Prose Books

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.

Having written my senior thesis on St. Augustine's concept of the Trinity, I found Fr. Hill's edition to be a great resource in my research of the subject. His introduction to the treatise is a must-read, providing a solid overview of Trinitarian history, reviewing some of the early heresies and disputes, and introducing us to Augustine's predecessors. This introduction is invaluable for any who wish to understand De Trinitate in the context with which it was written, as it offers a defense against criticisms placed upon it by later theologians.

St Augustine was, before Aquinas, the most subtle and brilliant intellect in the Western Church. While Augustine's influence has sometimes been debated and even criticised, most recognise that he was both an outstanding theologian and a highly original philosopher.

The Trinity is one of the works of the later period of Augustine's life, after he had been consecrated as Bishop of Hippo. During this period Augustine spent most of his time and energy on pastoral and theological issues, including deep theological reflection on the scriptures and theology.

The Trinity is Augustine's attempt to plumb the mystery of God, as revealed to Christians as the triune God of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It contains some fifteen or so books in which Augustine attempts to develop a systematic theology of the Triune God based around scripture, as well as outlining a theological anthropology which discusses how the image of God exists in human beings, and how the economy of salvation is effected through Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross and through the free acceptance of God's gift of salvation by the process of baptism and incorporation into the body of Christ, the Church.

Augustine's text contains many profound and interesting theological insights which in themselves would become articles of dogma. Unfortunately, this tends to misrepresent Augustine, who was a very curious and inquiring thinker, who desired to understand God as much as was humanly possible.

This book will be of most interest to theologians, but it will also interest philosophers and students of comparative religion, as well as those interested in Christian spirituality.

There is much discussion in contemporary theology about the Trinity (e.g. Moltmann, LaCugna, Gunton, Pannenberg, Rahner, Barth). In order to appreciate the discussion intelligently, you ought to go back to the source of the Western model of the Trinity. One of Augustine's analogies for the Trinity is the Father the Lover, the Son the Beloved, and the Spirit as the Love. Quite a few theologians are critical of Augustine's emphasis on the unity of the Triune God (e.g. Moltmann, Pannenberg, LaCugna). It is worth reading this work just to put their work in perspective.

This work is more than just an exposition of theology. Augustine has a long discussion of perception (memory, understanding and will), because he needs to give an account for how human seeing can fulfill its supernatural vocation to see God. Some of his discussion anticipates some of the concerns of the Enlightenment. E.g. if the representation I recall in my mind is from my memory, but is also shaped by my will, how do I know I have an accurate representation of reality?

Another reason to get this work is that any attempt to tackle the Trinity ends up by a mini-systematics. In a fairly short space, a close read of the work will pay a mountain of dividends.

In particular, Edmund Hill did an invaluable job editing and translating the work. The introductory notes, the endnotes, and the essays scattered throughout the work are worth the price of the book itself. I have gotten a lot more out of the work because of Hill's commentary (and they are not overly intrusive). Some of Hill's translations are a little bit too colloquial for my taste, but he wanted to write a dynamic translation. If you want a literal translation of this work, you can like in other places.

All in all, this is one of the all-time classics in Christian theology.

Trinitarian theology is a difficult subject. Scriptural references are few and their meaning is not obvious - indeed, they can easily be read as contradictory. In fact, there is no explicit description of the Trinity in the scriptures at all - the orthodox view of the Trinity (three persons in one God) is an inferential conclusion from scripture that took generations to piece together. Having arrived at that conclusion, the next problem was to understand exactly what it meant - a problem difficult enough that many argued that it was simply a mystery the answer to which we might know in the next life but not this.

This famously difficult problem is the subject of Augustine's "The Trinity". In addressing it, he has two motives. His first motive is to combat non-Trinitarian heresy by showing the scriptural support for the concept and by showing that it is not inherently contradictory. His second motive is to attempt to understand the Trinity more deeply, to satisfy the scriptural directive to "seek His face evermore".

