Prose Books

This book is a must read for the historical enthusiast! It was written by a knight about knighthood. The viewpoints and situations are very far removed from our preconceived ideas of the middle ages. It is written very well and reads almost in a 'modern' way. This book was difficult to read in some places, but for the most part was so interesting that I couldn't put it down.

An absolute romp, filled with fighting, romance and intrigue. A fictional story written in the fifteenth century about a knight that rivals any that ever lived and many that never did. If your after medieval fiction this is one you should have, it rivals anything that Chaucer wrote.

Sheer genius! A joy to read! If anyone out there has my copy - I WANT IT BACK!!!
If you are in anyway interested in the late middle ages, chivalry or early literature... BUY THIS BOOK NOW!!!

Once I read an essay about anthologies written by Jorge Luis Borges. All anthologies (he said, I don't remember the exact words, but I do remember the idea) are arbitrary conventions, but only time makes real, unforgettable anthologies. Although I agree with the Argentine writer, I must add that time is sometimes an unfair judge. So unfair that it left behind this masterpiece of Catalan literature, one of the greatest book I've ever read, a book that stands alongside such undisputable masterpieces as "El Engenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de La Mancha" and "War and Peace". Joanot Martorell built the Universe. After reading his rich work, we cannot but regret how poor is the literature of our times, how narrow-minded are the presumptuous writers of nowadays. "Tirant lo Blanc" is not just a chivalry story. It's much more than that. It's a book about love and romance, about honor and war, about sex and chastity, about boldness and bravery. Its settings comprise several countries; it has more than a hundred characters, many of them richly portrayed with subtle psychology. We, readers of the twentieth-first century, use to look despicably at the literature of the middle-ages for we take the "dark age" as a decaying era between the classical times of Greeks and Romans and the Renaissance (Dante is an exception to this tough judgment). If you think thus, read this book and you'll find how wrong and unfair your pre-conceived ideas are. I bet you'll be surprised with Martorell's boldness in sexual affairs, with his mastery of plot, with the unpredictable behavior of his characters, with the unsurpassed richness of scenarios. You will find that the literature of our times is too conventional notwithstanding all the modernist and post-modernist' experimentations.
But, be aware: this book is just for those who really love literature. If you are looking for entertainment, please buy another book. You will not bear its slow pace, the endless dialogues and the sometimes boring letters the characters send one to another.

Writen about 100 years prior to Don Quixote de la Mancha, and the appearance of the modern novel, Tirant Lo Blanc is a refreshing and interesting masterpiece on Mideaval society, love and the rules that governed the nobility of the time.

Indirectly, it gives us a look at the lives of Catalan knights, troubadours, merchants, peasants, sailors and the clergy. The book is politically incorrect (thank goodness), and if you are tired of modern "cleansed" interpretations of life during the middle ages, you need to read this book. Be prepared for the unexpected, and also be aware that its structure will at times give you the feeling of a slow read. But, as I said, the material is pure gold!

This is one of the greatest novels ever written. Whites style is always powerful;each word, each paragraph builds vividly in your mind, and within a simple story framework he explores how human ambitions, hopes and dreams are eroded by nature and the eras we live in.
All that occurs is that Stan Parker builds his farm,takes a wife,has two children,lives through flood and drought and sees the area in which he lives expand,grow and change. No one but a supreme master craftsman can illuminate such a plot with such powerful and biblical imagry (man in Eden,the brief hopes,the failings and disallussions of human existence,the reuniting with God)
So powerful was the writing that, when White refered to a sewing machine on a hill late in the book,the image created in my mind some 400 pages earlier of that scene during the great flood instantly came back. White has that unique capability.
And the story rings true for all of us. Stan had his dreams of how things would grow,yet it is things outside our control that thwart these ambitions. Was it his fault Thelma grew up ashamed of her parents and as a prissy shrew? Or that Ray turned out to be a petty hoodlum and ended up being murdered? Something in human nature makes us blame ourselves for other peoples free will.
An extraordinary book.Not for those who like something quick and easy,but definately for anyone who loves literature and wants to be wholly absorbed for the duration of a classic book.

Patrick White is one of those rare writers - Well, the only other one that comes to mind is Halldor Laxness - who is able to create great literature out of the seemingly mundane. How he accomplishes this feat is not a simple matter to explain in a review, but it has, in part, to do with what White describes here as the "mysticism of objects, of which some people are initiates." I could say that this is primarily a book about an uneducated fellow in the Australian Outback who clears some land, raises a family and then dies. I would be quite correct, just as correct as I would be in reviewing Laxness' book, Independent People, as a story about sheep. But I would be leaving out, well, thunderbolts like this:

"Iron lace hung from dark pubs, and the heavy smells of spilled beer. Dreams broke from windows. And cats lifted the lid off all politeness." P.22 (in my edition).


But, more importantly, I would be omitting what perhaps can't be included, the deep sense of wonder imbued in the sinews of the work. It makes all modern novels with blurbs such as "ends by exposing the dark forces at play within the heart of man" and such like ring hollow and trite. All forces of the heart, dark and light, are at play throughout the book, from first page to last, but the reader has to let these forces slowly seep into his or her own heart and mind. They aren't emblazoned on a marquee. They aren't easily accessed. But, for that, they are the more dearly prized once they begin to stir one.

It's no great surprise that there are so few reviews here of this quiet, deep work of art. To the average reader, it must come across as ineffably boring, but, for lovers of literature and art, it is moving beyond my ability to convey, moving "with all the appearance of aimlessness, which is the impression that spiritual activity frequently gives." P.397

This is a truly extraordinary novel. It demands a certain amount of quiet to be read well. I found myself reading it more like poetry. Because of White's compelling storytelling and writing style, it held my attention despite the fact that very litte happens. Perfect to take on trains, airplanes, or to the beach.

In the tradition of DH Lawrence, Thomas Mann and Halldor Laxness, Patrick White has written a story that teases out the secrets of a family's existence and, in so doing, explores, without ever mentioning them expressly, the issues and mysteries universal to humanity.

The plot could barely be simpler. In the early days of Australia's nationhood a young man and his wife set off into the bush to begin their lives together. They find some land, build a house, have a family, grow old and finally die. Around them the dramas of life unfold: friendships, disasters, disappointments and infidelities. The book is less about them, though, than about the unremarkable moments in between. These times of quietness are White's triumphs. His unhurried prose admits us to the intimacies of the characters, their griefs, their dreams and their successes. We share in the man's unarticulated affinity with the land, the woman's chronic loneliness. We notice how many words are never spoken, how many uncertainties never resolved.

By the end, one sees that the characters' struggles are his struggles. Briefly, perhaps, one's view of life becomes wider than his self, and a larger landscape, if not a plan, crystallises in the world. You finish the last page, close the book and sit still and speechless for a second, as if someone real has died.

I have read two of White's novels: the present work and Voss. The present novel, The Tree of Man, is more complex than Voss, and unlike Voss here the author manages to breath some life into the characters.

Patrick White gained fame as the Australian Nobel prize winner in literature, and as a person with a prickly or difficult personality. He was educated at Cambridge but settled and wrote in Australia after World War II. He wrote about a dozen novels and a biography.

This is a good novel and it deserves 5 stars. After a dozen pages or so it becomes clear to the reader why White is famous: he has an unusual style and he is a gifted writer. There is no question about his writing ability. We see great writing ability in Voss and that skill is present in The Tree of Man.

The story is set in rural farm country in Australia and it follows the life of a young couple through to their deaths at old age. The male protagonist is a bit like the Voss character. In any case, we follow their lives, and the births and lives of their two children, and the lives of a few of their neighbours. The story describes the day to day life of a typical farming couple, along with the problems and challenges of raising children on a small rural farm. The story of the two children are followed into the marriage of the daughter and we follow the troubles of the adult son with the law.

I liked the way White handled the four family members. The lives of the four are realistic and interesting; they are human and one can relate to their actions. The discouraging feature of some of White's writing is that the characters seem stiff or cardboard like. His Voss character was not a man to show much emotion or talk. There are any passages that simply describe Voss's activities in that slightly dry book. The present book is much more complicated and White does a much better job with his characters. They are human and give way to temptations. Each character shows a wide range of human emotions.

Overall, I thought it was a good book and an interesting read and an interesting book to read if you are interested in the works of Patrick White.

This brilliant little book (71 pages of actual text) records twenty days in which Hawthorne was in effect a single parent for his five year old son, Julian, during August 1851. Hawthorne's wife Sophia, called Phoebe in the book, and two daughters (seven year old Una and newborn Rose) go off to visit Sophia's parents. Hawthorne is with Julian for just about every waking moment of Julian's day, running from six or seven AM to seven or seven thirty PM. He records their days in his notebook; and, despite the brief and informal style of these notes (and they are notes and not a detailed chronicle), succeeds in evoking nearly the totality of a child's day. I doubt that any major writer has ever so completely and carefully focused on what a five year old actually does and what his life is like.

