English Books

I couldn't believe the depths Ellmann takes the reader in his biography of Oscar Wilde. Everything; every aspect of Wilde's life is thoroughly explored. The best single word review of this book would be just that; thorough.

On the other hand, the text is very dry at times, and you may find yourself frusterated. It always seems that, too often, biographies fall victim of the "dry writer."

Just as to know James Joyce, discover his daughter, the spark of his own genius.

Lady Wilde was a writer and Irish revolutionary who raised her son to infiltrate the highest ranks of the empire and expose their foibles, faults, cruelties and hidden shames, which he so fully did through his theatre work and other writings. He was investigating the widespread homosexuality of the British aristocracy when he was arested for his prying and blamed for that which he himself investigated and reported. He was silenced through breaking imprisonment (read his post-prison poetry, and the uneven yet revelatory De Profundis written from prison) which debilitated, discouraged and killed him a few short years after his release.

TO know Wilde, know his mother: Speranza, Lady Wilde, whose wonderful works of Irish history and legends are now available on amazon.com only in Spanish translation. Several good biographies are also available at unattainable price.

Know alos his son. Wilde was a loving family man who wrote wonderful bedtime stories for his own beloved children. What broke him in prison was losing them, as he writes in De Profundis.

Ellman's is a fine biography. Find out far more about Wilde than the popular and shallow slander urgently promoted by the Empire

Imagine the challenges facing a Wilde biographer: the contradictions of an outrageous, larger-than-life subject whose brittle public persona masked his inner torments; Wilde's enormous drive, which led to success and acclaim, but also set in motion his ultimate fall from grace. Worse: so much already written, including Wilde's own glittering one-liners - what could anyone presume to add to the already crowded record?

Professor Ellmann, who worked for almost twenty years on this book, doesn't fail to deliver. In what will clearly be the definitive biography, he lays out details of Wilde's life, illuminates the work, and cuts through the brilliant and brittle public persona to show us Wilde's soul. All of this is accomplished with wit, intelligence and compassion -- this book confirmed Ellmann's status as the English professor I always wished I'd had. Professor Ellmann doesn't make a single misstep in this astonishing biography.

His final assessment of Wilde:

"He belongs to our world more than to Victoria's. Now, beyond the reach of scandal, his best writings validated by time, he comes before us still, a towering figure, laughing and weeping, with parables and paradoxes, so generous, so amusing, and so right."

If I may be forgiven a paraphrase of Ellmann's own words, this biography is also "generous, amusing, and so right."

I remember reading this book when I was 16 and being blown away by the erudition. Even to this day it's probably the most erudite biography I've ever read. The scholarly weight and depth of this book is tremendous. It is amazingly comprehensive. This is the kind of book that takes 20 years to write and must be a labor of love for the writer--the writer must really love his subject, in this case, Wilde. And one has every indication from the book that Richard Ellman did. His portrait of Wilde is no less sympathetic as it is complete. This must be the definitive biography which all other Wilde bios should be measured against. A superlative achievement.

David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"

I had just finished this book ten minutes ago and I am completely in love with the man. His life was one of both tragedy and creativity. I felt so sad for him in the last part of his life. He was an amazing soul and this bio accented it. A must read!

A wonderful read on one of the most outstanding christians in history.
Our Heart Group which meets in our home each week has truly been blessed by reading about this great christian man ( author, preacher, teacher, statesman, and more ).
Trust that others might receive the same blessing by the reading of this book.

John Newton wrote a poem with the above title.

Mr. McCasland has written a very readable biography of a true man of God. In every chapter following the first, the reader walks with Chambers throughout his spiritual growth. Our Lord has told his followers that life will not be easy as a disciple and 'OC' is a shining example of living the life of faith--real faith unlike today where many so-called people of God have replaced faith with conservatism or patriotism or judicial capitalism.

From the 6th and last stanzas of Newton:

Lord, why is this, I
trembling cry'd.
Wilt thou pursue thy worm to
death?
"Tis in this way," the Lord
reply'd.
"I answer pray'r for grace and
faith.