"The Trinity" is a long book, the second longest work in the Augustinian corpus, and one that he worked on, intermittently, for sixteen years. He might not have finished it had not the unauthorized publication of the first twelve "books", led him to write the final three in order to avoid having the work available only in an incomplete form.

"The Trinity" begins with a consideration of the Scriptural references to the Trinity, with the aim of reconciling them and explaining them through the supposition of three equal persons in one God. Augustine is at particular pains to maintain the equality of the persons: that the Son is equal to the Father, and the Holy Spirit equal to both. Of particular concern to Augustine are the references to the Son and Holy Spirit being sent, with the implication that the Father who sends must be superior to them. This presentation takes up the first eight books.

From there Augustine aims to develop some deeper understanding of the nature of the Trinity. His approach is to use the fact that the Man was created in the image of God. Given this, Augustine reasons, there should be some image of the Trinity in man. This leads to the consideration of a succession of trinities - the lover, beloved, and love; memory, understanding, and will; the objects of sense, the will to attend to them, and the sense impressions of them; etc. This presentation, which take up the next four books, is interesting, but often perplexing. It is easy for the reader to see that the trinities he names are not analogues of the divine Trinity, and it can be perplexing to attempt to understand how Augustine intends to bring this discussion of the trinities in man together.

It is in the last few books, written after the premature publication of the earlier books, that Augustine works to reverse the centrifugal tendencies of his discussion of the trinities in man and unify them into a whole. The trinities in man are held up not as exact analogues to that in God, but as a ladder, starting with the most carnal and rising towards the most spiritual; we do not find a single Trinity like that of God within ourselves, but we do find a series of them that we can ascend, and in ascending it we approach the divine Trinity and a deeper understanding of God.

St. Augustine's position as a Doctor of the Church is understandable, even after only reading parts of this terrific book! He really comes at a discussion of the Trinity in a logical fashion that appeals to hearts and experiences, not just minds!

I'd definitely recommend it to anyone of a particularly cerebral bent looking to learn more about their faith from a Doctor of the Church! This isn't light bedside reading, and it won't seem as simple as, say, the wisdom shared by Therese of Lisieux. But for those looking to read and learn about the Trinity, this book offers a deep and rich look at a mystery of the faith that many of us today take for granted, from a time when many people didn't take it for granted!

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.

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.

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.

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.

A rocker writing comics? What's that about? And, yet, Gerard Way, of the rock band My Chemical Romance, comes up with a humdinger of a comic book in THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY: APOCALYPSE SUITE, a wonderfully strange and inventive six-issued limited series published by Dark Horse Comics. It's an auspicious debut, really, and, now, count me as completely sold on Gerard Way, comic book scribe.

So what's this thing about? Well, some time ago, around the globe and in the same instance, at 9:38pm, forty-three gifted children were born to women who had before shown no signs of pregnancy. An extraterrestrial masquerading as a human adopted seven of these children and trained them to save the world. But theirs was a cold and callous father, so it's no surprise that the kids grew up as a dysfunctional family. However, the training took hold and the kids did become superheroes.

But the story really begins years after the team, called the Umbrella Academy, had disbanded as most of the siblings reunite for their father's funeral. I say most, because one had perished (we don't know how), while another is too bitter and disinclined to pop in. During this sad gathering, a world-threatening menace promptly surfaces, forcing these bickering capes to quit the bellyaching and work together...except that, of course, they don't quit the bellyaching.

For those looking for something different, something original and wonderfully off-beat, THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY: APOCALYPSE SUITE will fit the bill. I don't know how much of Gerard Way's experiences and life style influenced him in his writing, but his stuff reads as from an askewed perspective. APOCALYPSE SUITE is inventive and surreal and keeps on surprising. For a first-time writer, Gerard writes with startling confidence and with wit and a certain airiness. To quote THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY's artist, Gabriel Ba: "For me, it's not important anymore that it's his first comic, or that he's a big rock star, because the story is really interesting and well told."

