seems less than cordial as evidenced by his discussing Hegel's philosophical ponderings as "the emptiest word rubbish and silliest gallimathias [the word means nonsense or gibberish] that have ever been heard outside the insane asylum." For some reason, this passage made me laugh such that I wanted to include it in this review. It makes me thankful that my professional relationships have not yet reached such a level of colorful language. At any rate, I enjoyed this essay very much and would recommend it to others who are interested in a freedom of the will discussion.

For those who are convinced that determinism has been refuted (ie. Popper, Sartre, Kierkegarrd) it is quite obvious that they haven't read this essay because if they had they might put their own presuppositions about the validity of free will into question.
Schopenhauer does a fantastic job at dissecting the concept of the 'freedom of the will' by first showing that it cannot be proven from self-consciounsess. He follows this by meticulously distinguishing between the changes that occur in inorganic objects (cause), plants (stimulus), and animals(intuitive and particularly for humans, abstract motives). He points out that in regards to the automatic organic function of animals bodies, changes occur in the form of a "stimulus" but in willed action motivation is the cause (but not in the mechanical sense that the narrow definition of casaulity implies). Schopenhauer writes, in regards to motivation, "causality that passes through cognition... enters in the gradual scale of natural beings at that point where a being which is more complex, and thus has more manifold needs, was no longer able to satisfy them merely on the occasion of a stimulus that must be awaited, but had to be in a position to choose, seize, and even seek out the means of satisfaction."

Schopenhauer thinks that humans have "relative freedom" but that relative freedom is to act in accordance with the motives that are necessitated by the Will-- which in turn is the determining factor of human behavior. In humans the linkage of cause and effect is of a far greater distance than that of intuitive animals-- causing us to mistakingly exclude our behavior from the law of casaulity-- but in the end 'the Will' still determines actions by what he calls "sufficient necessitiy".

"For he (human beings) allows the motives repeatedly to try their strength on his will, one against the other. His will is thus put in the same position as that of a body that is acted on by different forces in opposite directions - until at last the decidedly strongest motive drives the others from the field and determines the will. This outcome is called decision and, as a result of the struggle, appears with complete necessity."

Unlike Sartre's treatise on freedom, which ultimately collapsed into obscurity and contradiction, Scophenhauer's rightly contends that a fixed essence is inborn (what we would today call DNA). In other words, it contradicts Sartre's saying that "existence precedes essence." For Schopenhauer, neither precedes the other. The two are inseparable. The expression of the essence can change through experience within the environment but the fundamental aspects of it remain instrinsic to the organism (Genes/Biology). Schopenhauer responds to the proponents of absolute free will, who haven't carefully analyzed what it means for the 'will' to be free, by writing: "Closely considered, the freedom of the will means an existentia without essentia; this is equivalent to saying that something is and yet at the same time is nothing, which again means that it is not and thus is a contradiction." So my guess is that if Sartre had happened to stumble upon this particular essay he might have realized that it was he who was in "bad faith" about man being condemned to be free.

It should also be noted that if Schopenhauer is wrong about mans intrinsic nature then all of the social sciences are a fraud and particularly psychology is wrong when it takes genes, biology, and the environment into consideration when interpreting and analyzing human behavior.

The reason people object to philosophical determinism is that it makes morality and personal responsibility a precarious thing. One valuable thing we can adopt from Sartre's ideas is that it is imperative that we take responsibility for our choices. But being that pragmatism is the philosophy of the U.S. and not existentalism, it is more than likely the masses will always assume that Free Will exists because the stability of civil society depends on it. In light of all of this it should be mentioned that Schopenhauer does not think that people can't be morally reformed. In other words he thinks that the expression of behavior can be cultivated. Many people credit Nietzsche for coming up with the idea of sublimation that would later be used by Freud, but it was actually Schopenhauer who was the first speak of the idea.

"Cultivation of reason by cognitions and insights of every kind is morally important, because it opens the way to motives which would be closed off to the human being without it."

Schopenhauer also condemns a moral system that tries to root out the defects of a person's character rather than utilizing sublimation.

For those who consider this type of philosophy immoral because it seems to exclude the possibility of moral responsibility we should remember that in Christianity there is the concept of predesination, and in Islam there is a religious fatalism. On top of that fact, many of the church fathers (Augustine and Luther) didn't accept the notion of free will either.

I highly recommend this book!

