Oliver Books

Fete of Death "Stone Cold" is a fast-paced conspiracy thriller starring the shadowy CIA hit man Oliver Stone, not to be confused with the eponymous conspiracy-minded movie director of "JFK." Men involved in Stone's unsavory and violent past are being picked off by a ruthless assassin.

Stone, with good reason, begins to fear for his own life. It is obvious to him that someone out there, most likely a member of Washington's powerful elite who has a dark secret to hide, wants Stone and his former operatives dead. The only certain way to protect this secret is by eliminating Stone and his cronies who are in the loop.

The story moves at a brisk pace and hurtles forward courtesy of plot twists and a plethora of action. I myself haven't read Baldacci's Oliver Stone prequel "The Camel Club," but I found reading it isn't necessary to enjoying or understanding "Stone Cold." I did read "Hour Game," an earlier thriller sans Oliver Stone by Baldacci, and, for my money, "Stone Cold" is an improvement, both in its pacing and story line.

In all their glory the Camels are at it again. With a new assassin, a long con by Annebelle continued and some corrupt politicians we ride the enjoyable ride again. Baldacci has it all his character development is superb. His settings give you the feel you are there and his plot and sub plots all reign pefect. I like most would say be sure to read the Novel you would not make a mistake.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a quick and easy read. However, I will say you will get more of out of it if you read the two previous books. It can stand alone but you will want to know the backstory of why people are doing what they do and making the decisions that they make. I loved the Camel Club members for all their quirks and talents. I really did enjoy the interplay between Oliver and Carter Gray. Mr. Baldacci writes depth to his characters so that you feel you know them and what they are going to do but you don't. I was totally shocked by the ending and what happens. Not the last two pages ending but the last 25 pages ending. How it all goes down. It has a lot of twists and turns that are unexpected but seem to make perfect sense. I hope this isn't the last of the Camel Club but I suspect it is. I would highly recommend any of David Baldacci's books but would strongly suggest you read these three books. They will definitely keep your interest.

What a fun, fast-paced story! Oliver Stone and the Camel Club are back in their third adventure, which is essentially a continuation of The Collectors. In this installment Oliver's true identity is used to lure out an assassin who is killing former CIA assassins. As I said, the story moves fast, but maybe a might too fast. Many of the chapters are only two or three pages long. You just get into a scene and it's over. However, Baldacci delivers a great story you won't regret reading.

Well, there are so many well-written reviews of this book that all I have to say is, hooray for Annabel Conroy! Let's see more of this smart and sassy Irish lady in Baldacci's upcoming novels. I'm sad for one of the members (no spoilers here), and I just know Oliver/John will rise to the occasion some other day. Baldacci kind of bored some of us with the initial Camel Club book, but The Collectors definitely brought us some anticipatory goodies. This sequel will have you hanging onto the edge of your seat like some white knuckle ride at an amusement park. Hang onto your hats kids, because David Baldacci is going to pull rabbits out of them the next time around if you don't. And that's a very good thing!

E.M. Forster does a remarkable job of illustrating the constricting social values of Edwardian England with humor and acute insight. Our heroine must decide: go along and get along or shirk her "dutites" and chose a life of remarkable rebellion (for the time).
You'll want your own trip to Italy when you're through reading! One of my absolute favorites.

