Prose Books

The Alpine Path by L M Montgomery is interesting but only superficial. She was asked by a magazine to write the story of her career but she was not at all willing to tell things about her private life to the magazine readers so she wrote this book - it was originally published in a magazine. The facts are correct but there is so much left out by her. To really understand her life and find out all the interesting bits she left out of The Alpine Path you need to read her Journals (1 to 5) as these are quite fascinating and really tell her story. At the time she wrote the Alpine Path it would have caused a scandal if she had told the whole truth. I recommend the Journals to anyone interested in the real life of Maud Montgomery. They are wonderful.
Marjorie Lockwood

People don't usually write autobiographies if their career has only just started. Maud was asked to do so and she did write it. What she came up with, is a bunch of memories gathered in a nice little book, a perfect read for one evening if you love LMM. You will find some of her memories familiar, if you know LMM's books well, too. That's a nice and easy read, and a must for a LMM fan.

If you're not a fan of L. M. Montgomery's work, you might not find this book very interesting - for me, most of the interest came from parallels between her own life and that of various characters in her books, and her explanations of things like how she started writing her first book, why she didn't borrow her characters too closely from real life, etc. I'd have liked to read more of her accounts of how she wrote this story or that.

The book is mostly about her childhood and various anecdotes and events from it, along with accounts of how she came to be a published writer. It's fairly short; you can read it in less than an hour, so if you want a good, meaty book, this is not for you. But it's nice to read about her from her own point of view - her journals make good reading but this is more of a summary of info she considered interesting or relevant.

L.M. Montgomery's life is a life story of conquoring adversity and making one's dream come true. Although taken care of in the material sense as a child, she was not nurtured in the emotional sense and this created a need to escape into a fairyland of her imagination where she was accepted and loved and had friends, including "window friends."

This book is a collection of autobiographical articles written by L.M. Montgomery in 1917 in response to an editor's request for her to write the story of her literary career. Montgomery speaks a lot about her early childhood and her later struggles to make it as a writer, alone, without encouragement, support, or understanding from others. In fact, her literary ambitions and attempts were often scoffed at or criticized. But Maud kept keepin' on, confident that she would "arrive" some day. And she did, in an enormous way.

I highly recommend this book to anyone in need of inspiration or encouragement to make their dream come true, and especially to any aspiring writer whose dream is to climb the alpine path and reach that far-off goal of true and honoured fame.

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

Maud, as Montgomery liked to be called, wrote this book on the request for a serial story appearing in a Canadian woman's magazine. At first Montgomery had doubts that her "long, upward struggle" could actually be called a career, but she worked on the story anyways and the result is a humurous, enjoyable, and information-packed book about the work and perseverance by one of the world's favorite children's author. As a professional writer, I have written articles upon Montgomery and still consider this book the best source for reliable information as well as beng enjoyable to read, which is a rare and refreshing break from most biographies. I highly recommend this book, along with her journals, as a worthwhile addition to any Montgomery fan, researcher, or fan of biographies'library.

Cynie Cory, our very own alumnus of FSU is an amazing writer. Cory has been published in literary magazines as the non-profit literary magazine, Indian Review. If the cover of the book doesn't make you just want to pick up the book at once then I don't know what will. Aside from the brilliant defining poems Cory has brilliantly written I can't help but to admire the beautiful cover art of her book, American Girl. What intrigued me the most was the almost not meant to be seen writings on the cover, " winter never really finishes itself when the ice breaks free. It's still winter." Makes you think just like her many poems within this book. The amazing peaceful, befitting, and to the point poems is what makes this book so outstanding. This amazing American girl may just be among us Seminoles and we must keep an eye out for her and her future writings. This "American Girl" is definitely a must have in your collection of poetry.

This is the best book of poetry that I've read in a long time. Cynie Cory is brilliant and eclectic in her work, showing off a wide range of forms and subject matter as she questions the role of females in America. Her poems are quiet and deafening, meek and confident all at once. She doesn't beat around the bush, she gets right to the point. If you love beautiful images, there is much to be found throughout her poems, many that reoccur such as winter imagery, plums, directional references, etc. But the best thing about the book is that it does not give you any answers. Is Cory the quintessential American girl, or the underlying truth of girlhood in America? She leaves that up to the reader. Overall, a truly masterful book.

Cory plays with images and puts it all on the table for everyone to see. In American Girl, Cory touches on almost all subjects dealing with being a female. She takes us through heartbreak, love, and even through gun rights. I believe that Cory put her heart into this book and the readers will see. A must read.

I've taken a couple classes taught by Dr. Cory so my perspective on her work might be a little skewed, but I think this book of poetry is beautiful. American Girl is held together by recurring motifs, such as the repeated use of water, that are intertwined with well placed imagery. Winter is also a common thread and the poems really bring the reader back to a time in their life that is tied closely to the seasons. My favorite poem is The Theory of Everything. It is all about not being confined and wanting to be free. Most poems of this nature are dark and depressing, yet The Theory of Everything is quite optimistic. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to dive into a great piece of contemporary American poetry.

Great fun in this book of modulated and in some ways midwest-obsessed poetry. The great trick about this book is that it is both accessible and heady, experimental but not obnoxiously so. We see plenty of winter herein, and plenty of play with gender (as the title suggests, as the blurbs suggest). I am ordering more. I suggest you do too.

This collection of cryptic and oblique pronouncements are from a man who is someone other than the "connoisseur of despair". Cioran's erudition is vast; this is not some guy who whips off nihilism like it was some intellectual flash-in-the-pan.

These laconic and sometimes witty, sometimes caustic aphorisms alternate with terse personal essays on friends and influences: Valery, Samuel Beckett, Mircea Eliade, Henri Michaux, Borges, and Scott Fitzgerald (?!).

Some of these thoughts and fragments seem like non-sequiturs generated in the darkness of lonely insomnia plagued Parisian nights. Many are so obtuse that comprehension is left scratching its head. Still, like one who finds a gold nugget in the streambed, the rare saying makes the search all worth while. Here are a few of the nuggets I found:

"Our place is somewhere between being and nonbeing - between two fictions"

"To die is to change genre, to renew oneself . . ."

"Writing is the creature's revenge, and his answer to a botched creation"

Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts

Compared to his early, tortured writing this collection of later pieces is warm and funny. Not to say that Cioran has dropped his nihilistic stance, but a laconic, slightly more personal and witty voice predominates. My favourite book from Cioran.

Suspicious words are necessarily those that would try to qualify Cioran's life and works. Contradiction in the act of writing and thinking is one of Cioran's accepted facts.

His name should be futility, what an elegant, lush and ethical futility.

I miss you Emil... so much!

Each has his own ratio of universal fear embodying soul and mind. We cannot escape otherwise but deepening ourselves in it as much as each of us can. Thus, the fear gets tired of itself and this is what Cioran teaches us. Never avoiding the fear. Face it!

"The principal defect of philosophy lies in the fact that academic philosophy is too bearable..." wrote Cioran (too bitterly for the general main stream); born 1911 in Romania, died 1995 in Paris: these two basic data of the CIORAN-curriculum vitae already are marking the subtle personal traumata: being divided by two very different cultural identities. Still loving Romania but emigrated and living safely in France, however not willing to integrate with French society he remained stateless not accepting any national identity. Obstinate he refused to receive the highest literary awards of his host country. Lost in exile - this was the everlasting frame of his mind. In an enthusiastic manner in his early years he engaged himself politically defending his Romania. Later on he was ashamed of such affectations and classified such poses as delirium, "kitsch", scrupulousness. High-skeptically he wrote, referring to the possibility of finding the real truth: "After all I know, that all these ideas and dogmatic thoughts are wrong and absurd. At last only human beings remain. And they are what they are. I am cured of the illness, to follow any ideology." Cioran liked characters as Nietzsche, Beethoven, Luther, Rousseau: He adored their individual strength to resist against the surrounding societies - he loved the stubbornness of these famous thinkers - though sometimes obstinacy seemed to be a subject for psychiatrists. During all his life in exile the backbone of his Romanian identity was broken and Cioran did not allow himself to use Romanian language any more (remember Elias Canetti and his metaphor of the "robbed tongue" and the phenomenon of hating fragments of the own identity and history). Cioran was attracted by the chronic despair of Soeren Kierkegaard and the nihilism of Friedrich Nietzsche. His university diploma he wrote about the thesis of the "Elan Vital" in the writings of the French existence-philosopher Henri Bergson. "Elan Vital" for Cioran indeed did not mean cheerfulness - but alike an Arthur Schopenhauer or an Ambrose Bierce, filled with a badly mixture of too much brain and bile, he enjoyed to produce cool, relaxed and slyly cynical aphorisms ...