"These inward trials I
employ,
"From self and pride to set
thee free;
"And break thy schemes of
earthly joy,
"That thou mayst seek thy all
in me."

The school of Christ involves learning the basics of the Christian faith but that is NOT the end. Be of good cheer, because when Jesus says he is their with us in our trials, he really means it! In the life of 'OC,' we know and believe this is true.

Thank you David McCasland for your biography of a true disciple of Christ.
If only we still had Oswald Chambers! I loved this book. I would have loved to have met Biddy Chambers as well. Such inspired lives they had!

Most people are familiar with My Utmost for His Highest, one of the great classic devotionals. But few are familiar with the man, Oswald Chambers. Oswald Chambers was originally from Scotland, formed a Bible College in England, and eventually went to Egypt where he served as a chaplain for WWI servicemen. He left this earth at a very young age. The marvelous thing is that Chambers had a wife who trained to be a transcriptionist. Her earthly ambition was to be the transcriptionist for the Prime Minister of England, but when she met and married Oswald Chambers, she began transcribing his words from his many teachings at the Bible College and to the servicemen. My Utmost for His Highest was published a year after his death, after Mrs. Chambers gathered together some of the gems of his teachings in one volume. Many more books followed over the years. Oswald Chambers would surely not be remembered today, if not for the partnership and labor of his wife. This book is wonderfully written as it tells the marvelous story of one man who dedicated his life to God's service...and whose words are treasured today because of his wife's gift of transcribing his words.

For a number of years I have thoroughly enjoyed reading and being blessed by "My Utmost for His Highest". While I have been greatly blessed, I knew little of the author other than he served British troops in Egypt as a servant of the YMCA. Thankfully, McCasland has written a most interesting read of Reverand Chambers.

Among the areas covered in Chambers' life include:

1. Early life and large family he belonged to - parents and siblings.
2. How and when he came to Christ.
3. His education at various schools.
4. Marriage to his beloved "Biddy" and enjoying his daughter Kathleen.
5. His service for the YMCA and other Christian-related organizations.
6. Ministry to British troops in Egypt during WWI.
7. Many travels and friends he made throughout his life.
8. Circumstances leading up to his death at the early age of 43.

The book was so well-written and detailed about Chambers' life that I have grown to respect and appreciate the man even more. I (in addition to many others I'm sure) am also deeply grateful for his wife Biddy's efforts to publish many of his addresses to the British troops that ultimately resulted in the devotion "My Utmost for His Highest".

Read and enjoy the book and come to appreciate Reverand Chambers even more! Highly recommended.

This is a wonderful collection of poems by Neruda in a bilingual edition. I'm planning to use it in a course I'm teaching in Fall '08.

Que bueno la traduccion y el original... Neruda es lo mejor de los mejores. Un libro exquisito.

I was a rookie when it comes to reading stylized writings like that of Pablo Neruda. I ordered the book as a friend suggested thinking it would be an impressive addition to my library not realizing that I would really enjoy his deep, thought-provoking and yet whimsical poems. My recommendation is to try it, you'll like it!!

Neruda was my companion during a 7 months journey and i remember clearly as water how many times i took this book with me to read it in front of the ocean. I am not very fond to poetry but with Neruda its impossible not in fall in love with the magic of words. You should have this book in your hands and heart.

I actually got this collection to study up on my Spanish, and I found myself emmersed in his tangible words. I found it interesting that some of the translations seem slightly weaker in English, but maybe that's just me.

What I like about Neruda is that his poetry can really talk to a general readership without sacrificing the aestheticism of poetic language. He seems to have an uncanny way of being brutally raw with his lanugaue, while letting the images, hard as they are, float softly, like flower petals.

Maybe I'm in love with the guy. Oh to be a poet.

The title of my review says it all. Shame the film they made from it was so naff: would have disappointed Spike.

