Fiction Books

This book follows the dead of night. it is also full of action, but less romance. a lot more action. is this book the charecters go through more death and a lot of destruction. they suffer a new kind of pain.

This entry in the Tomorrow series starts a little shaky, but tightens up into another high octane adventure. Ellie and her friends continue to defy the odds and fight for their country, proving yet again that young adults are capable of anything they put their minds to. They test themselves as they take out their next target, a tactical stronghold, Cobbler's Bay.

This was a great story for teens that would inspire them to read it. The story is called "A Killing Frost" which is the third part of the Tomorrow series. It is the sequel to "Tomorrow When the War Began" and "The Dead of Night." The story is by John Marsden who is one of Australia's best known writers for young adults and has received a lot of criticism around the world. This book should teach teens how great it is to overcome huge amounts of odds.
Now how John Marsden includes foreshadowing, he makes you wait to the end for the main point so he keeps you reading till the end. Basically it starts out with a teenage girl named Ellie and her friends coming back from a camping trip. By now after 6 months an invading army has came attacking Australia. Ellie and her friends are shocked and disgusted. The bands of teenagers decide to make their own little guerilla style army to fight back against the invading armies. The young Guerilla fighter's main goal is to destroy the port at Cobler's bay, which is one of the main harbors supplying the invading army. Ellie and her violent friends continue to outsmart the enemy, which causes them to defeat the army little by little. Everything is going good for the young violent fighters as they continue to steal supplies but then it happens.
The story takes a bad turn when the teenagers are captured and are taken to a Maximum security prison. After being certain that they would be sentenced to death, many of the teens start to get down on themselves and hoped this would have never have happened. Then good prevails or I should say sort of because war is not a good thing so something bad happens to Ellie and the young Guerilla fighters. Now it's your job to read the book and see what happens to them.
This book was great to read in my opinion except for the Australian slang. Yes if your Australian you might understand this but if you are American then you wouldn't understand it. Even with the slang dictionary it is still tough to understand what it says because you could mess up with what the text means. Otherwise this was a good book for young adults to read.

"A Killing Frost" is easily the strongest literary piece of Marsden's Tomorrow series. This third piece of the puzzle is emotional and extravagant and the resolution readers seek in literature is finally found.

The series builds up to the content of this book. The story climaxes on different levels several times. The complex plot is easy to grasp and carries the reader along. One can be caught in Ellie's emotional struggles and relationships one moment and find himself fighting along physically the next. Marsden continues to use his words to describe fear and courage in a realistic and amazing manner.

The thing that makes "The Killing Frost" stand above the other books in the series is that it can easily be viewed as a part of the series, but also manages to stand as a whole by itself. There is a complete story told in one book. It benefits readers who are unfamiliar with the series by concentrating on details of the present as well as informing the reader of the charachters' past experiences. For those who are familiar with the series, such attention to past events will bring back the memories and emotions of the previous two books.

Tom Braden, in his book Eight Is Enough, suggests that the worst thing you can do if you have good books you want your children to read is to put these books on a shelf and then suggest to your children that they read them. Rather, what you're supposed to do is forbid the reading of the books or put them on the highest shelf and then say to your children that the books are very private and you hope they will not read them.

I'm not sure this is a comment on the waywardeness of children as much as it's a comment on the wisdom of children in wanting to preserve the element of discovery that's part of finding a really good book. In any case, I came across John Marsden's "invaded Australia" series by accident.

I'd picked up a copy of A Killing Frost, the cover caught me, and I found I was reading the third book in a series. This book is still the one in the series I would choose as best. I find this is often the case: that I like to discover I'm entering a series in the middle and that the book I enter a series with turns out to be what I would choose as best. This was certainly the case with C. J. Cherryh's Invader and Nevernever by Will Shetterly.

With his "invaded Australia" series, I think Mr. Marsden meant to quit after three books but then sacrificed excellence to a demand for more. Like Sherwood Smith with Crown Duel. What a wonderful book that could have been. It pays to know when to quit.

John Marsden's "invaded Australia" series is way to old and violent and explicit for you.

I forbid your reading of these book.

Absolutely not.

Don't read them...

The Kindly Ones encompasses the direct consequences of the earlier volume, Brief Lives. In Brief Lives, Lord Morpheus (Dream) changes, for better or for worse. The actions that lead to such change must have ramifications, and The Kindly Ones details such repercussions.

In The Kindly Ones, Lyta Hall, a character who has made sporadic appearances throughout The Sandman series, is convinced that Dream has stolen her baby, Daniel. She goes to the women known as the Kindly Ones for vengeance, and even she couldn't predict the outcome.

Making use of virtually every character in The Sandman mythos, The Kindly Ones is a truly epic tale that brings us to a point in Dream's existence that would seem, based upon Brief Lives, inevitable. At times The Kindly Ones gets a bit muddled and verbose, but in the end, it was all worth it.