Edward Morgan Foster (1879-1970) lived a long life as a Cambridge don and world traveler. However, most of this author's fiction was completed in the first 20 years of the 20th century. "A Room With a View" is a gently satirical view of the English abroad and at home in the late Edwardian Age. Perhaps we can view England as the cozy room of normality and routine while the sunny Italian landscape provides us a view of a wider world outside our usual gaze.
The short novel is divided into two parts. In part one we are introduced to a group of English travelers in Italy. We meet Charlotte
an old maid aunt who is chaperoning the upper middle class young lady the fetching Lucy Honeychurch. (Charlotte reminds one of the governess types described with right on accuracy by Charlotte Bronte). The women want a good view of Florence so reluctantly switch rooms with Mr. Emerson (a dreamy transcendentalist like older man who reminds us of the philisophical musings of Concord sage Ralph Waldo Emerson) and his stra handsome son George. (George is to become a knight saving Lucy from the clutches of the effete snob aesthete Cyril Vise). On a sightseeing picnic Lucy and George kiss and then depart. Lucy goes to Rome meeting her future fiance the artistic and bookish Cyril.
Part II is set in England. After several complications the course of true love is finally set on its right course. Lucy jilts Cyril and finds true bliss with George. The novel is cyclicalbeginning in spring and ending with Lucy Honeychurch's honeymoon with George. This occurs in the same Florentine hotel in which they met. A year has passed and it is spring again for these young lovers.
Forster provides a gallery of colorful characters: Mr Beebe the clergyman who hopes Lucy dumps Cyril for George; Eleanor Lavish a comically drawn mystery writer; Lucy's brother Fred and a Cockney hotel owner in Florence.
Forster wishes to open the stuffy door of Victorian fiction with a new frankness on sexuality and freedom of expression. His scene in which the major male characters bathe in a pond is an example of this theme. Forster favors physical and intimate love to the aesthetic passionless p love which Vise has for Lucy. George is athletic and earthy while Vise is a nerdy bookworm. Forster's book is good in the use of witty dialogue. His understanding of the British class system leads him to satirical comments on its rigidity.
A quibble. The characters don't have much depth seeming to be actors in a stage presentation. Forster is worth reading for his advocacy of true love and emotion in a society of elaborate and often hypocritcal rules. He is a good author worthy of your time.

"A Room with a View" is a novel that is thoroughly enjoyable from the first page to the last. It's a heart-warming love story, and this aspect of it completely charmed me. It's also very funny in some places. It's not overlong, either, so it doesn't drag, and it's a very easy read. I simply fell in love with "A Room with a View", and it has to be one of my favorite books I've ever read. I'd recommend it to anybody.

We are spoiled by modern fiction. As great as the writing is, it is more straightforward and literal. Do you ever find yourself starting a classic and not finishing it??? You weren't getting into it immediately and lost interest. It can be the same with old movies. We watch through different eyes than the time when it was written or produced. My book club did this book this month. We all struggled. I chose this one because I wanted us to try a classic, but I wanted it to be short and pleasant. The "flow" started later, and it was more laboured to get there.It is so worth it to keep with it. It is not that we are not capable of understanding the language. We are so used to graphic, and explicit, and straightforward language. We need to train our brains, and it can take up to half the book to get to the point where you are really drawn in, forgetting to concentrate and just enjoying the ride.This is truly a lovely story. I love Florence. It is a timeless city that infects you body and soul. So will this book if you let it.

This is the first E.M. Forester book I've read and it affected me greatly. When I write 'reviews', I don't mean to give a traditional book review, but to note how the book affected my real life.

This is how: One of the characters, Cecil, is a bit of a snob and looks down on the common homey interests of his betrothed's family. He is good with books,art, ideas and 'things', but when he interacts with real people, his personality 'kills' any chance of having an intimate relationship and thus, his life is one of ideas rather than people.

How fiction unwraps itself and reveals itself to be true! This was looking into a mirror for me. What my friends won't tell me, a good novel will! Doing well with "books, ideas and things" is not the epicenter of living, says Forester, but the nitty gritty give and take of affectionate living is where life's eruption takes place. Art and ideas and books, although glorious, arise from this center, not vice versa. First comes the flesh, then the idea.

Thus this 'old' book, written over 100 years ago, performs the magic of all good literature: it makes me act and think differently. I now, attempt to(!), treat the person who stands before me, not as an idea, but as another real, carbon-based life form!

"A Room With A View" tells the often told story of a young person learning to stand in her own place rather than where society demands she stand, yet Forester's characters are so complete that this old story is like a skeleton that is dressed up in finery and begins to walk! I fell in love with the characters and recognized myself in all of them; yes, even in the old biddy Charlotte, who, as it turns out, wasn't so old fashioned and possibly was the master puppeteer.

I love this little gem of a book! Sam, 11-year-old boy, discovers the nest of a trumpeter swan family, one of which baby swans is born without a voice. This is the story of Louis the swan's persistance and determination to gain the heart of his true-love, even though he has no voice with which to woo her. I love the old cobb, who fancies himself a wise and poetic bird, and who waxes eloquent and long-winded on many an occasion. White has a dry and wonderful sense of humor! If you never read this when you were 10, it's time to go back and read it.