Oh, how Spike Milligan is missed! His humor is unsurpassed; and completly his own. Puckoon is Milligan being Milligan. The novel moves along at a brisk pace, even when it seems little is happening. Reading everything coming together at the end is pure delight. I can't recommend this book enough... the only drawback is that it's so short it leaves you wanting more.

This is probably the funniest book i have ever read. Spike's surreal, zany homour didn't always hit the mark but when it did....pure genious! and "Puckoon" definately hits the mark.
e,g. Mrs. Doonan tried to get a divorce from her husband and the solicitor says..."But Mrs. Doonan, just because you don't like him, that's no grounds for separation."
"Well, make a few suggestions," she said.
"Has he ever struck you?"
"No. I'd kill him if he did."
"Has he ever been cruel to the children?"
"Never."
"Ever left you short of money, then?"
"No, every Friday on the nail."
"I see." The solicitor pondered. "Ah, wait, think hard now, Mrs. Doonan, has he ever been unfaithful to you?"
Her face lit up. "By God, i tink we got him there, I know for sure he wasn't the father of me last child!"
Spike manages to find humour and hillarious characterization set amongst the unlikely backdrop of the creation of the state of Northern Ireland, and "Any hostility to the Boundary Commissioners will be penalized with fines from a shilling up to death..."
The border just happens to fall right through the centre of "Puckoon"!
If you like wry, askew and slightly silly jokes...buy this book!

I first read this book on a friend's recommendation over thirty years ago. While I am a great Goon fan (Spike wrote all of the 150 or so scripts) I didn't always find his other work such as Beachcomber on TV as funny, but this book did not disappoint me one iota. It should be prescribed reading for all those people that have the nerve to say that Monty Python was the natural successor to the Goons or Spike. They didn't even come close (by about a thousand miles!) to the absolute brilliance of his writing.

I have just bought this book through Amazon (via bestbooksbrought2you - thanks Teresa, great service) for a friend's birthday. Even now, I can open the book at ANY page and break down in uncontrollable laughter at the visions he creates on every one. My wife and I still use some of the catch phrases from the book ('Caw!' said the crow - 'B*lls' said Milligan). The world lost a true genius when he died almost three years ago (Feb 2002) and this is shown in his chosen engraving on his tombstone - 'I told you I was ill'......

This book is quite simply the funniest book ever written.

My Father tried to read this book to me, as a bedtime tale when I was 8 years old. He used to get about 2 pages before falling off the end of the bed laughing. This, to an 8 year old was funnier than the book. To those over 8 who have read this book, nothing is funnier, ever.

I read it first, when I was 14. I laughed so hard and so loudly that I woke up everyone in the house. To this day,the lines (and I paraphrase here, forgive me) "Thank god the ground broke my fall." "Yes its handy for that." sends me into spasms of laughter. I dare you to read this book in a public place and not laugh out loud.

The Red Balloon is a wonderful story with an adorable little boy as the star character. I bought both the book and the DVD to give as a present to younger children (4 yrs old). I think they will enjoy if only for the visuals. The film is produced in French language but there is so little dialogue that not understanding the script doesn't affect the enjoyment of watching the film. Overall, it is a fun story with a good feel to it. There were only a couple of situations in the story that I thought might be a little sensitive or a bit scary to younger kids .. one being a group of boys chasing the little boy trying to take the balloon away from him. The other a very quick scene where a school headmaster is upset with the chaos going on and he puts the little boy in a room and locks the door. These are minor to the overall upbeat feel of the story but parents may want to review first to consider their own fast forward editing or explanations. In my case, the quality of the DVD was not great. It's an old film so perhaps the age is showing a bit in the reproductions.

Great story....grew up watching the short film and checking this same book out from our local library. Now that I'm a mom, I have introduced this video and book to my kids, and they're infatuated with everything about it. Great, well-made books with lively photos and storyline that holds little ones' attentions.

this book was written some decades ago but the excellence of the writing and the very skilful, thoughtful & sensitive photography which integrates very successfully with the story, are such that I believe this book will be deservedly popular with very many generations of children in the future. I believe that it is a masterpiece of children's literature and I strongly recommend it as a gift to be given by any parent - or grandparent.