I've had the privilege of reading The Sandman series in completion and for the first time in the last few months, and The Kindly Ones is testament to the genius of Neil Gaiman. I don't know if it was on purpose or a happy accident, but The Kindly Ones makes use of virtually every storyline preceding it and concludes such a mammoth story ... it's nearly unimaginable someone could dream up such a story.

My only suggestion: Skip the introduction and read it after you finish The Kindly Ones. It does reveal a fairly major plot point, which, upon retrospect seems obvious, but even so, I would have liked to have avoided the introduction's cataclysmic revelation.

~Scott William Foley, author of Souls Triumphant

Lyta Hall's son Daniel is taken from her. She shows that, when a superhero, she wasn't called Fury for nothing.

Finding her mythological namesakes, she decides to put an end to Morpheus, the Lord of Dream. Morpheus is not without his own plans and defenses, however, but a promise made to a former servant costs him dearly.

This is my favorite volume of "The Sandman," by far (I still haven't read the last one, so I can't say it's my all time favorite yet). The artwork is very different from previous volumes, featuring Mark Hempel's work, which is very abstract, especially compared to the more realistic styles of other volumes. Still, I think it was well suited for such an emotional part of the story, because the expressions and moods of each character were excellently portrayed.

I don't see why a fan of "The Sandman" would ever not want to own this volume. It features the return of several past characters, including Rose Walker, Lyta Hall and her son, and Lucifer, among others. By tying in virtually all the previous volumes, it can be considered the climax of "The Sandman" storyline.

It's beautiful, poetic, heart-wrenching, and colorful; a masterpiece I can't help but flip through every time I pick it up.

Neil Gaiman once attempted to summarize the Sandman series in one sentence:

"The king of dreams learns one must change or die and then makes his decision."

As Morpheus makes that decision in the course of The Kindly Ones, it forms the climax for the entire series. And, what a climax it is.

The Kindly Ones is the story of the various "enemies" that Dream has accrued during the Sandman series (including Lucifer, Loki, the Puck and the diminutive witch, Thessaly) as they, either through conspiracy or just happenstance, take action to destroy him. The largest threat comes from Lyta Hall who, believing Dream to have kidnapped her son, sets out on a mission to envoke the wrath of the Furies against him.

This is not an easy volume to read, necessarily, though it is maybe the best of the lot. Amazingly, Gaiman picks up characters and plots from almost all of the works that had come before (some just get brief cameos, but are still represented) and weaves them into one whole story that burns to a moving conclusion.

If you're a fan of Sandman already, I don't need to tell you to read this volume. If you've just stumbled on this review, however, and are wondering about it, let me tell you that the Sandman is one of the greatest comics, ever, and compares very well to other great literature in any medium.

Perhaps the best book in a five star series.

A friend bought me the first Sandman book a few weeks ago, and upon finishing it, I immediately went out and bought the entire rest of the series. They are all wonderful, but this one is my favorite. It ties together all of the other story arcs - both the larger arcs and the stand-alone short issues - into a cohesive climax that is gorgeously written and drawn.

One thing: DO NOT READ FRANK MCCONNELL'S INTRODUCTION UNTIL AFTER YOU'VE READ THE NOVEL. There is a MAJOR spoiler on the first page of the intro; I was so mad about it that I started yelling out loud at the book. In one of the earlier volumes - I forget which - the intro contained spoilers, so Gaiman moved it to the end of the book and wrote his own short intro. I don't know why they couldn't have done that here.

Don't start with this book; start at the beginning with Preludes & Nocturnes and work your way here. It is beautiful, mythical, heart-rending. And don't read that intro!

***************This review contains spoilers********************

Summary:

Les Miserables is a post-French Revolution novel by Victor Hugo that takes place in 1800s in the slums of France. It follows the life of Jean Valjean, an ex-convict who has sworn to live a life of honesty and goodness, and a group of student revolutionaries who are organizing an attack against the French army.

The story begins with the main character being released from prison. After being turned away from all the inns in the area because of his past as a convict, the local bishop took pity on Valjean. That night Valjean stole the bishop's silverware and was arrested. The bishop forgave him and also gave him his silver candlesticks. "Jean Valjean, my brother: you no longer belong to evil, but to good," the bishop said to him as he was leaving. "It is your soul that I am buying for you. I withdraw it from the dark thoughts and spirit of perdition, and I give it to God!"