I say a person who likes adventure books would like to read The Trumpet of the Swam. They should read this book because it is pretty much a total adventure. There are other types of readers who would enjoy this book but, adventure is the main type. The protagonist(Louis)seems very sad that he can't talk but, he is capable of doing other things without his voice. The antagonist(Louis' father)feels bad for Louis and his condition. Although,when the father steals a brass trumpet he gets Louis in a mess of trouble. My thoughts about The Trumpet of the Swan are that the adventures Louis had repeated sometimes. He always tried to get money to pay back the stolen trumpet. The book got boring at times.

Bought this book for my grandchildren. It is as delightful as I had been told.

The Trumpet of the Swan turned out to be another big hit for my family and I to share together. You know you have a big hit with my kids when they will do whatever you ask of them just so you will sit there and read the next chapter!!

TOTS is told from a number of different perspectives. It starts off from the perspective of Sam Beaver, a young boy from Montana on vacation with his father in the Canadian Wilderness. Sam is an introspective young man. He likes to explore and think by himself, he worries about his future, and he keeps a journal where he asks himself questions to ponder every night before he goes to sleep. My 8-year-old Noah was quite taken with that idea and I am getting a journal book of his own to write down his thoughts and make little pictures to keep. Sam is also brave and patient. His patience pays off when one day the Mother Swan and her Cob allow their new cygnets to meet him. And that is how Sam meets Lois, the little swan without a voice. In a very tender moment little Lois, who has no voice, pulls Sam's shoe lace as a way to say hello. The imagination of my young sons were so inspired with what it would take to have a wild bird like Lois come that close to them. We can't even get the stray cats in our neighborhood to stand still long enough for a pat on the head!!

The Cob and his wife have come to Canada for the purpose of raising a family. The first couple of chapters are dedicated to the challenges of building a nest and hatching the young cygnets. This is my favorite part of the book! The cob, is a master orator! He never says in anything in 5 words when 50 will do much better! He is arrogant, verbose, flamboyant and charming. He cracked us all up more than once!

But the central character in the book is Lois the swan, a trumpeter swan without a voice! As it turns out this is a major birth defect for this young swan if he ever hopes to communicate with his fellow swans, but particularly if he ever hopes to woo and court a female trumpeter swan. Lois sets out on his own to learn how to communicate and with the help of Sam Beaver, he learns to read and write! With his trusty chalkboard and pencil he certainly can communicate with people. But swans cannot read. My children were mortified at the illustration of Lois swimming around with the sign saying "I love you" trying to woo the swan of his dreams, Serena. Love even makes swans surrender some of their dignity I guess.

Thanks to bold and brave actions by the cob, Lois does get a voice through a regular musical trumpet! This series of events sets on on a path that leads him to Ontario, Boston, Philadelphia and then eventually through the American South and
then back up to Montana.

For geography, tracking Lois's adventures on the map and learning about each of these places can make for interesting lessons. [...]

The Trumpet of the Swan is a family story, a love story, and adventure story, and a comedy. I highly recommend it for the entire family!

E.B. White's reading of his story, "The Trumpet of the Swan," is one of my favorite tapes to listen to while driving long distances in the car. The story is beautiful and White has a terrific New England lilting accent which is endearing. My kids love it. A definite classic!

This book was assigned text for a neuropsych. class I had during my undergraduate degree. It was by far the best text I've had assigned in any class. This book, along with Ramachandran's, Phantom's in the Brain, was the first time I even considered the Nature side of the Nature/Nurture debate. I will never forget the stories. Learning about these cases with brain disorders left me with such a sense of awe for what the brain can do. Sacks has a wonderful writing style that turns philosophical at the end of each story, so you are left with a lot of food for thought. It is also a great exercise to follow his choices at each step and weight it against what you may have done.

This book is full of tales of interesting anomalies in the brain. Oliver Sacks tells each story in a way that conveys his passion for the topic. Very enjoyable reading for those interested in the mysteries of the human mind.

This book was required for a cluster class I took. I am keeping the book even though I dropped the class because it has wonderful and interesting viewpoints of others who have to cope with life different than most of us. I would recommend this to a friend.

Great story, fascinating, even if you are not in the field, it will give insight into how others think!

A neurologist, Oliver Sacks, discussed and brought to light the neurological disorders in case by case in this book with an interesting choice of the title: "Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat." This is the first book by Sacks that I have read, and I found his writing style to be quite enjoyable.