Almost everyone agrees that - here, Schopenhauer made a convincing case for denying free-will. Nevertheless, I would argue that if we look back to the influence Kant's work exerted on Schopenhauer, and review Schopenhauer's own remarks about the validity of empirical knowledge, it must surely be that Schopenhauer landed himself in difficulties. On his own reading of Kant's philosophy, and those parts of it which he incorporated into his own work, the 'willing' subject, sensu strictu, cannot be said to exist in space and time, but only to be working through those categories in the understanding.

If time and space are transcendentally ideal - as Schopenhauer asserted, following Kant, he ought to have known better than to locate the 'will' in time and space, when according to his own reckoning, 'time and space are in us.'

Kant distinguished here, between 'will' and 'willkuhr' - that is, the practical difference between the will grounded in the noumenon, and the will seen in its phenomenal or empirical
employment. Insofar as Schopenhauer adopted Kant's distinction between appearance and reality, viz. the ideality of time and space, it surely follows that by denying free-will, Schopenhauer was denying a key element in his own philosophy. In short, his argument against 'free-will' amounts to a simplistic observation - namely, 'your willing takes place in the empirical world. The empirical world is conditioned. Ergo, your willing is conditioned' - as if he had suddenly forgotten everything else said in his philosophy, about the ideality of time and space.

By arguing that 'free will' - in the empirical manifold, is simply comparative or relative - viz., when confronted with choices - Schopenhauer was stating the obvious. In this respect, Schopenhauer's position was not unlike that of certain early Buddhists, who almost made Buddhism into a form of determinism. To do that, they had to advocate a kind of empirical realism, while denying any reality to the 'pudgala.' But in actual fact, Schopenhauer's position vis-a-vis the ideality of the phenomenal world, more nearly resembled the Vijnanavada/Yocacara. What mattered to Kant (and what surely matters to anyone else, defending the case for free-will), is that considered as noumenon (i.e. our unconditioned nature), that which can initiate a new chain of events - in the phenomenal world, is not - in itself, phenomenal.

We are free when we are able do what we want, that is, when we are not somehow impeded from doing what we will to do. But we decide what to do as a matter of causal necessity; otherwise, our actions would be random and senseless. The notion that we have the power to originate the causal chain by an act of will makes no sense; as Schopenhauer says, causation is not like a cab that you can start and stop wherever it helps your argument. As he notes, that point also defeats cosmological arguments about "prime movers" and "first causes." This is a great read, a chance to experience a first-class mind grappling with a difficult and interesting problem. Schopenhauer generally even avoids his usual bitter broadsides and against Schelling and Hegel and the sort of philosophizing they represent, although those are fun to read and generally on target. (He lost another, later prize because his essay in that case, although the only candidate for the prize, was so full of personal invective that the judges refused to make the award.)

Another reviewer correctly notes that Schopenhauer undermines his own argument at the last minute, or tries to, in a strange concluding chapter. There he argues that our feelings of personal responsibility for our actions points to freedom of some kind, a species of argument that he had earlier dismantled. Anyway, this freedom would have to exist beyond the empirical level, as his arguments have decisively eliminated any possibility of freedom there. The position Schopenhauer presents in that chapter involves the idea that we, somehow, choose our own characters at some mysterious point of emergence from the Kantian noumena. No commentator I have read has been able to make sense of it. In any case, it's completely skippable, a brief, tacked-on chapter that makes no difference for the rest of the book, which is very well worth reading.

The title of my review is a little misleading, so I'll be quick to explain. In fact, Schopenhauer does make a good case for determinim in his essay. However, there is something noteworthy I haven't seen in any of the reviews so far: At the end of the well-crafted essay, Schopenhauer -- well -- spoils it all. Having established the truth of determinism, he suddenly tries to justify free will. Yes, that's true. He appeals to a Kantian style idealism to try and convince the reader that we are ultimately morally responsible. He asserts that we have metaphysical free will because we FEEL our responsibility. His proclamation that this free will that we are supposed to have is a mystery is strikingly reminiscient of theistic statements like "God works in mysterious ways". This is just an example to illustrate the failure of Schopenhauer's case for free will. In order to defend his free will, "real free will", Schopenhauer is forced to resort to mere assertions. He can't explain why we have this free will or how it works, hence he calls it a mystery. If you are a determinist it may well be that you will feel a little betrayed or even outright disappointed after finishing the book. I give the book 4 stars nonetheless, because for the most part it IS a skillfully written defense of determinism. Schopenhauer should have laid aside his pen a couple of pages earlier than he did, that's all.