A few years later, a young woman, Fantine, unable to take care of her daughter, left her with an innkeeper and his wife. After promising to send money, Fantine went to find work in the city of Montruil-sur-mer. Coincidentally; Valjean was mayor of the town, having started a new life for himself after selling the bishop's silverware. He also owned a factory where many of the poor worked. Fantine got a job there, but she was fired because her overseer found out that she had an illegitimate child. Still needing money, Fantine sold her hair and teeth, and became a prostitute. Valjean saved her from living on the street and placed her in a hospital because exposure to the elements had made her ill. He visited her often and they became good friends. During this time, she made Valjean promise to bring her her daughter, but his true identity as a fugitive who had broken parole had been discovered by a police inspector, Javert. He had told Valjean himself about his suspicions, but quickly apologized because he had allegedly found the real Valjean. Jean Valjean didn't want an innocent man to suffer through what he did, so he went to the courthouse and confessed to his crimes. This admission was at the cost of his own life, however, as Javert was waiting for him when he got back. When Javert told Fantine that Valjean had not gone for her daughter, Fantine lost the will to live and died.

Valjean was arrested again, but after a year, he faked his own death by jumping off the ship he was working on. He then went to retrieve Fantine's daughter, Cosette, from the innkeepers, the Thenardier's. They were reluctant to give her up, as they were greedy, and she acted as a servant they didn't have to pay, but after Valjean gave them a large sum of money, they relented. Valjean and Cosette went to live in a small apartment. Their happiness didn't last long, because Javert pursued him again. Cosette and Valjean took refuge in a convent, where a man who Valjean once saved worked as a gardener. After nine years of living there, Valjean deemed it safe to leave.

At the time, Marius, a student, had been kicked out of his grandfather's house for switching political parties. He was very poor, and lived in the slums. His neighbors were the Jondrette's, who were really the Thenardier's, living under a different name.

One day, Marius saw Cossette and Valjean while he was on a walk. He fell in love with Cossette and started pursuing her. She returned his love, but they didn't actually speak to one another until later. Also during this time, Marius was recruited by the Friends of the ABC, a group of revolutionaries; he went to one of the meetings and decided he didn't want to be involved. Meanwhile, the "Jondrettes" captured Valjean, whose identity they now knew. Valjean escaped, and Thenardier and his wife were arrested, and their two daughters were sent to an orphanage. Their third child, Gavroche, who they didn't care about, helped his father's gang break his father out of prison. Afterwards, they went to Valjean's house where they attempted to break in. This failed when Thenardier's daughter, Eponine who was in love with Marius, stopped them, not wanting Marius to lose his girlfriend. Valjean mistaking the noises in his garden for Javert, decided to leave. Marius decided to rejoin the friends of the ABC, and they started to prepare for the revolution. They set up a barricade in a wine shop, and got a lot of other impoverished people to join them. Javert tried to join them as well, but he was quickly exposed as a double agent by Gavroche. Valjean also joined them, not knowing whether he wanted to help or kill Marius, who he discovered when he mistakenly saw a letter that Cossette wrote him. During the battle, he was given the opportunity to kill Javert, who was a hostage, and instead set him free.

Eventually, everyone at the barricades died except for Valjean and a wounded Marius. They escaped through the sewers, but were found by Thenardier, who was searching the bodies of the dead at the barricade for valuables. Valjean was caught by Javert, who allowed Valjean to take Marius's body to his grandfather's house. Valjean came back to face his fate, but did not find Javert. After 25 years of dogged pursuit, Javert had to face the fact that he had spent his life hunting down a man who has done nothing but good in the world, and that everything he thought about life was a lie. He couldn't stand that reality, so he drowned himself in the Seine River.

When Valjean couldn't find Javert, he brought Cossette to Marius's grandfather's house, where they were married. Valjean decided to leave them, since he couldn't face the fact that he was lying to his daughter about being a convict. However, after a run-in with Thenardier, who had changed identities yet again, Marius discovered that Valjean was the man who saved his life. He and Cossette found Valjean on his deathbed, where he had left his life story and instructions on how he ran his factory (which was how he made his fortune). Then, surrounded by his family, he died at the age of 80.

Commentary:

5/5 stars.

I, personally, loved it.

This was a really captivating book that brings history to life and deserves its reputation as a classic work of literature. It blends the turmoil of the times with vivid characters. The conflicts are intriguing as Valjean tries to do what is right and atone for his past. This would be a good book for anyone who likes realistic and historical fiction.

I have enjoyed my varied attempts at reading this book. I enjoyed the various presentations on Stage (except Anthony Perkins replaying another bad guy doesn't work for me) My major problem lies in obtaining a large print copy (even in several volumes). Amazon has almost two pages of books, number, etc. Doesn't someone take mercy on us poor souls that don't qualify as visually impaired legally.

... but this was the most popular book, read by soldiers, North and South, during our Civil War. We should be better for hearing democracy in Beethoven, piety in Bach, compassion in Mozart -- and perhaps we do, one person at a time, but I fear we are always running out of time.