I must have checked this book out a hundred times when I was in Elementary school as it was such a favorite. What a joy it was to find it still in print and telling it's charming story to future generations. This is a classic, and a book that I would recommend to all children and adults that want to hold a piece of their treasured childhood memories. This story was told in film on the International Children's Film Festival, hosted by Kookla, Fran and Olie, and further helps to bring this story to life.
Treat yourself and your children to the story of a boy and his friend, the red balloon.

The photographs, the text and presentation are remarkable. A piece that makes a good complement of the movie.

THis story is classic. I use this book so much that I have to retire my old copy and replace it with a new one every couple of years. It is a fabulous vehicle for storywriting in the primary classroom.

I have been reading Pat Hutchins books to children for many years. They are wonderful!! Rosie's Walk is a great book for sound effects! As Rosie goes obliviously on her walk,the fox encounters all sorts of sound effect producing trials. Great fun!

We have the board book edition, and I have to admit, I didn't think my 2-year old was going to like it when I first flipped through it. There didn't seem to be much to it --- no eye-catching illustrations and not much text. Shows how much I know... My daughter loves it. The story is less about Rosie the hen and more about the fox --- what happens to it from page to page. It is truly a sequential story and shows cause-and-effect: on one page you see the fox leaping towards Rosie, who is walking past the pond. On the next page, you see the fox in the pond. Your toddler will make the connection on her own: "Uh-oh. Fox fall in water."

My absolute FAVORITE book as a child! Simple, clever, and humorous all at the same time. GREAT for children starting to read! A+

We fell for this after watching the scholastic dvd series. It's on the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom video and we're hooked - love the detailed pictures and watching where thefox is headed.

I love this book and this is a perfect source of good learning of idiom for a small price its comes with. Perfect choice of gift for people that would love to read

Can anyone tell me what this book says about the idiom, "the calm before the storm"?

The graphic desciption and origin of the idiom are excellent. The explanation of the idiom is written in simple English that my 5 year old understands and loves. She read half of the book in one sitting. It's like a joke book to her. She was having a good time by herself. (She reads on a 3rd grade level.) I even learned a few things. It's a must have resource like a special dictionary that will also help to expand vocabulary. I now want all of the author's books.

I absolutely love this book. I am a teacher and this book really helped my students in 7th grade learn what idioms are. They really enjoyed learning about where the idioms came from.

Fairly good source for origins of idioms. Not all are here, but many. Some "conjecture" as to origin on many, but they do seem logical. A good over-all (particularly sufficient for elementary level) resource & nice leisure reading.

Having been boxed up in Portugal for several years, only now are the British trying to get some real traction against the French, thrusting into Spain. And they're losing. Marshal Marmont, commander of just one of five huge armies Napoleon has put in Spain, is pushing Wellington back. The English take Salamanca, but only because Marmont pulls out tactically, seeking a better place for the battle he knows will destroy the English. Marmont threatens to retake the city, but the major battle never materializes. Wellington chases him east, but then his army must retreat to avoid being cut off from its Portuguese redoubt by the French.

Sharpe fights both the large war and a smaller, more private one. French assassin Colonel Leroux kills ruthlessly, hideously and often as he tries to break up an English spy ring and save his own hide. Caught by the British but escaping, he kills Sharpe's commanding and junior officers. Sharpe vows to catch him. Sharpe's pal, the intelligence chief Major Hogan, and Wellington both need him caught. Meanwhile they worry about intelligence leaks; the French have a spy too close to the high command.

Sharpe and every other British officer swoons when meeting the dazzling Marquesa who dominates Salamanca society, and we all know which officer the Marquesa will take a shine to, despite his poverty and lack of polish. And when Sharpe and Leroux cross swords, as they do, and do again, we know what kind of sparks will fly.