Hawthorne is also direct and frank. He gets exasperated (as all parents do) about the constant demands for attention, the nonstop childish chatter and the endless sometimes inane questions but only rarely rebukes Julian. On the whole, Hawthorne is remarkably patient. He is amused by Julian's battles with the monsters that appear in the form of thistles and weeds which Julian routinely and daily slaughters. He is fascinated by Julian's determined and uniformly unsuccessful fishing. He admires Julian's great good nature and his gusto. Hawthorne takes care of the boy's minor illnesses, injuries and accidents. He feeds, dresses, bathes and clothes him daily. He also tries to curl his hair. Some of these actions he admits are badly or clumsily done but they are all clearly done with love.

The book also contains a few insights into other aspects of the normally reserved Hawthorne. He is positively volcanic about his dislike of Massachusetts's Berkshire region and its weather and his contemptuous and angry references to a neighbor and to (of all things) the Shaker sect are painful to read. Also clear, however, is his deep love for his family and for friends such as Melville and his love of life generally. He goes to considerable lengths to rescue a kitten trapped in a cistern and does what he can for the well-being of Bunny, whom he obviously considers a rather dull creature. There are observations on the daily round of country life in 1851 as well, including the contents of meals (little meat but plentiful milk, vegetables and rice), interactions with others, visitors and other matters.

The prose is very direct and clear, a far cry from Hawthorne's complex, allusive and often indirect formal style. This is a record of parenting and of a child's life that is moving and beautiful. There is also a useful if perhaps somewhat overlong introduction by writer Paul Auster.

This is abrief book, but full of great writing. It's very interesting to see what has changed in 150 years - the food, the activities, the words, and what hasn't - how little kids behave.

Hawthorne really captures the boundless energy and joy of small children, as well as his own sense of bewilderment as a father.

I had previously thought of Nathaniel Hawthorne as serious, stuffy, reclusive - as indeed many contemporaries thought of him. However, _Twenty Days with Julian_ show another side of the man - and the eternal joy and wonder of childhood.

While his wife and daughters were away, Hawthorne spent three weeks alone with his son, Julian. Chronicling their activities, you get a clear sense of the time and of the person Hawthorne was. But what was most pleasant - and surprising - was how similar 4 year old Julian was to children today. A joyful read that would make an excellent Father's Day present.

Everything positive said about this book is true. But I would add this: Mr. Auster's introduction is excellent until he reaches a point where he starts divulging some of the best points in the diary. So buy the book and go straight to the diary. Then enjoy Auster's wonderful intro. Bravo to NYRB for publishing this as a stand alone book; what a great gift for a new parent!
CS

From July 28th until August 16th, 1851, Nathaniel Hawthorne's wife Sophia took their daughters on a visit to her relatives, leaving her husband home to care for their 5 year-old son, Julian. Hawthorne kept a record of his time with the little boy in a journal, calling the episode "Twenty Days with Julian & Little Bunny by Papa". Anyone familiar with Hawthorne's exquisite, almost recondite writing style as exemplified by his novels and short stories will hardly recognize him in the guise of babysitter and chronicler of his jet-propelled kid's activities. Driven nearly to distraction by Julian's nonstop chatter and noisemaking (Hawthorne's wife had recently given birth to baby Rose, and the little boy was constantly being told to keep quiet), Hawthorne nevertheless decides to allow the child the freedom to be as noisy as he likes while the baby is away. This proves to be an exercise in forbearance for poor papa, as Julian proves to have no off switch, making it "impossible to read, write, think, or even sleep (in the daytime) so constant are his appeals..." Over the ensuing three weeks, the two take daily walks to fetch the milk, and to the lake where Julian fishes with furious, single-minded determination and catches absolutely nothing. Hawthorne struggles to figure out how his wife curls the kid's hair, and there are several unfortunate events - a bedwetting accident, a pants-peeing incident, the kid gets stung by a wasp, the pet bunny, Hindlegs, dies and is buried in the garden, much to Julian's amusement. (He hopes a Bunny Tree will spring up, covered all over in bunnies hanging by their ears.) Through it all, Hawthorne, in spite of his befuddlement with the finer points of child care, bears up gracefully, proving himself not only a gentle and loving father, but a genius at capturing the essence of childhood and the joy of witnessing,close at hand, his little boy's joie de vivre.

This is the most heart warming book I've ever read. Heart warming does not mean happy. But the tears I cried are because of how real and profound the vignettes are. The book creates entire universes out of seemingly simple acts. If the world could share Lin Jensen's heart we wouldn't be at war.