I read this book thirty years ago, over two winters, setting it down midway in March 1977 I believe. I had heard a near-complete reading on NPR, spread over at least a month of Saturday afternoons. I always made sure I was home for that; I was a single parent, then, father of a seven year old boy. To use a cheap term of the day, I could 'relate' to Jean Valjean, and I was thrilled by the music that opened each episode: the March to the Scaffold from Berlioz' "Symphony Fantastique." After the final episode, I went out and bought the Modern Library Giant, and began to read.

The radio production was not complete! While I found the details surrounding the Battle of Waterloo truly informative -- the description of the battlefield as a captial A was a vivid model of simplicity -- the long section on the history of the nuns' order where Valjean and his young ward take refuge, and where she is educated, invited a lot of skimming.

Skim where you will, but try to read the complete book. At some later time you can return to those pages you skimmed, and discover what you missed.

Les Miserable, The Brothers Karamazov, War and Peace, Moby-Dick, Joseph and His Brothers, Remembrance Of Things Past (okay, In Search Of Lost Time), Ulysses -- all of these demand much of us, particularly our time. That is a good thing, considering the many ways modern life invites us to waste time, and I could not begin to choose the best among these. Fortunately I don't have to; I might run to "As I Lay Dying" or "Lord Jim" instead.

Meanwhile, I'm glad I devoted a chunk of my life to this book. I do know I emerged a better man for that, and how sad I was when I read the final page, and closed the book.

This is an excellent translation of the classic Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. The section on the Battle of Waterloo makes the reader feel as if he were actually present. This is only one of the memorable parts of this wonderful book. My advise-don't waste your time on an abridged version of this book!

As close to flawless as you could come, no other author can match the storytelling and characterisation. Describes a turbulent period in France, with incredible political and social commentary. Hugo's monumental work explores many themes i.e. why the Restoration was a backward step, the difference between a revolution and a riot; he describes many life's experiences and emotions: the myriad ways people can fall between the cracks into destitution (Fantine, Montepercy); one of the greatest descriptions of falling in love (Marius and Cosette) and how it feels to be in love, the greatest description of a battle (Waterloo), the desperation of a convict (reminds of Henry Charrier -Papillon), the making of men (Marius), unbounding heroism and selflessness(Eponine, Jean Valjean); explores patience, loss, asceticism, rebellion, fulfillment, nationalism, the administation of justice and the overriding theme is CONSCIENCE. I read this and then discovered that Hugo's own daughter lived in Barbados for a number of years living 'on the edge' of destitution. Small world.

The story is really epic and introduces you to a new world. However I felt that some of the characters were more symbols than characters.

With the exception of Bulgakov I don't care much for Soviet literature. I could never finish Dr. Zhivago or Quiet Flows the Don. This book I did enjoy. Particularly the parts that dealt with the jewish physicist (I forgot his name) and his family. The letter he receives from his mother before she's deported is probably the most memorable part of the novel. Some people compare it to War and Peace. I wouldn't go that far but it is good enough that you might want to read it again as I plan to some day.

One of the most relevant, startling and magnificent novels never read. Awe-inspiring from start to finish: for the characters themselves, their historical counterparts, the author's world and the world at large. Evokes the Greek idea of "necessity;" no understanding, truth without any value, no solid principles, no foundation. You don't read the story: you tumble through it, terrified, grasping blindly for something to stabilize the free fall.

Read it. Completely compelling. If you think the Russians are a mystical and unknowable depth, this book will not disabuse you. Best war novel I ever read.

