M. R. James Books

As a newly diagnosed person, this is one of the first books that I read. The explanation of CFIDS and general treatments available is well written. Author sites his specific symptoms and how it has affected his life, which at times is painful to read. My favorite chapters included the one on dealing with family and friends and the interview with the doctor from Massachusetts. This interview lends credibility to the disease and was concise. Happy reading!

Dover's collections of ghost, horror, and mystery stories are among the best deals in the paperback book world. I read this volume around Halloween, and it made what little hair I have left curl and vanish. The quality of the individual stories varies greatly, with the best being "Wandering Willie's Tale" by Sir Walter Scott, "Doctor Heidegger's Experiment" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the much-anthologized "The Horla" by Guy de Maupassant. Also included is the classic "The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs and "Dracula's Guest" by Bram Stoker. In all, there are eighteen different stories by sixteen authors.

My copy of the book was purchased some many years ago and still looks great for a paperback, so you don't have to feel any compunctions buying a used copy in good condition.

This book will give you many hours of scary enjoyment. What more can I say?

James McCormick and the late Eugene Wittkopf assembled an extremely information set of perspectives on the framework and practices of U.S. foreign policy during the past two administrations. The best of the material are causal analyses of classic foreign policy decisions ranging from our entry into Vietnam to advocacy of the post-USSR expansion of NATO. Many of the articles added in more recent editions to discuss 21st century events and trends are nearly as impressive. Two contributions added to the 5th edition--notably Colin Powell's article on diplomatic statecraft and Stanley A. Renshon's panegyric to the foreign policy leadership of George W. Bush--are poor choices clearly intended to provide "balance" to coverage of an administration that had a dubious record in foreign affairs. Sadly, the Powell and Renshon articles replaced much more scholarly contributions in the 4th edition authored by Fred Greenstein and Thomas Preston and Margaret Hermann. Nevertheless, on balance, this work is lauded by students in my graduate-level courses on U.S. foreign policy for its insights and diversity, and is also very useful to my undergraduate students.

A CD-Rom jammed with articles from EXECUTIVE EXCELLENCE. I actually got my copy as a bonus for subscribing a couple of years ago. Many of the articles are interesting, but they are all quite short, almost MTV-ish. This seems to be the preferred style for this publication. If you are a fan of Warren Bennis, or one of the writers who regularly contribute to that publication, this is a good way to pick up some new material from your favored writer. The articles are on a variety of topics, which means that there will probably be something for everyone with an interest in this subject, but by the same token, there will be a lot that won't interest you. The CD includes a search engine that is workable. I benefitted from the magazine and the CD, but they didn't set my world on fire.

I can't comment on the illustrations in the original edition because I have only the Ash Tree Press edition. According to the introduction, the main character is obviously meant to be M.R. James himself. I believe it. The same introduction suggests that "After Dark on the Playing Fields" from THE COLLECTED GHOST STORIES OF M.R. JAMES is related to this story. (I reread that story after reading this book and agree that it's possible.) This book is not the same as those famous ghost stories because it was meant for children. That doesn't mean that it doesn't have its chilling moments. Our hero has some close calls I certainly would prefer to avoid. The five jars of the title contain magic ointments which endow our narrator with special abilities that should be familiar to fairy tale fans. Evil creatures try to prevent him from using all of the different bottles and so making them his own. Unfortunately, you can't use more than one a night. As he uses the ointments, the middle-aged hero is more and more able to interact with animals and the invisible world. (Cat lovers will be amused to learn what cats are REALLY saying.) Even though his abilities are limited at first, they're enough to help our hero recognize that he's under attack. The discerning reader may have a shudder or two at the implications of the way so many of the evil spirits (or whatever they were) were able to assume a normal and friendly appearance. The bat ball attack was pretty good (even though, unlike Mr. James, I'm fond of bats). This story manages to combine charm with a touch of scariness. The introduction suggested that the reason it hasn't stayed in print the way his ghost stories have is because this story would have been considered TOO scary by parental standards when it was written. Well, times have changed. Today's children have routine access to much scarier stuff. If you love M.R. James' work, you'll want this book. Considering what THE FIVE JARS costs when you can find a used copy online, readers who aren't James fanatics would do well to badger for a nice modern paperback edition. (I hope there will be one. My nice reason is so others may enjoy this story. My selfish reason is that I want it to have the original illustrations so I can see more than a scanned copy of "The Bat Ball". I can't afford the Arnold edition.)

I think a good ghost story is very hard to write. M.R. James makes it look easy. There are others that lay claim to the title of the Father of ghost stories, J. Sheridan LeFanu and L.P. Hartley to name but two. It is James, however, that will forever hold that title.

His are generally stories that evoke life in the 20 years either side of 1900 romantically. They tend to be stories around Cathedrals or in Scholars houses or in and around Schools where the schoolboy is sometimes included.

The reason why these stories are so good is that James judges and recreates exactly the correct amount of romance in each story that parallels the romantic notion of the ghost in every person's mind.

If I had a complaint, it would be that M.R. James' obvious intelligence (He was a professor at Cambridge University for many years) is a little too much for some. It could just be that the language of the times are different and today some words are no longer in everyday use or the style of speech has changed.

These are very minor concerns, however. The upshot is that M.R. James is and always will be the Master and this complete collection of his works is the perfect collection of ghost stories, never to be improved upon.

This Commentary is very helpful, but oftentimes lacks on discussions of details. Many times you will leave Stulac's explanation of a passage wanting some detail on his decision. Obviously, Stulac's intention in such a short, expository commentary was not to beat every detail, but Moo (in the later IVP New Testament Commentary Series) in his commentary on James has managed to do it. If you already have Stulac, you have a good commentary, but you may need to invest in another more detailed one (Kistemaker or Lenski) to understand a lot of the issues that he glosses over or doesn't touch.

However, if you are contemplating making a purchase of an accessible, easy-to-read expository commentary on James, I would recommend Moo, with MacArthur and Kistemaker coming in a close 3rd and 2nd.

This book is a gem! The 31 pages of cast interviews and interesting behing-the-scences tidbits make it a fantastic addition to any MASH fans libray. The pictures are all black and white, but that is a small price to pay for the great interviews. This book is a teriffic value.

This is a great book with wonderful insights, wish I'd read during my undergrad years.

I have read this for the past couple of years to third graders for Halloween. My favorite and their's is "Man-size in Marble" by Edith Nesbit which is about a legend of two statues of evil knights that rise up from the dead and return to their home every Halloween. The remaining stories might be better for an older audience. It also includes "On the Brighton Road" by Richard Middleton, "Selecting a Ghost" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "A cReature of Habit" by Ambrose Bierce, Rose Rose" by Barry Pain, "The Upper Berth" F. by Marion Crawford, "Lost Hearts" by M. R. James, and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving.