English Classics Books

The book is required for my english class.I just got it and have not had a achance to read it. What I can tell you is that the book arrived very quickly, which is exactly what I needed. Thank You.

This is an excellent book for transitioning students from high school to college. The selections are intellegent and demanding and cover several areas of study. The introduction gives a method for reading and evaluating that will serve the student for the remainder of his/her college career and beyond.

This is a great book, with excerpts of many great writer's greatest essays. Writers include Lao Tzu, Machiavelli, Rouseau, Nietze, V. Woolfe, H. Woordsworth, H. Arnedt, C. Jung, M.L. King, F. Douglass and many many more.

I picked up this book because I was tired of never knowing for sure what the rules are when it comes to writing and grammer. I was surprised at how easy a read this book was. Mr. Bates has a true knack (or skill) of making a somewhat boring subject quite interesting indeed. The more I read, the more I wished I could just sit down and talk to this man in person. A very interesting read by a very interesting author. If you are a new writer looking for some guidence, or an old hack who has forgotten some of the basics, then this is a great place to start.

Excellent writing guide for the professional who is not necessarily a professional writer, but must write on the job frequently to occasionally. The material, which could have been a little dry and boring, is kept lively by the author's personal anecdotes and witty asides. This writing guide is more complicated than Strunk and White's "Elements of Style", and I don't recommend it for the beginner. Consider adding "Writing with Precision" as the next level of enhancement after reading "Elements of Style" and William Zinsser's "On Writing Well".

Although english is a second language for me, I was looking for a book to improve my writing. I found that in this book and more: tips to be understood, to communicate effectively and to write with correct grammar. This author, a man with years of experience, has written a great book to enjoy and learn.

Henry David Thoreau's journal is his masterpiece, and somewhat different to his more polished works.

This is by far the best way to experience his journal, too. Short excerpted collections are problematic because you cannot get used to the flow of his writing, and the changing nature of it over the lifespan of the journal. This book, which is the full year of 1851, may contain less-than-stellar entries, but it also contains some rippers, and is definitely the best way to experience it. It was about this time in his life that Thoreau decided to stop using his journal just as a source for his other books, and rather to create it for its own sake. And it shows - this is not writing to be chopped up and excerpted, but to be enjoyed in its entirety.

The best possible introduction to the masterpiece of his life - 5 stars.

Thoreau's journals are an insight into the man who thrived on simplicity. This book captures the years in which he was making his final revisions on "Waldon." His journal reflects his masterpiece and his book is then reflected back into his journal writings. If you are at all interested in Thoreau's writings, this is a needed companion to understand such a brilliant mind.

Many readers exposure to Thoreau's published self-contained books like _Walden_ and _The Maine Woods_ are intrigued enough to look deeper. Inevitably, you end up with the Journals.

The journals are so long and copious, that it can be hard to decide where to start. I don't know off-hand how many pages or words there are, but there are enough of Thoreau's Journals out there to last you 3 to 5 years of reading.

So! You should buy this starter book to introduce you to the flavor of the Journals. If you also read some of the Biographies out there, you learn that Thoreau's life went through some distinct periods, which will be reflected in the different Journals. Many folks think 1851 was a magic and expanding year for him, and that's why this book follows this year alone.

My only complaint about the book using this time frame is that it sort of Pornographically selects from all the years of the Journals--and pornographically selects from 1851. As if all T's days were charmed, all rich with experience.

But the Journal selections excerpted here and this book as a whole have many good qualities that outway my only complaint. They are:

1.--This book follows a year, and T was very much influenced by the seasons. Coming full circle in a year with T is good reading.

2.--The book doesn't try to do too much. If an Introduction book does its job, it should leave you wanting more deep info on the subject. This book did that for me.

3.--There are a couple-few cool replications of drawings T did in his journal. Bonus points for these.

Overall, the subject material here is awesome. If you only know Thoreau through his published "books" and if you like them (especially the naturalist part of them), the Journals will change your world. This book does a solid good job of introducing you to the Journals.

This outstanding book is filled with insights into Yoruba language that every teacher and student will benefit from. I hope you will find it a useful treasure. I highly recommend this book.

This book has quite a few proverbs. some i knew before, most i didn't. All are really interesting.
Some proverbs in the book have a dodgy origin (not quite sure they are Yoruba originated) but they are all very interesting. Great way to learn the language.

As a Yoruba person settled in the United States, I sometimes worry about the erosion of the little I know about richness of the Yoruba culture, especially as articulated in proverbs. This reality becomes more poignant when I reflect on how my children might never appreciate the richness of the Yoruba culture. Oyekan Owomoyela's fascinating work in YORUBA PROVERBS allayed that fear.

I highly recommend this work to anyone who seeks to understand the "demeanour" of the Yoruba culture. A comprehensive collection of more than five thousand Yoruba proverbs translated literally and figuratively as seen with the Yoruba eyes.

Simply put, a narrative of the Yoruba culture and the richness thereof; would be incomplete without reference to this book. Just think: The timeless wisdom of Yoruba sages down the ages, has been made available to us for the mere price of a book.

Sure. I'll admit it. This review is predjudice because Roy Wilder, Jr. is my uncle. But in all honesty, I do enjoy "You All Spoken Here" and find it very resourceful in my southern lit. classes. Uncle Roy went to alot of work researching southern sayings and such, and enjoyed (almost) every minute of it. Countless fellow writers (including Charles Frasier, who owns a copy and who also wrote a book called "Cold Mountain"- maybe you've heard of it?) credit Roy with writing one of the most well researched, insightful and just plain fun to read books out there! All of his time and efforts paid off, because this book is definately worth the $15 they're charging you. So go buy it!

I found this book about 10 years ago and have returned to browse through my dog-eared copy many times since. Wilder has a wonderful collection of sayings and lore here, and I never put down the book without thinking "I'm going to remember a couple more of those expressions and start using them." But be warned, the chapters and chapter titles seem to be mostly for decoration. They only loosely describe the rambling contents of each section. There is no index (at least in my edition), so relocating a particular express (now what was it he said about hot weather?) is a challenge. I almost always get distracted before I can find what I'm looking for. But I greatly enjoy what I find along the way.

I bought this book years ago and have bought many others like it since. But of all the southern expressions books I have, YOU ALL SPOKEN HERE remains my favorite. The sayings all by themselves are great, but the book is also sprinkled with other amusing tidbit treasures of life in the South. If you enjoy Southern humor, DON'T MISS THIS BOOK!! And Mr. Wilder, if you're reading this... Please Write Volume Two Soon!!! I'll be the first in line to buy it!

You won't learn how to speak German for this book, but that's not the point. Rather, this book is mainly for those who already have a fair amount of German knowledge, but who want to have a quick, handy, but extensive guide to the various words they will need in actually using the language.

In that respect if succeeds admirably. Lists are arranged thematically for easy look-up. In short, essential.

I went to Germany and this book helped so much when it came to ordering meals and such.

This is essentially a three-volume pack. This is not a giant 3000-page book. if you were to buy each volume separately, you would be spending 3*40=120 dollars. Buying this saves you a minimum of 70 bucks. Buy this if you're studying English Poetry/literature.

I ordered this book for my literature studies and it is an excellent resource or English poetry, prose and literature. Not only was it more economical to order from Amazon, but it came sooner than expected. If you want one of the best companions for lit, this it the one.

Like my title said: A GREAT OL'READ, but without getting old,
or like me, redundant.

I have read the first satire, "A Christmas Carol" four times now, and it is ever more pointed, sharp, and uproariously funny. Lapham shows off his love of words, rolling description, and deep intelligence, and boundless sense of humor, in a collection of essays and stories that stand with the greatest of satires. Twain, Mencken, Bierce, move over for Lewis Lapham.

This collection of short stories truly is about love. Not happy-ending fairytale love, but the love that really exists in the world: usually unequal felt, sometimes obsessive, and often inexplicable. The stories are all beautiful, well written and self-contained. Each story exhibits a different type of love: love of parents for children, unrequited love, obsessive love, forbidden loves, loves that could have been. Most fascinating to me is the way Chekhov has written the stories so we can see the motivations of all the various lovers. Some of them really want security, an interest to distract them from their meaningless lives, or just sex. In so many cases, what we would like to call love is just avarice. However the stories are not bleak. There are moments when true concern for others breaks through the characters innately selfish natures. I love Chekhov because his stories feel real, his characters aren't just characters. They are human, with all of our vices, and our slim redeeming virtues.