This masterpiece published by New York Review of Books Classics enters my Top 5 among novels by James Joyce (Ulysses), Proust (La Recherche du Temps Perdu), Tolstoy (War and Peace) and Gaddis (JR): it is pure genius in its epic scope. Inspired by Tolstoy's War and Peace and the siege of Russia by Napoleon, Grossman depicts the siege of Stalingrad by Hitler. Grossman narrates the epic from the perspectives of diverse players into whose lives the reader becomes immersed. The cast is vast and the Russian names are daunting to track but Grossman enables us to understand what it was like to experience the fate of Russians in World War II. The catastrophe was overwhelming as millions of people's lives were adversely impacted by the power of two great warring states on the front lines of Stalingrad. Yet somehow the resourcefulness, courage, strength, faith and every virtue of her people, tested under the worst human conditions, Russia was able to withstand the siege of Hitler only to suffer subsequently the immense cruelty of Stalin. The writing in this novel is nothing short of magnificent: it is great literature and profound philosophy by a novelist who knew his subject thoroughly. It's no wonder that Stalin wanted not only the manuscript but its carbon copies because the truth evident in this novel was certainly starkly and baldly critical of the State. At the end of the novel an old woman, Alexandra Vladmirovna, who to me symbolized Mother Russia, returns to the ruins of her home in Stalingrad and admires the spring sky wondering: "why the future of those she loved was so obscure and the past so full of mistakes, not realizing that this very obscurity and unhappiness concealed a strange hope and clarity, not realizing that in the depths of her soul she already knew the meaning of both her life and the lives of her nearest and dearest, not realizing that even though neither she herself nor any of them could tell what was in store, even though they all knew too well that at times like these no man can forge his own happiness and that fate alone has the power to pardon and chastise, to raise up to glory and to plunge into need, to reduce a man to labour camp dust, nevertheless neither fate, nor history, nor the anger of the State, nor the glory or infamy of battle has any power to affect those who call themselves human beings. No, whatever life holds in store -- hard won glory, poverty and despair, or death in a labour camp --they live as human beings and die as human beings, the same as those who have already perished: and in this alone lies man's eternal and bitter victory over all the grandiose and inhuman forces that ever have been or ever will be..." The translation by Robert Chandler was as masterful as the original writing itself: Chandler was articulate, true to the text and humble in bringing to light without affectation or coyness or ego the profundity of this master work. I wish there had been maps of the front lines, which I found on the Internet to help me gain my bearings with unfamiliar geography at http://users.pandora.be/stalingrad/maps/stanlingrad map 7.htm. Having read War and Peace, Grossman gives the master, Tolstoy, a real run for his money in this epic: don't let this masterpiece pass you by! It's a novel fated to change your life.

Have you ever wanted to read a good romance with a little tragdey mixed in that will knock your socks off? Well, "Reach for Tomorrow " will by Lurlene McDaniel does just that. The main character in this book is Katie O'Roark. Katie is a college student with an athletic scholarship. She has recentally had a heart transplant.Which has changed her life dramatically.During her summers she attends the Jenny House.The Jenny House is a camp for kids with medical problems to go relax and meet people with the same problems. One summer Katie recieved a letter from The Jenny House. She was thrilled to know she was choosen to be a counselor. Along with some of her friend from the former years she has attened The Jenny House. Last year The Jenny House was burned dwom due to a fire. Katie was excited to know it was being rebuilt. Katie's ex-boyfreind, Josh Martel also is going to be a counselor. Being around Josh brings back so many memories and emothions that Katie just can't handle.

This book revels flashback and realistic detail. Some of the flashbacks that are mentioned are of when Katie was in the hospital and when her and Josh was still together.The realistic detail is amazing. For example, when Eric and Meg go for a canoe ride together the author gives details on everyhting surrounding then and what they do exactly. Also, the author uses a lot of humor in the book. Such as whe nthey have a tug-a-war challenge and the girls lose.They get pulled into a mudd puddle and Lacey says, " I've always wandered what i'd look like as a brunette.

This book is a really good book to read. When I started reading this book I didn't want to put it down. It shows realationships and friendships. If I had'nt read this book and someone had just told me about it I would read it in a heartbeat. That says a lot because i'm not one to read that much. So therefore, this book is a great book for romance and tradgey.

I really loved thsi book. Especially how all the characters from the other stories get together. The scenes with Josh and Katie were heart-breaking and wonderful at the same time. And if you want to know what ahppens between Katie and Josh once the summer's over, you gotta read this book!

Ok.....i have read all of the One Last Wish books and this one by far is the greatest!! Katie and Josh's ending was fantastic...i think Lurlene McDaniel should write more of the OLW books about Katie and Josh's future together...and Lacey and Jeff and Meg and Morgan. The book does leave you at a loss with what happend to Meg and Morgan, Jeff and Lacey, Eric, and Chelsea..it would be great to find out what happens to eveyone. I loved all of the other OLW books too! I couldn't put any of these books down they were great. And Lurlene McDaniel should defiantly write more books about OLW and Jenny House!!!

I really like romance novels. The way Lurlene McDaniel explains the character's emotions is unbeliveable! My favorite book by Lurene McDaniel is "Reach for Tomorrow," the second in this McDaniel series. It is about a girl named Katie and she goes to a camp where sick kids go to have fun. Katie meets up with a bunch of friends including her ex-boyfriend,Josh. When they saw eachother, they freaked out. Then she found out that he has been in an accadent and they didn't know if he was going to live. She and all the campers are all worried. She goes down to the chapel and prays for him. A couple of weeks later they got married in the chapel. Katie's favorite camper,Sara, was supposed to be in the wedding but....If you want to know what happens, read "Reach for Tomarrow." I really like the book "Telling Christina Goodbye," also by Lurlene McDaniel.

in my opinion, Reach For Tomorrow is Lurlene McDaniel's best book.It was great how she put in Eric, Megan, Sarah, and Morgan from the other one last wish books. The only OWL character missing was Dani from Mourning Song. I hope Lurlene writes a sequel that describes what happens to Josh and katie now that they're married, if meg and morgan stay together, and what happens to the other characters. YOU GOTTA READ ABOUT THIS FABULOUS JENNY HOUSE REUNION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I grew up on my big sister's copy of this; I don't think she has it anymore, so I'm buying a copy NOW and passing her the link.