This book is really a tear-jerker. Don't read it if you are squeamish. The horrific tales of life on the turkey farm will make you a vegetarian for sure, and probably against capital punishment. I worked on a dairy farm one summer and know that farms are cruel places though the turkey stories were disgusting. One thing I really admired was how Jensen made me feel sympathy for his dying father. Actually, what really got me was the story of how his father, as a young man, tested a Percheron horse by taking him into deep water. The beautiful symbolism of this act is just breathtaking. It was the high point of the book. So all in all, the structure of the book -- its interweaving of three separate strands (the turkey farm, his father, his own life) -- plus the amazingly deep and profound content make this a stunning must-read book. But read it in private so you can cry your eyes out without anybody seeing you and wondering if you are psycho. You'll need lots of tissues to make it through this short tome!

Lin Jensen is an amazing author who keeps you reading through both tears and laughter. He speaks to the reader in simple terms, of simple events. These are events that most would easily pass by, but Lin Jensen leaves you no escape from their gritty reality. He never demands that you change because of his writing. Instead the situations he shows you leave you with no room to conscionably not be changed by them.

I have read the book five times now, setting aside several others I had been "dying" to read. Twice, I have read it aloud to myself, which felt kinda silly at first. The only reason I stopped reading it was to lend it out.

Lin Jensen's book is not one you will want to rush through. It is a series of personal reflections on the ordinary events of life, rendered extraordinary by the author's flawlessly simple style, impeccable self-examination, compassion for human failing and eye for the magical hidden in the everyday. Handsomely designed and beautifully edited, you will want to give it to everyone you care about deeply.

I cannot do justice to this work, in attempting to review it. To anyone who cares about the earth, and to the creatures who inhabit it, including ourselves, this book is essential reading.

This book is the best memoir by an enlisted cavalryman I have ever seen, and I read a lot of Civil War books. At the end of the book, I felt like I had just finished a long conversation with Avery. Buy this book and enjoy it.

No matter whether you're a Custerphile or Custerphobe, don't let the title fool you. Under Custer's Command has very little to do with the "Boy General" and a lot to do with the every day life of a Union Cavalryman during the Civil War. James Avery describes life in the Fifth Michigan Cavalry with frankness and honesty, and without concern for the feelings of those who failed to pass muster.
The book details the part the Wolverines played in such famous battles as Gettysburg, The Wilderness, Cedar Creek, and Yellow Tavern, from the perspective of one who actively fought at the front lines, and brings a breath of fresh air to the Civil War narrative. I highly recommend this book to anyone who desires to explore the facts of life for a Civil War cavalryman.

This book is the best memoir by an enlisted cavalryman I have ever seen, and I read a lot of Civil War books. At the end of the book, I felt like I had just finished a long conversation with Avery. Buy this book and enjoy it.

George Armstrong Custer's fabled Fifth Regiment fought with great distinction throughout the American civil war and suffered the third highest total of men killed in the entire Union Calvary. James Henry Avery, a 24 year old farmer from Hopkins, Michigan was on of Custer's feared "Wolverines". He eloquently described his personal war-time experiences in journals and postwar reminiscences, providing uniquely detailed descriptions of Civil War cavalry movements, and presents the only known account addressing the escape of elements of the Fifth Michigan Cavalry on the first day of the Battle of Trevilian Station. Other battles described include Gettysburg, The Wilderness, Yellow Tavern, Haws Shop, Tom's Brook, Cedar Creek, and Trevilian Station. Under Custer's Command: The Civil War Journal Of James Henry Avery provides an astute perspective on the life of a Union cavalryman in the Civil War and is a "must" for all Civil War buffs and civil war studies reference collections.

As editor Eric J. Wittenberg expands his library of Custer-related works, they continue to improve on the already growing collection of first-person accounts of the "Boy General's" Michigan Cavalry. As the preeminent biographer of Brevet Brigadier General James Kidd, Wittenberg provides readers with a sense of "being there," and inescapable feeling that they are sharing a fireside chat with a living, breathing veteran of our own Civil War.

"Under Custer's Command" is sure to please any readers of his previous collections of James Kidd. The latest book, a well-preserved and edited anthology of the personal journals of Sergeant James Henry Avery, an enlisted man who served with Custer during his formative years, continues Wittenberg's efforts to detail the wartime activities of the Michigan 6th Cavalry. One of the most successful mounted commands during the war, the "Wolverine's" received far less acclaim and few of the accolades enjoyed by cavalry units led by men such as Jeb Stuart and Stonewall Jackson.

"Under Custer's Command" is a rare jewel among surviving first-person accounts. The language is frank, yet simple: the work of a man interested less in impressing than in preserving his personal observations of history. Avery's journals offer an invaluable glimpse into the mind and soul of a man fighting for his country, his values, and his family. This wonderful book is a fantastic addition to any serious Civil War Custer library.

From Manhattan, it is 1500 miles to Minnesota. Before departing, Karl Oskar feeds his family, and Robert and Arvid walk the length of Broadway, amazed by what they see. The group travels up the Hudson River by steamboat, from Albany to Buffalo by train and across the Great Lakes. They are now immigrants rather than emigrants. You can not be one without being both.

Alienation is a theme of Unto A Good Land. The immigrants feel the limitations imposed upon them as foreigners. They do not know the geography and cannot speak the language. Dependence breeds suspicion and paranoia.

The tension between Kristina and Ulrika begins to subside. After an attack of conscience, Kristina shares a loaf of bread with her. Ulrika and Elin are caring for Danjel's children.

At a stopover in Detroit, Ulrika totally vindicates herself in Kristina's and Karl Oskar's eyes. She recovers Lill-Marta, their 3-year-old, from an orchard where she had gone to pick cherries. This is in the nick of time as the boat is about to leave. It is a touching scene where Karl Oskar takes the hand of the woman he ridiculed.

The immigrants cut across the prairie and head up the Mississippi River. Arvid remains funny and stupid, fearing alligators which he calls crocodiles.

The novels are virtually non-violent when compared with a Hamlet or a War and Peace. They are strong on character, simple, plain. We find people determining their own course, not swept up in events so overwhelming as to have their actions dictated for them.

There is an emphasis on nature, the necessity of eking a living from the earth. There is not so much of war or what man has done to man. It is unexpected when at one point Karl Oskar has to elude some would-be bandits. The possibility of evil always lurks in the background, but it is secondary to man's struggle against the harsher side of nature. The immigrants yearn for freedom without having to harm anyone.

Once in Minnesota territory, they walk to their final destination. In the lush forest, they feel at home for the first time, and Kristina and Ulrika laugh at the shaggy hair and beards of the men. Kristina uses wool shears on Karl Oskar, giving him the look of a sheep. Robert wants his hair short so he can not be scalped by Indians.

When Danjel and Jonas Petter stake their claims near Swedish settlers, the obstinate Karl Oskar keeps going. Only when he feasts his eyes on Lake Ki-Chi-Saga does he feel he has arrived.

Ki-Chi-Saga is an Indian name, but it is Karl Oskar's for the taking. It is all here: the lake, oak trees, a pine forest and three feet of topsoil.

There is an optimism in the books and in Karl Oskar, an assurance that if we go hard enough and long enough, we will have the things we need.

Domestic life resumes. The settlers build cabins, make furniture, plow and planet and hunt and fish. Kristina prepares meals and mends clothing. Moberg pulls us down to basic survival.

Making it through the first winter is crucial. They need a cow for milk and flour for bread. Returning one night in the snow with a sack of flour, Karl Oskar gets lost. He finds his way, but realizes he might have frozen to death.

The sense of mission in the first book dissipates into a narrative of day-to-day living, into a compilation of anecdotes and close calls.

Of all the immigrants, only Kristina misses Sweden. She hides it. She now considers Ulrika a friend and requests her as midwife when the baby is born. The birth is described in detail. So is Kristina's emotional attachment to her first child born in America.

The differences between the brothers quickly surface. Robert is no farmer. He wants to get rich. Karl Oskar considers him a liar, governed by his imagination. After the first winter, Robert and Arvid leave for the gold fields of California.

Having cleaned up her act, Ulrika begins getting proposals. Women are scarce. Amazingly, she marries a Baptist minister.

The book ends with Kristina confessing to Karl Oskar how much she misses Sweden. Karl Oskar shares his vision of the future with her, that their children and grandchildren will one day thank them for emigrating to America. The pair agree to call their new home Duvemala after the village Kristina grew up in.

Immirgrants come to the U.S. daily. Population in America has increased drastically since the 1950s. Other Modern day civilization begun in Europe and Asia have develope greatly, but the U.S.exsposes immigrants to much wider opportunities.

This is an epic work by its Swedish author. Translated from Swedish into English, this beautifully written book of historical fiction was first published in 1954 and met with excellent reviews at the time. It is the second part of a four part opus, the first of which is "The Emigrants". This book, "Unto a Good Land", is followed by two additional books, "The Settlers" and "Last Letter From Home".

In the first volume, "The Emigrants", the author detailed the emigration of a Swedish family to the New World, grounding it in the reasons for the exodus of so many Swedes from their mother country in the middle of the 19th century. The focus of the first book in this four part opus is on the family, relatives, and friends of Karl Oscar Nilsson, a peasant farmer who unceasingly worked his farm, only to find that, no matter what he did, he could not progress and would continue to live on the cusp of total poverty. The focus of the first book is on their life in Sweden. Gathering up his family and friends of the family, the Nilsson family decides to take the monumental step of making a fresh start by emigrating to the new world, specifically the United States of America.