Even thru the bizarre takes, Way infuses a layer of complexity and tragedy which grounds the stories. A key moment surfaces early on when eminent scientist and entrepreneur Sir Reginald Hargreeves (the alien's guise) impersonally tells one of his adopted daughters, "There's just nothing special about you." This heartbreaking indictment would have devastating repercussions years later for the Umbrella Academy. By the way, Sir Hargreeves is so detached that he tends to refer to his children as Numbers One thru Seven. Likewise, he insists that his children call him The Monocle, instead of "dad." Dang, that's cold. You could see why the kids grew so messed up.

Way peppers his story with a diverse cast of personalities. I have my favorites. How could you not dig Spaceboy (Number One, and team leader), whose head years ago had to be transplanted onto a gorilla's body. Or the time-travelling boy (Number Five) now forever stuck at the age of ten? Or Rumor (Number Three), who has the neat ability of telling a lie ("I heard a rumor...") and have it come true. These characters happen to inhabit a quirky world in which apes have gained intellect and where supervillains are regularly featured guests on television talk shows. Man, I love it!

This trade comes with very decent bonus material: the intro written by Grant Morrison, who is a huge influence on Gerard Way; an afterword by Dark Horse Comics editor Scott Allie; rough concept designs and bonus art by Ba, cover artist James Jean and, yes, by Gerard Way, himself a graduate of New York's School of Visual Arts (although his stuff here is pretty sketchy); and two out of print short stories - the two-paged online teaser "Mon Dieu" and the 16-paged Free Comic Book Day story "...But the Past Ain't Thru With You."

A bit now about the artwork, because Brazilian illustrator Gabriel Ba's significant contributions shouldn't be neglected. Dude's style is expressive, angular, and semi-exaggerated; it deftly captures the off-kilter essence of this comic book. Dave Stewart's colors complete the visual look, while James Jean's covers are terrifically evocative (and not at all reminiscent of Ba's artwork, but it works). All in all, a near perfect storytelling team. I hope they stay together for more UMBRELLA ACADEMY stories (although rumor has it that cover artist James Jean might be simply too busy to stick around for future issues).

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY is off to a roaring start, garnering props left and right from fans and critics. If you like being nudged off your comfort zone, then give this one a try. This is simply too good to pass up. The cheery news is that Way is chock full of ideas and has promised a limited series per year for the next busload of years. So, me, I'm desperately waiting on the Academy's next set of adventures, projected to be titled THE SCARECROW BLUES.

And, by the way, Gerard Way's rock band isn't bad, either.

Umbrella Academy was one of the best books i've read this year.
Way writes a hyper dense story full of ideas and wonderful character moments. If he throws all of these wonderful concepts at you but not so much where you are overwhelmed. Its a simple story but its perfectly executed. Also Gabriel Ba art is outstanding, His layouts are dynamic, i already liked him in casanova by fraction but this is a whole new level. The colors by Stewart only make the comic superior to most new books on the market. If you like weird, fun, and well plotted, paced story buy it.

I had become a fan of the Umbrella Academy when it had come out last year. It was smart, it was vivid, and it had this humor about it that drew me right to it. This collection of the original comics was wonderful, but there are a few extra stories (the online preview and the free comic book day) and concept art made by Gerard Way followed by completed sketches by Gabriel Ba that made this graphic novel even better. This is a wonderful story and any fan of classic, grotesque comics, Gabriel Ba, or Gerard Way (and/or My Chemical Romance) should get their hands on!

When I first heard about Gerard Way writing a series of comics based on superheroes I was shocked. I enjoy how he has written lyrics, they are amazing. And his writing is amazing and the form in which is drawn in is fantastic. When I read this a couple of months ago I was hooked but I could not find the rest in the series. And now they in a nifty volume and I can resume where I left off. For any fan of the band this is a must have and it isn't just for fans either. It really is amazing and colorful driven by a cool story with unique characters. It is truly remarkable in the way it's presented and I hope you will purchase this amazing collection. It is a nice change of pace from the volumes of DC and Marvel comics that seem to overflow on to the bookstores. It is nice that a new series as appeared and we have a chance to read something amazing. The umbrella academy is really good series and now we have the entire collection to read. It is the coolest comic I have read.

so i was very wary when i went into reading Umbrella Academy because it's written by some guy (Gerard Way) from the band 'My Chemical Romance.' i thought it would absolutely suck because of this, since i really don't care for his music and the bands emo-goth-ishness appearance.

BUT to my surprise it was absolutely wonderful. its quirky, fun and well written. AND the artwork from Gabriel Ba is amazing and fits the title just right. if you like Hellboy, Atomic Robo, the Goon and the like you'll most likely LOVE Umbrella Academy.

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.

Ruskin had a very refreshing and interesting point of view, and it's still valid today. Ruskin's ideology doesn't follow any left-right trends.

On some things he's a market proponent, while on others he's marxist. For instance, while he insists on fair wages (a socialist idea), he believes that those who strive harder should be rewarded more (a free-market idea). Basically, he gives the example of a bricklayer: if you hire one, you should pay him according to how much effort his job requires and that should be independent on who the bricklayer is, whether he's good at it or not; however, only the good bricklayers should expect to be offered work.

Overall, he presents his ideas in a rational/logical manner and supports his positions using simple examples most will agree with him on. It's refreshing to read work on economics that doesn't take either Marx's nor Smith's side.

Ruskin, unlike Marx or Ayn Rand, bases his economic work in the real relations between human beings and the hard facts of work and exchange. There is no one reality in terms of aesthetics, or cultural approaches to the world, but _Unto This Last_ is THE TRUTH about human(and/or "post-human")economic realities. Our business-biased news media in the U.S., and academic Marxism, are ideologies. Ruskin is dealing with "mere" material reality.

I must say I never expected this to be such a stunner. I have read it twice but confess that I am sitting down again. This has to be the 'Matrix' of the 1800's as it certainly turns conventional thinking on its head...

The introduction by Clive Wilmer is extremely enlightening as it provides a background against which the book can be thoroughly enjoyed. This book cleared a lot of doubts I had for a long time on many things and I must say raised twice as many questions about what I thought right :-)

Ruskin has been praised by many people as being the vioce of truth. He starts his main essay from a story in the Bible and then blows the reader away with his acute judgements and impeccable logic. In the end all you can do is but agreee that 'There is no Wealth but Life'

Also recommend 'The Kingdom of God is Within You' by Tolstoy.

A compilation of some of the important works of Ruskin are included here, the most important being (in Ruskin's own words) "Unto This Last", which had a profoundly moving effect on Ghandi (among others) and his approach and philosophy. For Ruskin morality and moral economics, sustaining/healthy economics, comes from basic things like knowing who made your shirts and that this person is getting a fair wage for their efforts -- taking responsibility for the effect one's use of money has on the lives of others. Taking advantage of other's economic misfortune was immoral and likely to result in a future backlash on the greater society as well as well as one's inner well being. An intelligent/knowledgeable person taking advantage of the stupid or ignorant is no different than violence of the strong upon the weak, Ruskin analogized. Ruskin illustrated his ideal of a moral economy by using the Gothic "Christian" style as an example, explained in the "Stones of Venice", its communal/community development, its imperfection yet impressive beauty. Perfection is not beautiful in Ruskin's view of life/art; which echoes something of the Zen view of art. Ruskin also argued that homes, during the Gothic age, were in the Gothic style as well and that modern Churches should mimic something of the style of the typical house being built today, the church should not be seen as a separate entity, a separate style; the Church should be integral to the community's self identity and use a similar architecture. Ruskin also inadvertantly created a style and movement he did not aprove of, by creating such a popular view of the Gothic style, that being the Anglo/Catholic movement whom enjoyed the gothic style church and ceremony. (Just walk around most any town and and look at the dates of when Gothic style churches were built in the USA, probably around 1910 or so).

The wealth of the elite and the wealth of the rich should ultimately be judged by the general happiness of the common man on the street. Ruskin also advocated reading and the building of public libraries and wrote a moving essay on why one should read: included here.

Ruskin's life took some passionate twists. His mother had him memorize the Bible while his father inculcated a love for Byron in him. He proved a gifted artist and then studied geology at university. Then an attack by critics on a favored artist, Turner, lead him on an eighteen year quest to study art and explain why Turner is a great artist, writing volumes of popular art history and critiques while developing a love for Giotto and Dante on the way and becoming possibly the most widely read art critic the English-speaking world has ever produced. Then the economic debates rageing in his day between advocates of Smith's laissez-fair, Malthus, Ricardo, Mills, and Marx lead Ruskin to attack all of them and to point out why they all miss the point in some way. Ruskin's approach was organic given: time, place, and circumstances, but he does give models and examples for what good economics is. Ruskin was a great humanist, in general terms he had the heart and approach of a conservative but his results could be described as almost idealic liberalism -- echoing something of Plato's philosopher kings.

Ruskin's observations on the English language are also interesting; the hierarchy of words and the distancing of words from their right place and meaning due to English being a diverse language with Latin, Greek, French, and variety of Germanic dialects composing it.

In De Profundis, by Oscar Wilde, Wilde must have been profoundly influenced by Ruskin as Wilde expressed regret for not having taken up the moral causes of Ruskin and to have wasted his genius the way he did. Wilde seemed to say that the torch was passed to him and he dropped it. Read this book then De Profundis (which Wilde wrote, without the use of references as he was in prison), and I don't think there will be any doubt that Ruskin had a profound influence on Wilde as Wilde refers to Ruskin-esk themes throughout the book (letter). I think Waugh and Forester echo some Ruskin sentiments as well; Ruskin had a huge influence, well worth reading.

_Unto This Last_ is a series of four essays on political economy, which were originally designed to be published in Cornhill Magazine. The essays caused so much contemporary anger and scorn, however, that their publication was discontinued.

Ruskin began as an art critic, who wrote in favor of a naturalism based in the imagination rather than the eye. His works discussed the moral and political dimensions of art and architecture, and it was probably natural that this would lead him into his interest in socialism and the powerful writing found in _Unto This Last_. He was passionately arguing against the Utilitarianism of writers such as John Stuart Mill and others who saw immutable laws of economy which were rooted in anything except justice. His assertion was that the accumulation of money was in fact an accumulation of power rather than wealth, and necessarily resulted in an imbalance which adversely affected society. For instance, he said that a successful factory which polluted the environment could not be termed profitable because of the resulting damage to society itself.

This collection of Ruskin's works (edited and with commentary by Clive Wilmer) contains the whole of _Unto This Last_ and enough of a selection of his other works to give a sense of the chronological position of the essays in Ruskin's career.

The book features an early fairy tale by Ruskin which was written for his wife, an excerpt from _The Stones of Venice_ which discusses the nature of Gothic architecture, excerpts from _the Two Paths_ and _Modern Painters_, two lectures which were published as parts of _The Crown of Wild Olive_ and _Sesame and Lilies_, and finally ends with letters 7 and 10 from _Fors Clavigera_.

Ghandi credited _Unto This Last_ with providing part of the impetus behind his transformation. And it would not be ridiculous for me to say that the book forced a radical reexamination of many of my own assumptions and ideas. It's also a pleasure to read, with beautiful as well as thought-provoking prose. Worthwhile reading for more than students of Victoriana.

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 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.