Un petit livre destiné à la jeunesse, "L'histoire qu'on lit au bord du lit" est écrite en vers et, en quelques pages, tourne autour du thème du lit : le lit tel qu'on l'aime, c'est-à-dire douillet, voyageur, pliant, casse-croûte, sous-marin ou tremplin. Chaque thème est travaillé de façon amusante, autour de paraboles et d'images hautes en couleur ! Les illustrations sont comiques, signées par Rotraut Susanne Berner, les vers sont traduits par Beatrice Vierne. Ce qui est particulièrement enrichissant, et s'adressant ainsi à un lectorat plus avisé, c'est que l'édition est bilingue : la page de gauche est en édition originale, celle de droite en français. Ainsi de lire les deux versions et de s'extasier sur la plume talentueuse de Sylvia Plath - auteur prometteuse trop tôt disparue !

Embark on a gentle, fantastic trip into a magical world that lies between reality and dream. Your child's imagination (and your own) will drift into sleep with images of acrobats, submarines, elephant beds, and so much more!

That this book should be out of print is a complete mystery to me, not enough violence in it, I imagine. As for the used price above, I can just imagine snuggling in bed with my child and an antique book... Books like this are meant to be read again and again, not placed in a gilded cage on a pedestal.

After years of searching for a copy (new or used) of Plath's "The Bed Book", which I used to read to my son when he was a toddler, I discovered that a publisher in the U.K. is going to re-release the book in September, 1999. I hope Amazon.com will make it available. . . this is a smashingly creative book, with page after page of beautiful watercolor illustrations.

My son and I read this book for years at bed-time - It was our absolutle favorite. Somehow we have lost the book and I have been searching for another copy for ages. Can the DC reviewer provide me with the name of the British publisher that is going to re-release this book - or any other details that might lead me to a copy? I would be very appreciative!

"Not just a white little, tucked in tight little, nighty night little, turn out the light little, Bed."

And this is not just an ordinary book. I came accross it one day and decided to give it a go, having read other Plath works. This book is incredible, te utter childishness of it, every time I think of it, it brings a smile to my face. This book is a must-read.

A few months ago, I read a novel called Queen of Camelot by Nancy Mckenzie, a recreation of the King Arthur story that centers on Guinevere. I thought that the retelling was very interesting and showed Guinevere as a flesh and blood, three-dimensional, kind woman and not the treacherous, adulteress that is shown in the original story. Beloved Exile, however, shows quite a different take on Guinevere, one of an ambitious, treacherous woman that would do anything for survival and to rule as queen with results as interesting as the one in Queen of Camelot. Guinevere is the Medieval/fantasy Scarlett O'Hara in this retelling. After King Arthur dies, Guinevere, along with Lancelot and Gareth, tries to bring Camelot to its previous glory, but things don't turn out that way, to say the least. Instead, she becomes a Saxon slave, and her struggles has just begun. But Guinevere is an intelligent, scheming woman, and she will do just about anything to reign again. There are various twists throughout the novel.

Beloved Exile takes quite a departure from the original King Arthur tale and the results are incredible. Parke Godwin gives Guinevere the sort of depth and layers that is absent in King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table. And the anti-heroine here is also a departure from Queen of Camelot. Both of these novels show a very interesting portrayal of Queen Guinevere in very different ways and I cannot decide which one is the best one of the two. In this adaptation, Guinevere is an unsympathetic protagonist, but has enough complexity to make her compelling at the same time. That is why I compare her to Scarlett O'Hara, for she made me feel the same way when I read Gone with the Wind. This Guinevere is very interesting indeed. I just loved the complexity and many dimensions of this character. Mr. Godwin has created a wonderful and unique portrayal of this classic character. And he added gothic undertones to boot! I cannot recommend this gem enough!

This is my favorite depiction of Guinevere. Godwin portrays her as a powerful woman whose strengths (as is often the case) are also her weaknesses--and her undoing. Godwin's Guinevere is frequently hard to sympathize with, but she isn't hard to understand. I'm impressed with how dramatically (but believably) her character changes and grows between Firelord and this book. Note: Read this book carefully, and you'll notice that a character from Firelord, so minor that she had neither name or dialogue, is crucial to the events and attitudes in Beloved Exile.

Traditional versions of the Arthur myth focus mainly on the men. Other versions like Mists of Avalon, which I enjoy immensely, focus women characters and not much, really, on the weepy, very Christian Guinevere.