The story is timeless, and the product is just as good. Beautiful artwork to accompany the story. The paper is top-rate, and the cover is A+. Every little girl should have this book and eventually pass it down to the next generation.

This rendition of Sleeping Beauty is delicious to the eye. I purchased the book specifically for the art work. KY Craft is fast becoming one of my favorite artists and the children's books she has illustrated are pieces of art that I return to look at again and again.

The story line is well loved.... and it is a pleasure reading a delightfully familiar & wonderfully illustrated fairytale as a 'maturing' grown up! CJ

This book is beautiful. I'm so happy that my daughter is the one that told me about it. The artwork is worth the price in everyway. Of course, Sleeping Beauty is a story that no one ever gets tired of. By all means add this one to your library.

This is a simply gorgeous book. Kinuko Y. Craft is such a magnificent illustrator. All of her images are detailed, delicate, and deep.

Beautifully written and illustrated, it makes a perfect bedtime story. You will also get distracted by the artwork: it could tell the story without the words.

We absolutely love "The Star-Spangled State Book!" It's a fun, fast way to learn about the 50 states. Each colorful state page has the following information: the capital, population, date of statehood, size of area, rank of size, the 3 most populous cities, important state facts, fun state facts, and four Geoquiz questions. Kids can test what they've learned by taking the Geoquizzes throughout the book. There's also a blank U.S. map you can print out. Overall, it's a fun way for kids to learn U.S. geography.

This is a really fun book to have around for your children. It is easy to understand and packed with fun information about each state. My family enjoys this resource.

This is a great book for introducing the concept of states to younger ones, PK and K. My DH travels for work and we can look up information about the state where he is working. It's better than just a map because we can learn interesting facts about the state as well as know what it looks like! It will be a central part of our homeschool curriculum for years to come!

The Star-Spangled State Book is an absolutely wonderful resource for anyone wanting to learn more about the U.S.! It is filled with so much great information in a format that is so appealing to kids and adults alike. It gets five stars in my house.

Ever want to press the "easy" button in your homeschool? Look no further. The Star-Spangled State Book is a colorful, child-friendly, easy-to-read book about the 50 states. My 1st, 3rd, and 6th graders all love it. You get great facts and no fru-fru with this book. (We use it with the workbook - much better with both.)

The book contains a page dedicated to each state. You will see a small picture of the state, the capital, the abbreviation, the flag, the 3 largest cities, date entered statehood, rank, population, and area. There is a Fact Box and 2 short stories about each state, usually about a famous person who has contributed to our country in some way.

In addition, you will find a page on the following: American Presidents, The Civil War, The 13 Colonies, a blank American map, a labeled American map, Statehood Order, State Abbreviations, and more.

The GeoQuiz at the bottom of each page reviews states, capitals, borders, and trivia. This is a great refresher for mom, too!

I compared this book to others on the market, and liked this one best. My kids have improved their knowledge of states, state recognition, and capitals with it.

When I was in middle school, my friend Scott and I occupied our time on the school bus by playing a string game called "Cat's Cradle." Although repetitive, it was a fun game; it took many hours of play before we finally grew tired of it. That game is one of many described in this book.
Until I read it, I was unaware of how many different string games there were in the cultures of the world. Korea, Japan, China, India, Borneo, the Philippines, Aleuts in Alaska, the Navahos of New Mexico, the Osage of Oklahoma, pygmies of the Congo, the Pacific island of Nauru, and Uap in the Caroline islands is just a partial list of the points of origin of the string games described in this book. The construction of each figure is explained using a sequence of diagrams.
If you are interested in string games from around the world, then you will find this book to be an excellent reference. Had I known of it when I was younger, Scott and I would never have grown tired of playing string games.

I learned some string figures in my childhood and recently became interested again. I found this book on Amazon and promptly ordered it!

The book is quite fascinating. There is a huge collection of string figures which in themselves are interesting to look at and learn how to do. There is also a considerable amount of anthropological information (the author was after all an anthropologist) and some amazing photographs from around the turn of the 19th/20th century. In addition some of the stories and legends that go with these figures, many of which are very old indeed, are collected in the book with relevant figures.

My only complaint is that the string figures on the cover are from the collection of 20 or so at the end of the book for which no instructions are given because there wasn't time due to the book being in the final stages of publication! (Remember this was in the time long before computers). It's still however a collection which many can enjoy for all sorts of reasons.