Some of the best short SF ever! I SAID "NOW"!!

This book is an amazing read and a must for all sci-fi fans and a possible entry into the genre for the uninitiated. The stories were selected by the science fiction writers of America and represent the stories they feel have shaped science fiction from the 1920s-1960s. Some of these are classics that the average person may have come across in high school english class, like 'Flowers for Algernon', while others are relatively unknown to today's average sci-fi reader.
If you are a sci-fi fan and haven't read the stories contained in this book, then you owe it to yourself to either buy this book or borrow it from your library, because these stories have laid the foundation for all the sci-fi that has followed. If you want to get your teenager into reading, buy them this book...the stories are short, but they are extremely enjoyable which makes it great for teenagers.

This book, Volume 1, is well worth getting. The stories are the best and many are classics.

This is without a doubt the worst collection of science fiction stories - and the most wretchedly written - that I have ever encountered.

Who the hell are these people who have collectively given this book a five star rating? I suppose they must be members of the editor's extended family.

I was new to some of these stories. And I was sorry I had not read them years before.Since they date back to the 1950s in many cases, you would think they would seem dated. And some are...but there are so many gems that are worth reading, and reading again. They have aged well. What is a good yarn, written well, will never go out of style.

I laughed my head off while reading this book! I was actually sad when it was over! The characters are unique, hilarious, and impossible not to fall in love with. This is a dark comedy full of witty one-liners, zany situations, and a lot of sexual content. This book is not for the faint of heart.

You will laugh out loud, this book is truly hysterical. I am a new Tim Sandlin fan - Sorrow Floats and Social Blunders are just as good. Highly recommended!!

On the positive side this book was sometimes amusing. The story idea of two thirteen-year-old's experimentation with sex and resulting in a pregnant seventh grader was promising though poorly executed. None of the main characters are believable, not the narrator, Sam, not his girlfriend Maurey, and not his mother Lydia. The motivations and thought patterns of the adolescents especially lacked any power to convey belief. This novel should probably have stayed in the form of Mr. Sandlin's puerile fantasies, from which it sprung.

With "Skipped Parts", Tim Sandlin has assembled all the elements needed for a great book. Memorable characters, a good setting, tight pacing, a great plotline and wonderful dialogue.

The main character, Sam, is a thirteen-year-old boy. He puts me in mind of myself at that age, actually. Very prone to dreams and fantasies. He meets a girl, Maurey, also thirteen. Before long, these highly intelligent children are losing their virginities to each other. Not long after that, they discover that, oops, a girl can get pregnant before her first period.

This is the start of a series. I haven't read the other parts yet, but I really liked this one. I also enjoyed Skipped Parts, the movie based on this book, though bizzarrely they changed the kids to fourteen instead of thirteen.

This is a very good, sweet book recommended for pretty much anyone over the age of about eight or nine. Highly enjoyable!

In Sam Callahan, Sandlin creates one of the great characters of recent American literature. Equal parts Walter Mitty and Holden Caulfield, Sam is a hilarious narrator with a truly unique voice. If the book were nothing more than a series of comic misadventures of Sam and his irreverent Southern Belle mother, Lydia as they are transplanted from the good ol' south to rural Wyoming, it would be a great read.

However, Skipped Parts is far more than that. Beyond Sam and Lydia, Sandlin populates GroVont with no end of fascinating characters--almost all multidimensional and colorful--the kind of folks you only find in quirky places like Sicily, Alaska. In this book, its easy to imagine that folks like Dot,Hank Elkrunner and the old guys who populate the local diner have interesting lives and stories outside of the light they shed on the main characters and that they didn't just show up in the scenes to move the plot along. This gives the story an incredible richness.

Beyond that, the book has a heart as big as the Tetons and frequently wears it on its sleeve. Rarely is a book so laugh out loud funny also so poignant and touching. There are moments that are truly noble, truly sad and truly beautiful and its a credit to Sandlin that none of them seem contrived. If you can get past the stuff about precocious 13 teen year olds experimenting with sex, you find a great novel about growing up, dealing with family, redemption and the endless disappointments and possibilities of life. A wonderful, wonderful book.

I really enjoyed this book, the story is the classical tragic love story, but set up in Japan, and written through a Japanese point of view. So the surroundings or the landscapes became part of the story, the description of the moods of the characters are beautifully portrayed in the nature that surrounds them.... I thought it was lovely.