Beloved Exile is a smashing alternate view of the possibilities, given the times. Guinevere in this version is not construed as a saint, a hystrionic weeper, nor is she totally lovable, but is very human. She is a strong, unforgettable character.

Highly recommended!

This is a worthy sequel to the exciting "Firelord." It tells the story of the rest of Guinevere's life after Arthur's death, and she is even more of a vivid and strong personality than she was in that enthralling novel. Godwin's account of her captivity as a Saxon slave, and her adaptation to that way of life, is purely imaginative, but who could mind? It relates a sensitive and entertaining account of how this proud queen grows to maturity in her adjustment to a jarring change in her fortunes. Guinevere has never seemed more real, alive and captivating than in these pages.You can well believe that a woman this remarkable has captured popular imagination for 1500 years. Someone, please--put this book back into print! It deserves it.

More historical fiction than fantasy, you will not find any magic swords or sorcery in this gritty and realistic story of Guenevere and Britian after the death of Arthur. When the story begins, Guenevere is already middle aged, and Britian is on the brink of chaos. As the story progresses we learn of the maturing of Guenevere as a person and as a queen.

The novel starts off fast and furious with battles and betrayals. Then it settles down into a serious character study as it builds towards a strong and satisfying climax. Sometimes slow, but always interesting, this was worthwhile reading.

There may not be a greater master of the English short story. Saki (H.H. Munro) writes from a period that is recent enough to be somewhat familiar, but remote enough to provide a bit of an exotic feel to the settings. These short short stories (typically 5 or 6 pages) are an uninterrupted series of gems. In a storytelling style full of grace, charm, and wit, Saki is unstinting in his criticism of the selfish, the self-centered, and the self-absorbed. About the only humans who are spared his sharp utensil are children, who frequently consort with Saki in piercing his victims. Delicious fun.

I read this entire collection over about two weeks. I would not recommend reading Saki's short stories this way. Before reaching the midpoint, one is so familiar with his style, approach, and aim that the element of surprise is somewhat dulled. These should be dipped into perhaps two or three at a time and then set aside for a month or two. Don't worry...they'll keep.

This is one of my favorite and most admired books, ever. An ideal collection of ideal short stories - witty, brief yet complete, and not a word wasted in creating tone and point. Funny and satisfying. Unsettling and creepy. Deliberate use of language and vocabulary that cuts and exposes. All of the above. Unforgettable: The charging stag. The baby playing with buttercups. Schartz-Metterklume.

Recommended without reservation, for a single sitting or a one-a-night from the bedside table.

Probably the only sane response, as a writer, to Edwardian England was to skewer it mercilessly. And nobody serves up a finer kebab than Saki. These stories are clever and hilariously funny. I think part of their appeal is that, although Munro can be merciless, one always senses an underlying affection for his targets. It's also pretty clear that Saki's sympathies are with those who lack clout in the established power structure of Edwardian society (children, for example), which makes me like him all the more.

A very funny book.

Saki's writing style is unique. His stories are mostly bleak and tragic. Some of his writing seems to have been influenced by his background and childhood experiences. However, they are amusing, interesting and tinged with humour.

Picador edition has wonderful, nicely written introduction that gives marvelous details of Saki's remarkable and short life, explaining well why his stories are usually so dark, and why he liked to take aim at stuffy old bats.

Nearly all of Saki's short stories are about some character exacting revenge upon cruel or shallow members of the British upper class. His writing sometimes feels labored and overwrought, with overlong sentences or ungainly descriptions. But his consistant style, sense of justice, and biting wit are the gems to be discovered within.

The earliest stories seemed to have a lack of balance between darkness and wit, but he did find his equilibrium and most of the later tales are deliciously satisfying.

Absolutely delightful reading if you liked Robert Altman's recent film Gosford Park, or if you are fed up with stuffy, mean upper class types.

It takes a special type of person to embrace an adopted child as if they were one's own. "Blueberry Summers: Growing up at the Lake" is author Curtiss Anderson's reminiscence of his family life as he grew up in 1940s Minnesota. Focusing on the coming of age stories that riddle all of our lives and turn us into the people that we are today, and serving as a memorial to his adoptive parents, "Blueberry Summers: Growing up at the Lake" is a top pick for those seeking to look back at a childhood much like their own and for community library memoir collections.

What a pleasure to read an old-fashioned, heart-felt, utterly sentimental memoir with the power and poetry to evoke the innocence, happiness, and yes, disappointments of childhood and growing up in a family that...mattered. Anderson captures the essence of the whole experience in language that flows effortlessly and often lyrically from the first joyous to the final rather sad pages. What ever happened to no-nonsense writing like this?

In my memory, summer always stretched out like a lazy dog. I read books in a sacred spot under the canopy of a cottonwood tree, rolled in freshly-mown grass, and ran against the chinook wind, spreading my arms wide and hoping to fly. Anderson's book brought back those magic moments. I read it slowly, savoring my own memories as inspired by his.

Curtiss Anderson has done for the Minnesota Lake Country what Peter Mayle did for Provence and Frances Mayes for Tuscany -- transported me there on winged words and introduced me to the sights, sounds, and scents not to mention characters both comical and crochety. Of course the Lake Country of Anderson's youth ('30s and '40s) is what gives this memoir its particular magic plus the author's own poetic prose:

"Nature would always challenge, threaten, protect, and entertain us with its sweet and sad surprises," Anderson writes. "Things would happen that had never happened before and would never happen again. That is the essence of wilderness and wildlife."

Who can forget Clara Johnson and her famous doughnuts (Anderson shares that recipe on page 27), dear old Great-Aunt Ingaborg who was "Norsk to the bone," or young Sarah Schumacher who in the adolescent Anderson's eyes "was the most exquisitely created human being who ever lived?" Each of them is as unforgettable as the entire cast of characters from Anderson's extended Norwegian family.

Anderson's coming-of-age summers beside a northern Minnesota lake will resonant with everyone who grew up in the age of FDR, rumble seats, and water pumps constantly in need of priming. As for the younger generation, I'd make BLUEBERRY SUMMERS required reading if only to prove that it's possible to have fun deprived of play stations, paintball fights, and virtual TV.

This was a delightful,carefree book to read for summer enjoyment. The insight into Curt's boyhood and his relationship with his parents and their friends was so well done. You just felt like you were on the lake fishing sometime.
I recommend.

Bride starts the saga of the Christopher family which Mr. McCarry has written about in his other novels. If you like a book about adventure, family and love, this book is the book for you!! It takes you back in time and deposits you there where the sheer beauty and explosiveness of Mr. McCarry's writting will keep you for many hours!! You will miss these characters when the book is over and if you are like me, that is how you measure how good a book is!! Read this book, you will not be let down!!

This book is one that will consume you. It is a haunting tale, amazingly well researched, and with a very uncommon story line. Follow the wealth of characters and their almost dickensian development, each more vivid than the last. Fanny, although the central character, is merely the path to carry the reader through one experience to the next. This book has many dark angles ,often inherent with this level of tangibility. The contrast to your more typical novel only amplifies the life that literally courses through this book. It is well worth the time. But be warned ,it sticks with you, for better or for worse.

. . . to take to a desert island, this would be the one. Bride starts the saga of the Christopher family and if you like adventure, espionage AND a story of faithful love rewarded, this book will surprise and please you on every page. You will be stunned by the sheer beauty and power of the writing and when you turn the last page, you will wish there was that much more.

McCarry was able to bring actual events of late 17th century English and American history to vivid life and his research into the time period is thorough. For example, I believe that he used actual events like the cold and snowy February 1690 night attack by French and Indians on present day Schenectady and the extraordinary escape of Mrs Hannah Dustin from her Abenaki captors, for the fictional attack on Alamoth and the manner of Rose Barebones escape from the Abenakis. His dreamy writing style lends itself to the way Fanny, his main character, sleep-walks through life, as if she and the virgin forests of America are waiting to be awoken to reality. This book is something which one seldom sees on the shelves of bookstores these days: it is exciting, thrilling, romantic in the grand manner of true romance (the worth of true patient love), as well as giving the average reader a taste of what life in America once was, a land filled with enormous trees, wild strawberries so abundant that walking through them was like walking through strawberry preserves, filled with danger and Indians who lived by a code of morals that only the French tried to understand. I highly recommend this book!

I nearly didn't read this book because I thought it was a romance and didn't feel in the mood for that particular genre.

Despite my intentions of passing it on to a friend, I opened it up and decided to just read a few pages -- I'm SO glad I did! Once I started reading, I couldn't stop.