I had a copy of this book as a child and bought this for my son who is 10. It's quite interesting, the instructions are easy to follow, and since we homeschool, it's made for some nice opportunities for geography and culture discussions. Adults could learn some of them for family-friendly parlor tricks at parties.

Considered by many String Figure people to be the "Bible" in this field. It has easy to follow instructions using what has become standard nomenclature. This book is referenced in recent writings probably more than any other. Anyone with interest in String Figures should have this book in their collection.

Once you master the language of manipulating the string--with a little patience-- you'll find the explanations easy to follow. The selection of string figures was wonderful. A strong collection --a legacy that has travelled throughout the world. Pass it along to your children.

I believe that a well written short story is easy to imagine but difficult to capture. Mr. O'Hara, however, seems to capture different moments and ideas in his short stories with effortless flair. His writing is both sparse and ornate--which is just the way I like my stories. His words took me to places that were magical and raw. Reading The Swan also made me want to visit the Sacremento Valley immediately.

Mr. O'Hara has given us such a gift with this book. I will read it again and again. I am honored to have it in my collection.

lavish Lines/luscious Lies

The Swan: Tales of the Sacramento Valley is the debut book of Andrew F. O'Hara, a former patrolman and current editor of the online magazine, The Jimston Journal www.jimstonjournal.com. Mr. O' Hara's book is a collection of short stories and from past experiences, any collection of short stories that I've read with the exception of Carol Riley Cain's Ghosts, Spooks and Spirits of South Texas, have been rather dismal or uninspiring to say the least. But this little 140-paged book was a welcomed change.
The Swan, as mentioned before, is a diverse range of short stories. From humorous yarns about a nagging wife to a patrolman who's losing his sanity and resorting to alcohol for some solace, there is something here that caters to everyone's taste.
There's a mantra that has been around for many years now and that is, "never judge a book by its cover." Well when one glances upon the cover of The Swan, they are greeted with an image of a swan with its wings poised in the air as it glides along the shimmering waters of some anonymous pond or lake. This image of pleasantry does somehow go hand-in-hand with the stories of this book as they are beautifully written. Every tale was unique and written in a fresh approach but what was really distinctive was the method in which the author was able to breathe new life into each character. From start to finish, one has a vivid picture in their mind of the character's actions in all the compositions. My favourites are "A Poet's Song" and "An Act of Cowardice" because these contain, in my opinion, the strongest characters of the entire collection. In "A Poet's Song", an old husband and poet, has to listen to the nagging of his wife as she no longer likes to see him writing poetry. Her biting words or comments ring in the ears of the reader and you cannot help but feel pity for the old man. The main character in, "An Act of Cowardice", is a World War II vet who feels guilty about a deed he did in his past and although anyone in his position would've done the same if they were in his position, his feeling of guilt resonates with the reader. Another talent that O'Hara possesses is a certain richness in his descriptions. For those of you who may never get a chance to visit the Sacramento Valley or indeed the US, Andrew paints a scenic picture of the location in which each tale is set in. It's these attributes that make Tales of The Sacramento Valley a worthwhile addition to your bookshelf.
If you're remotely interested in compiling a book of short stories, then The Swan is a must read as O'Hara expertly displays how it's done. With splendid characterisation, picturesque descriptions, and excellent stories, this should be on everyone's "to buy" list and would make a great gift at Christmas to pass away the winter blues.

Aidan Lucid
www.iol.ie/~thelucidreview

Andy O'Hara is a storyteller who understands the value of a good story, well told. And that is what you'll find in The Swan - a collection of very good stories, very well told by a writer who understands that a whispered word can pack more punch than a raised voice. These are stories of love and death (and really what else is there worth writing about?). They are not easy stories and they are, perhaps, uneven (which is just another way of saying you'll have your favorites). They are written with a gentleness of spirit that some might call old-fashioned. So be it. I just call it good writing.

This 2007 revised edition is a collection of wonderful provoking short stories. Each as engaging as the one before. The descriptions of the small towns made me feel that I was in each place; seeing and feeling the scenery, people and even the stars.
I could not put it down. My only disappointment was that there was not another story and I had to close the book with its beautiful cover.