A lot of people wrote on these reviews that the translated version misses out a lot of things, but this always happens when translating, and as I can't read Japanese, I was happy with being able to read it in English!

Japan. 1912. Japanese society is divided, or at least complex. Still with most of it's body and soul in the ancient tradition of the East, but with ever increasing impulses towards the "Western culture" (In the unsemitically correct reality, we of the "West" have infinitely more in common with the traditional culture of the East than we do the current world-wide Weimar Republic, but oh well). Mishima, the author, was more or less a Japanese representative of the "conservative revolution", and appears to have been quite well read. His life reminds me in many ways of Corneliu Codreanu and Julius Evola. His well-known dramatic ritual suicide as a protest against the betrayal of tradition in Japan, and the Japanese submission to American rule, followed him and his radical "right wing" organization's (The Shield Society) failure to arouse the Japanese Defence Force into rebelling.

The book is the first in a tetralogy, and follows Kiyoaki Matsugae, a young student from a family of the lower nobility in his relationship with Satoko Ayakura, the daughter of one of the 28 families of the higher nobility, her being the daughter of a count. The book in many ways actually reminded me of the excellent "Victoria" by Knut Hamsun, with the constant back and forth in the interaction between the characters, sometimes they love each other dearly, and at other times torment each other. Such is the nature of difficult relationships, I guess! The book paints a very vivid picture of the end of a noble era, and the translation I read was excellently done. The moral teaching of this period, and it's sometimes less noble effects is excellently portrayed.

Through certain misunderstandings, Satoko ends up being future wife of one of the royal princes, and Kiyoaki is driven to despair. Long story short, as all the books in the series, there is no happy ending, but that is basically the ending of all our lives. This is a book I highly recommend, and apart from a few minor flaws, it is all in all an excellent tale, and I look very much forward to reading the rest of the series. 4,5 stars.

(I read a different edition)

Maybe it was a bad transalation. Maybe I could not relate as a westerner to an old Japanese story, but I really did not enjoy this book. It was maudlin and unbelievable. Story was boring. Character development was terrible and it was poorly written/transalated. I recommend Murakami's Norwegian Wood for those who want to read books by Japanese authors.

Yukio Mishima (The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea) is the fascinating subject of two recent DVD releases Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters - Criterion Collection and Patriotism - Criterion Collection. His 1966 novel, Spring Snow (Haru no Yuki), is the first in his "Sea of Fertility tetralogy," which also includes Runaway Horses (1969), The Temple of Dawn (1970), and The Decay of the Angel (1971). (Mishima committed ritual suicide on the day he completed the final book in his tetralogy, November 25, 1970.) Considered to be his masteriece, Mishima's tetralogy follows the successive reincarnations of Kiyoaki Matsugae (1895-1914). Set in the early years of the Taishô period (1912 to 1926), Spring Snow tells the story of a two-year relationship involving forbidden love between Kiyoaki, the 18-year-old son of an aristocratic family, and Satoko Ayakura, the 20-year-old daughter of an aristocratic family. Kiyoaki's friend, Shigekuni Honda, a law student, observes the events set forth in the novel. After Kiyoaki and Satoko meet under a bad omen: a dead black dog at the top of a high waterfall, Satoko asks Kiyoaki, "Kiyo, what would you do if all of a sudden I weren't here any more?"--a question which vexes Kiyoaki throughout much of the novel. Satoko is under instruction that she should not lose her virginity before being touched by any bridegroom chosen for her. After experiencing their first kiss together on a rickshaw ride in the snow, Satoko and Kiyoaki exchange love letters and eventually make love, before Satoko accepts the marriage proposal of another man, Prince Harunori. Meanwhile, Kiyoaki has a series of prophetic dreams before he dies at the age of 20. The novel was adapted into a 2005 film of the same name starring Satoshi Tsumabuki as Kiyoaki, Yûko Takeuchi as Satoko, and Sosuke Takaoka as Shigekuni Honda. Spring Snow attests to the rare genius of Yukio Mishima.

G. Merritt

Mishima's Spring Snow is a coming-of-age tale for nouveau riche Kiyoaki, whose naive childhood crush on the more mature Satoko grows into something much more powerful, beautiful and, ultimately, destructive. Kiyoaki's failings are human and familiar; acting on rash impulses, immaturity, a failure to realise what he wants till he has lost it. Mishima's characterisation is finely drawn and accurate. The scheming Tadeshina turns out to have her own secret heartbreak, enervated Ayakura lacks guile but not luck, the ancient loyalties of the Abessess make her a formidable eminence grice. The characters are at once individually drawn and representative of a unique and fascinating era of flux and change in Japan, as ancient modes of behaviour gave way to modernising forces. Mishima's novel is both of its time and timeless. A true masterpiece.

This is a wonderfully written book. The characters are endearing and the stories of their lives quite compelling. Both funny and sad, it is richly filled with details.