The second volume, "Unto a Good Land", focuses on the arrival of the Nilsson family and friends in the United States of America. It details their journey from New York, a journey that was to take them across the Midwest by rail, steamer, and foot to arrive in the wilds of what would one day be the State of Minnesota. It is in this wilderness that the Nilsson family and friends would homestead and struggle to make a new home. The author regales the reader with the travails this hardy group of settlers would encounter in their efforts to create by the sweat of their brow a new home in the wilderness. The early struggles of the Nilsson family to succeed in what was an unknown frontier is engagingly chronicled. I have enjoyed the first and second volumes so much that I look forward to continuing their journey with them by reading the remaining two volumes. This is a book that those who love historical fiction will greatly enjoy.

Karl Oskar Nilsson, his family, and a collection of other emigrants from Sweden now find themselves in New York harbor, ready to find their promised land in Minnesota. Traveling by steam train, riverboat, canal barge, and finally on foot, they reach Taylors Falls, Minnesota. Setting up as homesteaders, each family can claim 160 acres, and Karl Oskar is determined to pick the primest land. However, it is too late to plant crops, Karl Oskar has too little money to buy livestock, and winter is coming on fast. This is the story of the emigrants' first year in America.

This book is the second in the Emigrants quadrilogy, and this book is every bit as wonderful as the first. The characters seem as alive to me reading this book, as if I was reading their own diaries. Vilhelm Moberg is considered one of Sweden's great authors, and it is easy to see why.

As an aside, besides merely showing someone I would consider similar to my own Swedish ancestors, this book has made me understand more about life. I find myself haunted by the scene in which Karl Oskar walks twelve miles to purchase a 100-pound sack of flour so that his family can eat and survive the winter. Carrying the sack home on his back, he becomes lost in the forest, and nearly dies of exposure. But, realizing that he metaphorically carries his children in that sack, he continues on and when he finally finds his home, he delivers the flour to his wife without one word of complaint.

So, this is a wonderful book, a fitting sequel to The Emigrants. I highly recommend both books to you.

[For those of you with young children, I would like to recommend the Kirsten books in the American Girls series. Written for young readers (primarily girls), it tells the story of a Swedish family that immigrates to Minnesota in 1854.]

This is an epic work by its Swedish author. Translated from Swedish into English, this beautifully written book of historical fiction was first published in 1954 and met with excellent reviews at the time. It is the second part of a four part opus, the first of which is "The Emigrants". This book, "Unto a Good Land", is followed by two additional books, "The Settlers" and "Last Letter From Home".

In the first volume, "The Emigrants", the author detailed the emigration of a Swedish family to the New World, grounding it in the reasons for the exodus of so many Swedes from their mother country in the middle of the 19th century. The focus of the first book in this four part opus is on the family, relatives, and friends of Karl Oscar Nilsson, a peasant farmer who unceasingly worked his farm, only to find that, no matter what he did, he could not progress and would continue to live on the cusp of total poverty. The focus of the first book is on their life in Sweden. Gathering up his family and friends of the family, the Nilsson family decides to take the monumental step of making a fresh start by emigrating to the new world, specifically the United States of America.

The second volume, "Unto a Good Land", focuses on the arrival of the Nilsson family and friends in the United States of America. It details their journey from New York, a journey that was to take them across the Midwest by rail, steamer, and foot to arrive in the wilds of what would one day be the State of Minnesota. It is in this wilderness that the Nilsson family and friends would homestead and struggle to make a new home. The author regales the reader with the travails this hardy group of settlers would encounter in their efforts to create by the sweat of their brow a new home in the wilderness. The early struggles of the Nilsson family to succeed in what was an unknown frontier is engagingly chronicled. This is a book that those who love historical fiction will greatly enjoy.

This is one of my favorite Halloween read-alouds. Tomie DePaola's illustrations are gorgeous and funny, full of vivid Halloween oranges, greens, purples, and blacks, and the story is an offbeat delight that will introduce your child to such delightful vocabulary as "ghoul," "varmint," and "rapscallion." Not at all frightening for even smallest kids, quite funny, and with prose that rolics right off your tongue -- The Vanishing Pumpkin is as much fun for the grown-up reader as it is for the young listener snuggled on his lap.

Cute tale of an old man and old woman, each hundreds of years old, looking for the person that stole their big pumkin. Just as they were going to pick it to make pie, it vanished. They go to see the ghoul, and show they have ways to make you talk. You see they are both witches with very old power. They go to see the rapscallion, and even the varmint. But no one knows who took their pumpkin. They finally meet up with a powerful wizard, even older than they are. Will they find their pumpkin in time to make pumpkin pie?