This is the new Swan, the 2007 Edition with feathers all bright white, fluffed and ready to lull and captivate you at the same time. Andy O'Hara has improved on the un-improvable this time around. The weave is tight, but so smoothly done the stories blend into each other, carrying two common themes to fruition by the turn of the last page. The fun is how Andy has taken the reader on a swing through his beloved Sacramento Valley. He describes obscure towns giving us a mental picture along with the smell of the dust, the fields, the eucalyptus groves and more. The stories, Andy claims, are fiction, but I would bet most have been drawn from his own experiences. A great read and a great buy, one I will enjoy over and over again...J.B. Bergstad

Mr. Rubin had me totally immersed into this fast-paced cinematic novel of World War II. I simply could not "put the book down" till reading the words "The End" (Actually a few pages after that...) The rock-solid heroes and double-faced villains, the mad Führer and his cartoonesque lieutenants, Hollywood war-time propaganda movie-makers and abused japanese-americans: all are casted in this production screening in my mind's theater over and over again.
4-F Blues: A Novel of WWII Hollywood.

I loved the glitz and glamour and inner workings of Hollywood and with the overlay of WWII, Charles Rubin has exquisitely woven a wonderful story in a wonderful time. I loved being there. The characters are a diverse group, glamorous, tough, compassionate, calculating and more, each adding a new dimension to a book to become absolutely engrossed in. Oh, and I found myself smiling a lot.

You will just love this book! It is just like one of the great movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Just like wanting to watch your favorite movie over and over again, you will want to read this book again and again. I would love to see a movie made from it!

Listen folks, I don't read much....I read music, but books...I just don't read that much...I started this book and it only took me a few days to read it. It's an easy read. I couldn't wait to get home from whatever to pick it up...I would stay up half the night reading...for me this is major...I highly recommend the book...it's movie material.

As I was browsing through my usual section of non fiction material, I suppose "By Chance" I came across a most delightful fiction based on fact book entitled 4 F blues. This book is about world war 2 and Hollywood and takes place in an era slightly before my time. As I went to bed that night, at midnight, I planned to read a few pages before falling asleep, and low and behold I could not put this book down until I finished it at 3 am! 4 F blues is humerous and it has an easy flow to read. It is not written as some books I have read where the descriptions are so flowery that I lost sight of the plot. I actually became so engrossed with the plot and setting, that for 3 hours I felt that I knew the characters personally, and lived there during that time period. The author was able to take sensitive subjects such as WW II, Hollywood politics, and the Japanese Internment Camps and to create a fun and humerous, yet very empowering book. The main characters withhold their highest personal integrity, even with all odds against them. For me it was a nostalgic look at a Hollywood of the past, the glamour, an inside look, and the reality that movies and their characters reflect our history and the mindset of the people during a particular era. Speaking of movies I feel that this book would make a great uplifting movie.

I am a huge fan of this series. I read every book in the previous Fearless series. I was looking forward to the FBI series, but it's begining to worry me. For starters, I hated the characters of Catherine and Kim. Will is ok but he does not compare to Sam or Ed, Gaia's previous boyfriends in other books. Gaia has never been stupid. As a teen she was intelligent, strong and capable. She never would have done such stupid things as she has done in this book. If you haven't read the book yet, stop reading because this will contain spoilers. I think it's incredibly stupid for Gaia to have gone off on her own searching for Catherine. If Gaia thinks the FBI is a good enough orginization to join, why would she question them regarding Catherine's disapperance? Shouldn't she have trusted them? Ignoring the FBI's orders and going after Catherine was very out of character for Gaia. Even for someone who has had trust issues in the past, they wouldn't ignore the FBI and trust complete strangers like Marsh. It just doesn't make sense. I didn't like how the book abandoned the lollipop case for awhile and then went off on this whole terrorist thing. The FBI doesn't know Catherine is terrorist? Give me a break! It was so stupid. Like the FBI wouldn't know about terrorists planting bombs under the city streets of Philadelphia. And like the FBI uses passcards for security. Hello! They'd use fingerprint or eye/retinal scans. Even a 6th grader should be aware of these flaws. Despite the flaws, I still give this book a 3 because I love the character of Gaia so much and I have hopes that the series will get back on track. I am currently reading the latest book and it's back on track with the lolli pop murder case. Stick to the cases and no more terrorists stuff, please!

Gaia leaves the FBI in order to rescue partner and best friend Catherine Sanders. After locating a house where Catherine was at some time after her disappearence Gaia finds herself in a lot of trouble. She makes a new 'friend' who very nearly strangled her to death when an agent turned PI comes to her rescue. She ends up needing help from her Hogan's Alley partners Will and Kim. But involving them will get them in trouble with the FBI and cause them to risk losing thier jobs. Gaia meets an excellent agent that mysteriously appears and helps her out until he mysteriously disappears. Gaia is being chased by the FBI and now with the knowledge of Grey ops fears for her life. Who is going to be able to get her out of this mess?