Bernard Cornwell's Richard Sharpe series is one of the most beloved collective works in the sub-genre of historical fiction. Spanning over twenty novels (and counting!), Cornwell has treated his readers with thrilling battlefield and bedroom exploits from Flanders to India to Spain and France. While the novels have a definitive formula, they never grow stale.

"Sharpe's Sword" is among the best of the Sharpe novels. Sharpe is a captain of the 95th Rifles, attached to the South Essex regiment as a light company. As fans of the series know, Sharpe has made himself indispensable to the British army (including his patron, Lord Wellington) by being the most lethal rogue in an army full of cut-throats and vagabonds. But in "Sharpe's Sword," Cornwell has created a foe worthy of Sharpe - the French spy-hunter Leroux, a lethal aristocrat whose charge from Napoleon is to topple the British spy network.

Leroux is captured by Sharpe early in the novel, but takes advantage of a foolish British officer's notion of "parole" (in which a captured officer may keep his weapons and freedom if he gives his sworn statement that he will not try to escape). Acting quickly, Leroux murders his way back to freedom, but in doing so he earns Sharpe's undying hatred . . . and envy. Sharpe hates him for being a backstabbing liar, but Sharpe envies him because Leroux has the most magnificent sword Sharpe has ever seen, and Sharpe wants it.

And so Sharpe and Leroux are caught in a duel to the death while the French and British armies slug it out in the gorgeous city of Salamanca and also on the plains of Spain. "Sharpe's Sword" has it all - humor, romance, intrigue, friendship, betrayal, and battles. And what battles! Nobody writes a better battle scene than Bernard Cornwell, and he tops himself when describing a suicidal, insane cavalry charge by Wellington's German heavy cavalry against formed French squares. The reader is flung into the wild madness that is Napoleonic warfare, and it is a glorious madness indeed.

Well-researched and lovingly written, "Sharpe's Sword" exemplifies all that is good in the Sharpe series.

A friend referred to the Sharpe series as literary opium...he may be right. They are guilty pleasures, for sure....and I worry what will happen when I have read them all.

The thing is, drug or not, Cornwell is a wonderful writer. I laughed out loud a couple of times, was riveted by a love scene, and ran to the computer to look up the actual battle and scenes described. Great stuff.

And then I had the misfortune to read the new McMurtry novel....

"Sharpe's Sword" is a decent entry into the Sharpe series, but I happen to tend to prefer the Sharpe adventures that are primarily military rather than the ones with espionage plots. And, for my taste, "Sharpe's Sword" is a bit heavy on the spy angle and a hair light on the battles. But the book's action scenes, while failing to rival those in, say, "Sharpe's Rifles," "Sharpe's Eagle" or "Sharpe's Company," are still pretty satisfying. "Sharpe's Sword" is far from the weakest of the generally very strong Sharpe series (of the ones that I've read so far, I'd say that "Sharpe's Prey" my least favorite), but it doesn't quite rank among the very best, either.

This is another entry on the Sharpe series. It is fun, entertaining and very readable. Cornwell's research is as excellent as usual. He takes some licenses for the shake of the story and continuity, but this is OK. Some people are outraged by the portrait of some of the real historical characters, but historical characters are rarely depicted accurately in historical fiction, so I think this can be forgiven. Besides, usually a more serious account of these characters is given at the end of the book on the Historical Note.

Many people insist in compare this series with Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander. I don't think this is fair for any of the series, they are different entities. What they have in common is that once you start you may get hooked and devour one book after another...

And in the literary world today that is a rare and marvelous thing.

This book is amazing for learning basic vocabulary and grammar. You'll go through most beginners classes in 10 hours. This book is for those who want to know the language not for those needing to know some words for the weekend. Read it world for word to get best results.

This book has some flaws with it.
1) Some of the associations are not good.
2) It gives you the vocab words and on the next page ask you to translate spanish to english but WARNING answer is on next page with english to spanish exercise.