Some repetitive lines and rhyming make this a nice book for reading to the younger ones, and not scary at all. Good story to go to sleep with. Terrific art work and colors by the great Tommi de Paola. I reccommend.

I have three young boys and they always find this story fun to read or have read to them. We have had it for several years and this slightly offbeat tale never seems to get old. It is a good addition to your Halloween library, although I would go for some classics like "The Headless Horseman," "Tailypo," or other classic tales that are not so scary for young children.

If you like this you might also try "Four Scary Stories" from the duo of Tony Johnson and Tomie Depaola.

In Mr. Johnston's "The Vanishing Pumpkin" we are introduced to a 700-year old woman and an 800-year old man. This immediately sets the tone for the high level of playful silliness the reader will encounter in the pages within!

Our heroes have a problem: their pumpkin, destined to be a pumpkin pie, has gone missing suddenly, and on Halloween, no less! Right then, the search (and the fun!) begins. It's not in the coffeepot. It's not in the bed, it's not anywhere! "Snitched!" cries the old woman. "'Great snakes!' croaked the old man. 'Who would dare snitch a pumpkin from an 800-year old man?'"

Who indeed...!! They set off down the road to find the missing pumpkin and run into some wonderfully kooky Halloween characters, including a ghoul in stovepipe hat and button boots, a rapscallion picking mushrooms (he is in a heavy cloak with a hooded mask-- my Star Wars savvy students said he looks like a Jawa), a rat-like yellow varmint and finally a wizard in starred robes, spectacles and pointed shoes. All along the way the old man and the old woman play tricks on these funny folk to try to get them to surrender the pumpkin which, of course, they don't have.

The illustrations by Tomie dePaola are wonderfully funny in the way that only Mr. dePaola can make them. Though this is a Halloween story, the illustrations are bright and silly enough to make the story much more funny than frightening. The pace of the text flows quickly but is repetitive enough for young readers to stay hooked by the story.

All in all, it's a wonderful book, and you shouldn't wait for Halloween to go out and get a copy of this fun, fantastic tale!

This is my favorite book to share with young children for Halloween. It lends itself nicely to using various funny voices for the old woman and the old man. I have used this book with classes for the past four years, and it remains a favorite in my library all year through.

This is one of those extraordinarily rare books that inspires me to buy not one, but 100...for family, friends, and colleagues. The idea is so simple and so brilliant but more important, it is beautifully executed. Truly inspired virtuoso selections, gorgeous photography and wonderful writing-- rarely, does one find all of these qualities in one body of work. My only regret is that the book wasn't available during the holiday season or I would have used it for ALL of my X-mas gifts. With tremendous respect, LCLJ

Not just the famous. Not the infamous. Not the obvious. This amazing book actually delivers on the promise of the title. I didn't realize how jaded I was until I sat down and moved through the text and images. Simply brilliant. Don't miss the experience and integrity of this book. ADDED BONUS: The book's superlative design and extraordinary photographs.

What's great here, in addition to stellar photos and high production values (what kind of paper is this?) is the surprising quality of the selection of the people. I like seeing boxers and map makers, basketball players and glass blowers set next to each other.

Joseph Campbell's sadly over-used expression "Follow your bliss" is personified in the 40 profiles that fill the pages of The Virtuoso. What a revelation to find that the world possesses such remarkable individuals in places we might least expect to find them. The Virtuoso says much about taking risks, about going as far as you can to arrive at a place that is larger than yourself. Love, and a dash of madness, are at the core of every choice a Virtuoso makes, shaping the lives of these extraordinary talents in the most unimagined ways, and those who come into contact with them. It takes a vision to see the vision in others. Clearly this author has that. Bravo!

Wayne Gretzky's retirement from hockey seems a fitting occasion to remark on the phenomenal collection of virtuosos Ken Carbone has gathered together in his new book. The gift of a Virtuoso like Gretzky, and of this book, is the realization that absolute focus and dedication to a passion can lead one beyond oneself. That message resounds like a gong through the handsomely designed pages and expressive photographs of The Virtuoso. The thrill of sharing a Virtuoso's talent is the transcendence it offers, the visceral feeling that one is witnessing, in the Eastern sense, life lived fully in the moment. Inspiration, indeed.

This remarkable collection demonstrates once again how Ballard is one of literature's best kept secrets. Fourteen intelligent, intense and vividly written short stories challenge our theories of the recent future. It is one of the mysteries of our own time that someone casting as long a shadow as does Ballard, is virtually unknown in his native England, let alone America. This book, with its visions of dystopia, contains some very intriguing ideas: A middle east guerrilla has an idea for ending the fighting there, only to discover that the UN has a quite different agenda. World War III is played out against the larger concerns of President Reagan's health problems. The index from an unknown and perhaps suppressed autobiography provides tantalizing details to the life and times of one of this century's most anonymous titans. Ballard shines brightest in the short form; these stories are no exception. Enjoy!

I'll let the scholarly types explain all the deep insight contained in these stories. All I can say is this is the collection I hand out to people who want to explore Ballard's work. Some great stories in there.

These are some of the most creative short stories I've read. Ever. A sailor wrecks his chemical-laden ship on a remote Caribbean island, and the island environment reacts surprisingly well. A young assassin escapes an English mental institution and begins targeting astronauts. A man locks himself in his house and locks the rest of the world out...forever. Intelligently written, well-researched, and ever fascinating, these stories represent Ballard at his visionary best. I couldn't put it down!

J.G. Ballard is a rare find, a dystopian with a very, very dry sense of humor. The future isn't the bestiality of "1984" or the state mandated hedonism of Huxley's vision. Rather it comes from the constant tidal pressure of creeping suburbia puncuated with moments of surreal violence sputtered out of a TV set. Kind of like life. I recommend it highly

Ballard novels have never really impressed me - they seem too unfocused and convoluted. I am a big fan, however, of his short stories - generally well-written, interestingly plotted, and providing just the right amount of alienation, making even a mundane situation seem like an otherworldly experience. "The Best Short Stories of..." is a great place to start, with many fiction and sci-fi classics, a great representation of the short story form. "War Fever" is a worthy follow-up. I don't know why it took me so long to try these stories, but they are definitely worth it. Here, he doesn't really go out of his way to write in any established genre (sci-fi, horror), but his stories seem to drift that way ever so slightly, as if trying to just tread the edge of such. He uses some interesting variations with form as well, seeing what the reader will accept as a story: a questionnaire? An index? Both are equally valid, and Ballard uses them to great effect. Give this collection a try and see how well the stories hold up to his more classic works. I think you'll find that his output from the mid to late '80s was just as good.

Brodsky is coyly, conciously self-indulgent here, by publishing thoughts about his favorite little city ... maybe everyone's favorite little city. Some of these essays are like shrugs: "this is how i feel, this is what it may mean. who knows?" Some are far more ardent, on the verge of revelation. Brodsky's humor, and casual seriousness, make this tiny book a real pleasure to hang out with.

WATERMARK is an apt title for this splendid collection of thoughts and fugues on the city of Venice, a place where Brodsky returned yearly for seventeen years and where in the solitude of the winter months in this most desirable of tourist destinations he composed some of his best poetry and translations. Brodsky's title refers to the repeated traces (watermarks) the sea makes on the canals and decaying buildings of Venice, like pages from a book of history or of poetry, or a novel. He writes extended soliloquies about the surfaces of the water in the canals and in the surrrounding sea that softly and surely continues to submerge Venice. He also writes colloquies of conversations with Ezra Pound's widow and the subsequent memories and opinions of that controversial figure. His rambling discourses while strolling the narrow streets that follow the canals inevitably to the sea are rich in observation and philosophy. His love for Venice is always palpable. '...the whole city, especially at night, resembles a gigantic orchestra, with dimly lit music stands of palazzi, with a restless chorus of waves, with the falsetto of a star in the winter sky. The music is, of course, greater than the band, and no hand can turn the page.'

Joseph Brodsky is at his finest in much of this small volume. For those who love Venice by association or by dreams of history and the music of Vivaldi, Bellini, and the art of Tiepolo or Titian, this collection of reveries is a must. Elegant, charming, stimulating, and nostalgic.

A remarkable synthesis of poetry and prose. His style reveals impressions rather than what he has seen. The best comparison that I can think of is a dream that you remember vividly.

For any reader who wants to recreate the mesmerizing effect of walking the watery streets of Venice, reading this book will do it. As you enter Brodsky's very personal meditation on the ancient city that has enchanted so many for so long, his thoughts become your own, and all at once you are there. Dipping into the pages of this book is an armchair traveler's paradise.

Brodsky writes of his memories of seventeen winters in Venice. He has captured the shimmering essence of the Serene Republic in a series of short essays. His focus, as that of the city, is on the water and its reflective capacity. The water and city mirror an inner process for Brodsky and many others who visit. He explores the theme of light upon water from many perspectives, ultimately acknowledging the mystery of both the city, the water and the attachment formed. These memories, fragmented as light on water, will bring any traveler back to the beauty and wonder of Venezia