My favorite quote is the one about Iowa. I've told it to many people (giving proper credit of course!) and laughs all around.

This is a book that starts out as a good summer read and then becomes something more. The characters are likable from the first, like people you've met and enjoyed at social occasions. As their stories move forward, the characters become both more familiar and more exceptional, like when you suddenly realize an acquaintance has become a friend. Their imperfections are not necessarily endearing, but you find yourself sharing their pain, or maybe just remembering the echoes of pain you've already shared with real friends. And yet it's an encouraging and rewarding book in the end. The author weaves the plot together artfully. I especially enjoyed the pivotal point when one heretofore quiet character seizes the wheel and begins to turn things right-side up again.

Reading is one of my greatest pleasures and a friend who knows this gave me "The Summer Guest". I was not familiar with the author and didn't know anything about the book before I began. I have since recommended this book to all of my friends. It is truly one of the best books I've read and I am a voracious reader. The language is absolutely beautiful and the characterizations are wonderful. It is a book to savor and, although I rarely reread books, I will definitely read this one again.

John Citron's review from March 24, 2006 says it all. If you are in doubt about whether to purchase "The Summer Guest", do it anyway. You will not be disappointed.

Really ... absolutely wonderful. Captivating. I couldn't stop reading and I was very sorry when it was over. I look forward to reading more from Mr. Cronin.

Justin Cronin writes beutifully! He weaves characters, their stories, big life questions, and time into something
larger than the norm, leaving this reader pondering my own life, family and sense of place. Cronin's Mary and O'Neill was rich, too. Bits of metaphor and vividness in both.

I read the "Tales of the City", "More Tales of the City", and "Further Tales of the City" when they were originally published. After receiving this omnibus as a gift it sat on my shelf for several years as I had no interest because I had already read them. I recently read an article on Armistead Maupin where it stated that there is a new novel on the market that brings us up to date on Michael (probably one of my favorite characters) and how he is doing these days. At that point I thought, I am going to revisit the original three novels. What a treat! They were even better this time around. Maupin has developed such rich characters in this series, re-reading them was like one terrific long visit with some old friends. Everything about the characters, the situations (for the most part) are so true to life. Michael, Mary Ann, Mrs. Madrigal, Brian, Jon, Mona, D'Or and the list goes on and on are probably some of the best characters ever written. I have never watched the movie versions of these stories, but why would you want to when the words of the book jump off the page and it is so marvelously well written. If you haven't read the books before, don't miss out ~ if you have read them in the past, take some time to revisit some wonderful friends... I am sure you'll be as glad to see them as I was.

I'm re-reading this in anticipation of the newest additon to the series. I loved it when it was new, and I love it now. Now that I'm older, I appreciate it more.

Tales of the City fans will LOVE this Omnibus ... and the collected memories that chroncile the lives of the bubbly Barbery Lane residents. A very much "made in San Francisco" collage of characters, plot line, situations, and comedic twists of a freer time.

Armistead Maupin wasn't the only gay writer active in the 70's, but his "Tales of the City" books were among the most popular reads. Beginning as a newspaper column, Maupin had the idea to allow reads to direct the story to a certain extent. They would write in to tell him how the story should go, and he would decide which idea he liked best. So I've heard, at least.

These books are filled with rich characters. Mr. Maupin was excellent at drawing readers into his stories by making sure that the people one found in them were people one would want to know. They seemed not only real in that they were multi-faceted personalities of their own, but real in that they were surrounded by the events and culture of the 70's, which were beautifully captured.

Someone reading the books now, when stumbling across a reference to LeCar or Jim Jones, will be transported back in time. Readers not old enough to remember the 70s will get a good glimpse of what gay culture was like then... or a part of it, at least.

Maupin's characters experience situations that just about everyone can relate to. There are also situations that are extraordinary, but it's the day to day that make Mouse, Anna Madrigal and the rest seem like the folks who live next door. The "28 Barbary Lane" volume includes the first three books in the series. It's a wonderfully rich read. Not complicated or highbrow, perhaps, but not all stories should be. This is one of those "curl up next to the fire" books and I can't imagine my collection being without it.

Having the first three books in the "Tales of the City" series all in one place is a huge convenience as I am continually reading them. There is an absurd joy I get whenever I read these stories. Please understand, I realize these characters are fictional, but I so want to be friends with them and take part in their bizarre adventures. Maupin has a very minimalist writing style. The chapters are rarely more than three pages long, and in some cases almost entirely dialogue; yet somehow Maupin is able to create a world so real I feel I know these character intimately.

What makes this collection so wonderful is that it does not contain the final three books in the series. It helps to maintain my delusion that the last three book simply don't exist and the action stops at the end of book three. I highly recommend this collection.