I won't try to rehash the plot as other reviews have covered it nicely, but I will add my thoughts as it's an amazingly realistic and engaging read full of adventure with extraordinary writing that pulls you in where you find yourself holding your breath, at turns horrified or astonished. I found myself pulled into another world, and I highly recommend this book.

Don't make my initial mistake of dismissing it lightly -- this is literature to be read and savored.

(My review is on Thoreau's Cape Cod rather than this specific edition).

While some literary critics seem to slight this work by Thoreau, saying that it is not as "powerful" as his other works, etc., I personally find this one very enjoyable. Sure, it does not have as much "philosophizing" as other books by him, but it is full of humor and very fun to read. The part where he describes the old man spitting into the hearth is particularly hilarious. The part about him sleeping in a lighthouse is also very funny. It lets us experience the more jovial side of Thoreau. This is probably one of the easiest to read among Thoreau's books.

Published posthumously, this volume is surprisingly consistent and complete (unlike "The Maine Woods" which is chopped into three different parts), it gives one the feel of walking along the entire cape, although the materials are quarried from several different trips. One only wish Thoreau had lived longer and had seen the West, imagine him taking a trip in the Sierra! Oh, well, meanwhile, we still have this one to enjoy.

Thoreau visited Cape Cod in 1849, 1850, and 1853. These trips formed the basis for a series of essays, several of which Thoreau published in magazines. After Thoreau's death, the essays were gathered together and published as "Cape Cod" in 1865.

Thoreau's "Cape Cod" is different in tone in theme from his earlier books. The tone is leisurely and light. Instead of solitude or the wild woods, the picture that remains with me from this book is that of a long walk, or, as Thoreau puts it, a "ramble" through the sand and dunes of Cape Cod. The book is picturesque, full of humor and wry observation. Thoreau unforgettably describes the ocean, in its storms, vicissitudes, and moments of peace, the fish and the fishermen, the sands, birds, plants and lighthouses of Cape Cod, and the people. I have visited portions of the Masachusetts coast, but I have never been to Cape Cod. Thoreau took me there in his book.

The book is arranged into ten chapters. It opens with a description of the shipwreck of the St John on a rock off the Cape. Thoreau then describes a ride by coach across the Cape. But the heart of the book lies in the following chapters in which Thoreau with a companion walks the 30 mile beach from Nauset Harbor to Provincetown with many stops and diversions along the way. I felt the salt air and saw the fishermen and the sandy beach as I walked with Thoreau.

The most vivid characterization in the book is in the chapter "The Wellfleet Oysterman", as Thoreau describes a grizzled, taciturn, and ancient native of Cape Cod and his family who offer him hospitality for the night. Another memorable chapter involves the description of the Highland Lighthouse, no longer standing, and its keeper. The stops with the Oysterman and the Lighthouse punctuate Thoreau's long walks through the day over the beach and his meditiations about and descriptions of what he finds there.

Thoreaus walk ended at Provincetown, on the northernmost portion of Cape Cod, with its wood walkway, shanty houses, and ever-present scenes of fishermen, boats, and drying fish. Thoreau offers what I found an affectionate portrait of these hardy fishermen and their families. Following a description of what he found at Provincetown, Thoreau offers a great deal of historical background on the exploration of the Cape, from the Pilgrims reaching back to earlier French, Icelandic, and English explorers.

Thoreau's "Cape Cod" is a worthy companion to his books describing his experiences inland, on Walden Pond and on the rivers and woods of New England and Maine. It is beautifuly written with unforgettable descriptive passages. It made me want to get up and go from my life in the city, and over 150 years after Thoreau wrote, wander and walk for myself along the dunes and sands of Cape Cod.

This hardcover edition from Peninsula Press is unquestionably the best available edition of Thoreau's Cape Cod, for these reasons:

1) While all other editions are based on Thoreau's journal entries from only his first three visits to the Cape, this edition includes an epilogue compiling Thoreau's notes from his fourth and final visit, in which he traveled south to Chatham and Monomoy.

2) This is the only edition to translate the many, many Greek and Latin phrases Thoreau includes throughout the work, and it is also the only edition to provide illustrations, maps, and sidenotes in-text.

3) This is the only indexed edition ever created.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for fans of both Cape literature and Thoreau in general.