This book is working!
I have tried the rosetta stone to learn spanish and got more frustrated with every lesson. Spanish by association has taught me tons of nouns and proper spanish grammar in a fun way. For some reason, imagining crazy pictures with the words is working, and I finally feel like a second language is within my reach. I would recommend this book to anyone that wants to learn spanish and have some good laughs while doing it. (guarding a rope in a cloakroom?)

Wow! After teaching my own Spanish classes and in the public schools for as long as I have, I thought I'd seen all TYPES of books. When I got frustrated with the texts out there, I even wrote my own! But this is an approach I hadn't seen in a book.

I often use word pictures to help my students with memorization. Of course, it should work in a book format! I found myself giggling upon opening the text and reading about the camel in the cama (bed) and a car horn when we open a cajo'n (drawer).

I'll be recommending this book to any adult or child who wants a fun way to memorize new words. With practice, you won't need the book - it teaches you how to teach yourself Spanish! Marvelous!

Sra. Gose
Author of Flip Flop Spanish: Ages 3-5: Level 1 & Flip Flop Spanish: Ages 3-5: Level 2

Let's say there were a point system for learning Spanish: you get 0 points for knowing no Spanish at all, and 100 points for being completely fluent. Knowing this book will keep you at a solid 10 points. You will not forget any of the Spanish you've learned, thanks to the mnemonics in the book -- so you will maintain your score of 10 points -- but you will not earn any more than 10 points, because there is so little Spanish in this book.

I absolutely LOVE this book! I have not seen any other way to quickly (within a few hours) start using real spanish sentences! I haven't been able to read through this book continuously as it suggests, but even spending 15-30 minutes per day has really helped me!

I really like the method of associating a Spanish word with an English word to be able to remember it. And I like how it builds on previous chapters, so you are challenged to remember the vocabulary and then provided the answer, in case you'd forgotten.

I would definitely recommend this book!

This was the best investment I have made in a reading foreign language book: the price was reasonable, and was considerably cheaper than taking the graduate level reading course. Yes, this book will get you to the necessary level to pass the majority of intermediate Spanish reading proficiency exams. Where it lacks is thorough grammatical description, so for that, I suggest supplementing this book with "Complete Spanish Grammar" from the Practice Makes Perfect series. After every chapter in "Spanish for Reading" I would go through "CSG" and note the chapters I needed to review before going onto the next chapter in "Spanish for Reading." The two in conjunction with each other are absolutely amazing.

Twenty years ago I had another self-instruction Spanish book by Barrons, the same publisher. This book is far better. It claims to use the latest research on language study, and it certainly seems sound to me. I did notice a few minor typos, but overall I found this book worthwhile. I've had four semesters of Spanish and taken some short immersion classes in Mexico. However, I never took a class specifically geared toward reading, so this text has proved quite useful. I do about three pages a day, and in the past month I am certain my skills have improved. The price is quite reasonable.
I have a tip for other struggling Spanish readers: For what it is worth, when watching a dvd movie at home, leave the spoken language as English and use the Spanish subtitles setting when available. This is a painless, almost subliminal way to boost one's vocabulary.

I'm teaching myself Spanish, and this book is really helpful.

This book was well worth the price I paid. It covers a lot of grammar and quite a bit of vocabulary. Most of the exercises are set up so that you only need an index card (or other piece of paper you can't see through) to do them.

Although I wish that it had a dictionary in the back, I'm still giving it a five-star rating. I sure wish it had an audio CD with all the reading passages, because then it would be outstanding, but I'm not marking it down for lack of a CD, since it isn't meant for listening comprehension.

I loved FRENCH FOR READING, so thought I'd give this one a try. Make sure you have a dictionary because there isn't one at the back of the book - and sometimes the passages give you words you've never seen before - with no way to look them up. Also - these chapters seem a bit denser then 'French For Reading', make sure you go slowly, maybe only doing 1/2 chapter at a time.