A well-picked, well-translated, small collections of stories with a sweet introduction (the same translator also wrote a biography of chekhov). She tackled C's long and bold sentences with her own, and has an interesting idea about the "musicality" of C's writing... So warm the samovar, let the serfs off early, and go nuts with this one.

Time was when travel was as memorable an adventure as a stunning love affair, a divorce, a personal catastrophe. That time was between the wars -- the Great War and WW2 -- and no group of observers was better positioned to write of it than the great British travel commentators. You will think differently about the activity and meaning of travel after you read this captivating, if occasionally slow-going book by one of the finest observers of the 20th century at work today. And not least of all ABROAD takes you back into the world of T. E. Lawrence's time, when ships were the only way to cross the seas.

Paul Fussell is universally famous for his extensive studies on the cultural impact of the Twentieth Century Wars. In this 1980 book instead he dedicates his attention to a topic that appears as a serene hiatus between massacres: British travel literature of the 20's-30's. Fussell has no shame in affirming that the books published in this period are the best travelogues ever written, since from the 1930's on "travel" degenerated into "tourism".
The reason of the escape from England of the young literate, witty people of the WWI generation, is identified on one hand in the loathing, disgust and angst due to the terrible experiences of those that had fought in the trenches and on the other of those that bore the meagre economical war situation and restriction of liberty at home. This imperative pulsion to fuge Fussell identifies in the phrase "I Hate it Here", which recurs often as the leitmotif of his work. What writers wanted to flee was England, home, the bad weather, the poverty, so the South and in particular the sunny Mediterranean was elected as a putative home for the body and soul. However travel in the Nineteenth Century was becoming more difficult due the introduction of some limitations, like the passport in the 20s, that posed a practical and psychological problem, forcing people to realize their age, aspect and economical status together with the passing of time due to the photographs always at hand. The "passport nuissance" was accompanied by the formal identifications of many before unrecognized and unmapped frontiers, that caused other problems and reasons for reflexion.
In a long chapter, which reads almost as a bitter moral essay, the Author decribes the evolution from the Nineteenth Century exploration, to travel and to modern tourism, and the influence of this passage on travel books. In this section Fussel's nostalgia of the past is palpable and somehow displeasing, because as all travel narrative addicts know, good books have been written also after the '30's. Following the analysis of the psychological conditions of the travel writers are the practical considerations of the cheapness and sexual freedom of living abroad, that must not be forgotten. Homosexuality, pederasty, irregular unions were a major drive to living abroad.
The following chapters are devoted to the indepth rereading of the Authors Fussell thinks the most influent of the period: the never forgotten and much cried over Robert Byron (this chapter owes much to Christopher Sykes' essay on Byron in "Four Studies in Loyalty"), the cultivated, perverse and irrequietous Norman Douglas, the sun-lover and place seeking and preposition plethoric D.H. Lawrence, the moral anomaly-searcher Evelyn Waugh. Ample excerpta are quoted and commentated to explain each Author's peculiarity and importance.
The conclusive remarks are on the structure and the literary value of travel books, diction which is preferred over "travelogues" or "travel logs". Actually Fussell points out how travel books were the only acceptable way at those times of getting essays (that had passed out of fashion as literary forms) published, together with a mixed bag of poetry, impressions, adventures and anedotes. Essays were not articles in the modern sense of the word, because they had a moral or opinionated connotation. In the travel literature of this period they are joined together with memoirs, comic novels, quest, picaresque and pastoral romance and served to an eagre "exotica" seeking public.
This book is truely a treasure trove. More that deserving to be read and enjoyed, I would say, it must be studied. Anyone loving British travel narrative must have it in his library. Analyzing such a wealth of material from that age it draws out the ideas that join together these Authors and explaining them to full degree consents us to enjoy with greater insight these marvelous works.
One small notation however I must make. British travel literature of the 20s-30s has the characteristic of researching esthetic accomplishment and often this reaches exquisite climaxes. Today we still read some of these books for their sheer beauty. Never in his extensive critique Fussell draws our attention to this not secondary aspect.
Enjoy above all!