The book was totally awesome!!! I totally recomend it to someone who loves action. A great read!!!

Agent Out is a continuation of the last book, Live Bait. Gaia goes looking for her partner and friend Catherine by herself against FBI orders. This book is filled with SO many suprises, especially near the end. It mixes romance and adventure, just like the other Fearless books which makes this book so good. The ending is so unexpected it is by far my favorite Fearless book! I would recommend it to any Fearless fan!

I loved this book. I tried to go slower so i would have to wait as long for the next one but it didn't exactly work.In the beginning evrything makes sense and u just want Gaia to find Catherine. But nearer to the end you get confused and its one of those suspensed kind of confusing feelings. I have read every fearless book and reccomend the to ANYONE and EVERYONE. If u like suspense or staying up all nihgt reading u will love these books. The FBI series is a new series but i would reccomend reading the fearless series first. She ties the old books in very well! Gaia still hasn't gotten over Jake, and that plays a part in this series because she doesn't want to lie to will like she did to jake and sam and ed. So eventually she decides to tell him her secret and he doesn't even believe her!! He will eventually. Gaia is once agian forced to belive that she should never trust anyone when she is betrayed yet AGAIN. From who? now that ur going to have to read to find out about. Once agian great book. I can't believe we have to wait till JUNE for the next one!

The BFG, is a book about a big friendly giant who captures a little girl named Sophie with his enormous ears.Instead of gobbling children he blows dreams. He takes her to giant country to keep her for the rest of her life.
The theam of this book is that not every bodys nice and not every bodys mean.
I really enjoyed reading the B F G. It was the best book so far in my life. I recommend this to the whole world!

This book is a fasinating story about a little girl who meets a giant.This giantis frendly he shows her places normal people can't see.Although some parts are quite sad it has extremly funny parts.This is why i'm giving it five stars.

The B.F.G. was the first book that I ever read. I was 7 years old and I can still remember it to this day. I would love to read it again. When I had the book it was a green hardback. I can't wait to get another copy so I can share it with my twins when they are old enough. Even though I am 23, I still think that I will enjoy hearing it again!

I've read the the B.F.G seven times. It is my all time favortie book and it always will be.

This is a must-read comedy drama book. If you like funny giants hallucinating little girls then this is the book for you. The main characters are Sophie and the B F G. What happened in the story are good friendships and some scary giant's gross food and a five star adventure. The problem is that they have to capture the nine cannibalistic giants and those nine other giants are fifty feet tall. (The B F G is twenty five feet tall.)
My favorite part of the story is when the B FG eats some eggs for the first time. And the funny, brave and "bobwigling" author Roald Dahl invents funny and creative words. If you're thinking about buying this book, don't think, just buy!
By Izzy

I have been looking for this book EVERYWHERE! My problem was that I didn't remember the title correctly. I first read this book 13 years ago when I was 12. I remember Just falling in love with it. the next 3 years I would go back andre check it out several times. I know it is probably a simple read for me now, but its one of those books that I loved so much, I memorized the whole story.
I love the characters and their special bond with each other. In the beginning, you get to see how normal they are. they're just teens with the normal stresses of other teens(except for the prince who has to deal with all the pressure that brings)
and its interesting how their"episodes" just become a normal part of life. I could go on and on and basically retell the story, so all I will say, is that it is an easy read that you won't be able to put down.

Connie ("I hate Constance") Hendrix and Rudolph (Rudy) - the crown prince of the ficticious Thulgaria - were born at the same moment, with brain waves that are nearly identical, though this is theoretically impossible. These similarities, besides making them the best of friends, even across vast distances, also give them the special gift of sharing their minds by telepathy. It was during one of these involuntary sharings that Connie is witness to Rudy's kidnapping and is the only one who can help him.

Although the plot is fantasy / sci-fi in nature, just about anyone will enjoy this wonderful story. In fact, I think this is probably the first fantasy book that I read. Hmm, and ten years later I'm still reading it! Definitely a must read!