This book details the flora, fauna and people that Thoreau found in Cape Cod in the 1850s. Thoreau organizes the book around a single trip to Provincetown, although much of the material that he uses in the book came from various visits to the Cape, and to the ocean in general. He starts with a description of a shipwreck at Cohasset, then a stagecoach ride from Plymouth, then a walking trip with a companion along the outer shore to Provincetown. Along the way, he describes not only the plants and animals he encountered, but also the people who he met. The book finishes with a lengthy academic historical account of the discovery and mapping of the Cape.

I found this to be the most humorous of all Thoreau's work. The character sketches he provides in this book, sharpened with his trained eye for observation of natural phenomena, are legendary. The cultural description of the Cape and its environment is quite fascinating for those interested in the history of daily life in 19th century Massachusetts. As Thoreau describes the desolate, treeless desert that made up the far reaches of the Cape, one begins to comprehend what it meant for an economy to be based on wood and whale oil for fuels. Thoreau stresses how valued driftwood was for residents of the Cape, as one of their main sources of heating and cooking fuel. Doubtless, he would not recognize the Cape today with its lush new forests. Or its Wal-Marts--switching to an oil economy has brought mixed blessings for the Cape. For those who think Thoreau to be a humorless didactic philosopher, this book shows a very different aspect of Thoreau as a writer.

You will forget about the outside world when you read this; nothing but sand, wind, and water. Plus some natural history, local folklore, a few shipwreck tales. Typical Thoreau; he finds beauty, interest, detail in the wilderness. The desolate landscape will help to clear your mind. Highly recommended.

Six weeks ago I came across this quote:

"Do not commit the error, common among the young, of assuming that if you cannot save the whole of mankind, you have failed."
-Jan de Hartog, playwright and novelist (1914-2002)

Jan de Hartog was born in Holland. He escaped Nazi occupied Germany, lived in the UK during the war, and then settled in the United States. Because of the quote I decided to read one of his books. I read The Captain.

Jan wrote many books about the Dutch on the sea. Most of this story takes place during World War II. The hero, Martinus Harinxma, is a tugboat captain. We learn how he had gone off to sea at age 18. He worked his way up in the tugboat industry. Then Germany invaded Holland in 1940. All the Dutch ships which could escaped, many off to the United Kingdom. Martinus is part of a group which helps the English on the ocean. Martinus captains a tugboat which is part of a convoy.

The story is rich with background. There is much history, general history about the world, and detailed history about Holland. We learn about various facets of the Dutch shipping world. I hadn't realized that tugboats towed platforms across the ocean.

Jan builds a very rich and detailed world. The characters came alive and the plot was interesting. The reality of war on the high sea was vivid. This book had a similar feel as Tom Clancy novels. The scope was more limited, all of the story is focused around Martinus Harinxma. Jan, the author, is still well known today in Holland. A Dutch friend of mine has read several books by Jan de Hartog.

If you like novels about war, especially navel World War II novels, read The Captain. I'm glad I did, and I'll probably read more by Jan de Hartog.

This is compelling novel reflecting the experience
of being captain of a merchant ship in WW-II convoys.
The main character provides opportunities for the
author to explore the nature of command, and the
author exploits those opportunities well. The
writing itself is strong.

The novel ends with an intrusive antiwar sermon that is
not effectively integrated into the rest of the novel
and which has nothing to do with the overall story.
Good sermon, but not integrated into the story.

Engrossing story with exceptional emotional detail of the North Atlantic in WWII. A courageous mix of seafaring and philosophy about war. Seems to explain passivism to the warrior and war to the pacifist with equal empathy.

Superficially, The Captain is a very well written novel about life aboard a sea-going tugboat pressed into service as an escort vessel for convoys to Brtitain in the early days of World War II. Read at this level, The Captain is a rousing, highly-readable adventure story with interesting, well-developed characters. But there is much more than rousing adventure to this book which skillfully probes many deeply-fundamental matters, including the horrors of war and the true nature of human courage. In my opinion, this is one of the most greatest novels ever written.

This book is simply excellent. The protagonist is not some matinee-idol Navy captain, but a chubby Dutch tugboat master who is pressed into service, along with his huge tug and green crew, as a rescue ship in the Atlantic convoy routes. De Hartog's characters are some of the most believeable I have ever encountered, and the emotional impact of the book hits at gut-level. It is a complex but easily readable story. Anyone who loves books about men and the sea will be right at home with this one, and war buffs will be fully satisfied. I've read the book four times, and writing this review makes me want to read it again!