I read this book as the mother of an advanced reading 8 yr. old and was very pleased to see a book with action and adventure WITHOUT the sex, swearing and other things so many today think is necessary to tell a story. I'd like to write the author personally to thank her!

it was pretty short, but completely aweseom! i enjoyed every words of it. Connie and Rudy are so neat. i loved the idea of sharing minds! DEFINATELY RECOMENDED!!!!!!!!!

One of the many books that pushed me into enjoying the science fiction genre. The concept for this book is incredibly original and really appealed to me when I was younger and still appeals to me many years later.

This story alternates between the point of view of the two main characters - Connie, a typical American teen and Rudy, the crown prince of a small (fictional) European country. They share a secret bond that no one else is aware of - they suffer headaches and fainting spells, but when one passes out they enter the other's mind and share what they see and hear. The 'visitor' cannot communicate with them, but the 'awake' teen is aware of the other's presence in their mind. Both guard their secret relationship fiercly until one night Rudy is kidnapped while Connie is 'with' him and she has to convince her family, and his, so that she can help to rescue him.

Connie and Rudy are both extremely well developed characters. The plot is well developed and keeps the reader involved to the very end.

Something about the idea of occasionally co-existing with someone from so far away and sharing a relationship that is so close and so private is really appealing, despite the problems it caused the main characters. Every kid wants a friend who truly understands them and this is a great manifestation of that desire.

If I would only have the joy to read one book in my lifetime, it should be See Under: Love.

See Under: Love took my breath away, moved me to tears and touched me in the tenderest reaches of my soul. It is brilliant, imaginative, engaging and humane. The way characters, themes and time wind into each other transport the reader to a place far beyond the mundane. I loved every word. Immediately upon finishing, I went back to the first page to reread. My second reading was more deliberate and careful, and I caught much that I had overlooked in my first pass. I am sure that I will reread it again and again.

I originally bought this book after Jonathan Safran Foer enumerated it in his "Five Most Important Books" for an August 2007 Newsweek piece. Foer called it, "The novel of the 21st century" though it was first published in English in 1989. I thank Jonathan Safran Foer for his own works and, here, this recommendation. And in turn, I hope that I can pass this rare jewel on to others. This is my first review (well, not really a review which is elsewhere on Amazon but a recommendation) but I am compelled to do so. Months after the reading, I find myself thinking about See Under: Love and feeling grateful that I experienced it. This is not an easy book to read but the rewards are multifold. And when you are done, read the transcript of a talk that the author gave for a San Francisco Symposium at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0411/is_1_51/ai_85068470 for even greater insight.

David Grossman has taken the worst that man has to offer and spun it into a magical, magnificent ouevre which will touch you with the human spirit and make you proud to be alive.

Words fail. I beg anyone who has been considering buying into Jonathan Safran Foer's hype to instead find themselves a copy of this, the book from which he appears to have stolen most of his ideas, instead.

All hyperbole aside, this wonderful book has few equals. It demands attention, and reflection, and time, and it rewards those willing to invest those things in it beyond compare. Nothing short on a meditation the way our lives are impacted by the moral calculi of others, and the way our own actions reverberate throughout the generations.

As an Israeli who have read it in Hebrew, I would like to add a few words. One thing: this book is entirely different if you read it in Hebrew. It losses a lot in the translation, and not because the translation is bad, rather that the combination of different layers of very special Hebrew combined with Yiddish, along with the cultural context, makes it a book that is an impossible mission for the translator. Of course, you can't ask someone to learn Hebrew just for this book (and this still won't be enough, because he has to be born again as an Israeli and grow up here to understand everything...), but the book has numerous universal aspects that can be translated, and it's still, even after the translation, a must-read.
And now, for the book itself (if there is such a thing the book itself...).
This is by-far the greatest Israeli book that I have ever read. I had one feeling that went along with me throughout the journey: I don't know how the hell he did. I just don't know. Like a magician that makes a trick you just can't figure. The scope. The depth. I cannot describe this book. It defies space and time. It is a masterpiece.

I don't think I am qualified to write a review of this piece of art. Think Toni Morrison on LSD, or maybe Falkner writing in Hebrew as Isaiah, composing in a way never before conceived, about of all things, The Hollocaust! I guess this most twisted example of human depravity requires such a book. However, if I had not read Mr. Grossman's beautiful love narrative, " Someone to Run With" I would not have known at first if it was a work of genius or a tale told by an idiot, and might not have hung in there long enough to declare it the former - 5 stars! However, a second reading may be required to understand the nuances.

One of the best novels I have ever read. Don't miss it!