Not only that, this book contains an extraordinary collection of cases of individuals with neurological disorders that brings one to understand a bit on how human brain works. While this book was first published in the early 1970s and the understanding of the human brain mechanism has changed and increased since then, I found this book to be very insightful.

Out of all the cases I have read from this book, I found the following cases (or stories) to be of great interest to me: "Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat," "The Man Who Fell Out of Bed," "Witty Ticcy Ray," "Cupid's disease," and "The Autist Artist."

This book is a fascinating read and deeply recommended.

Junky: The Definitive Text of Junk by William S. Burroughs ***

To be honest I did not enjoy this very much. I am a massive Burroughs fan, he is easily one of my favorite authors of all time, and I have read nearly all his work, and enjoyed almost all of it. Junky is the exception to that. I at times felt the book to be, dare I say boring. Burroughs attempt at the occasional humor was dry and not witty like on most of his work. I found the plot, or lack there of really, to be bland and at times annoying. His style seems to even be strained here, which is sad considering he is one of the most original writers in American history, as well as one of the most underrated.

Now even this, the definitive text didn't save the story for me. I am not saying this was totally bad, so please don't get me wrong. Junky has lots of potential, and could have been one of his best works, but for me personally this just seems weak for an author of his stature.

If you're looking for something different, check out this impressive first novel. Although not a long novel (about 120 pp.), it's wildly original, highly descriptive writing begs a second reading.

_Junky_ is surprisingly well-structured. Believe it or not, there is a plot!

Characters drop in and out of the story, so that the novel itself feels like some sort of crash pad. Everyone is fair game for Burrough's observations; many are described in a surreal, hilarious way. I like the way Burroughs varies sentence and paragraph length, giving an improvisational feel to the book, as if it's a be-bop record or a Jackson Pollock drip painting. (And maybe that's the intent?)

Again, nothing escapes Burrough's critical eye. Although he is homosexual and a junkie, he shows contempt for some of the trappings and adherents of these 1950s subcultures.

Some of my favorite lines include:

- "Waves of hostility and suspicion flowed from his large brown eyes like some sort of television broadcast."

- "'You're both mother (expletive deleted)ers.' She was half-asleep. Her voice was matter-of-fact as if referring to actual incest."

- "A young man lurched in with some object under his arm." (Burrough's word choice is hilarious - "lurched"!)

- "The place looked like a Chop Suey joint. ... The walls were painted black and there was a Chinese character in red lacquer on one wall.

'We don't know what it means,' she said.

'Shirts thirty-one cents,' I suggested."

Perhaps Burrough's self-observation and sense of humor likely contributed to his longevity. It's hard to believe he lived to age 84!

_Naked Lunch_ is next on my list.

I first devoured this book back in 1991 as I sat in a bathtub in Liverpool. Never before had I come across anything like it. Upon this rereading, I remain surprised at the way it still manages to resonate. I am not a big fan of Burroughs overall as I found Naked Lunch a very hard slog, but the clear, simple prose of Junky tells a-- regrettably brief--tale of a colorful life spent on the margins. Fifty years later its narrative continues to shock. The characters and associations described within are as unique as you'll find in literature. I just wish the book was longer as Burroughs wayward days were interesting enough for 500 pages. It moves like On the Road but the author's realism is what one finds most endearing. It's a life most of us will never know, but Old Bull Lee's snapshot is good enough.

This is one of my favorite works by William S. Burroughs; I have read it twice and probably will again. The hardboiled, Celine-influenced writing style suits the subject matter perfectly. There are some shocking episodes here, and no punches are pulled. Unlike much of WSB's later work, this one has an easy-to-follow narrative, and therefore might be a misleading introduction to Burroughs. If you enjoyed "Naked Lunch" though, take a step back and read this; you'll really enjoy it. This edition gives the complete novel, sans any censorship which marred the early (pre-1976) printings.

Junky could be the most effective anti-drug book ever written.

This is not the William S. Burroughs of The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead (Burroughs, William S.) and certainly not the same guy who wrote Naked Lunch: The Restored Text. This is a Burroughs who's not talking to himself or talking to his admirers. Instead this an author who is stretching to reach the reader with the actual smelly, lonely, desperate, empty reality of the junky.

It's a reality that Burroughs has explored in his fiction and that he has occasionally mined for characters and atmosphere. But nowhere, not even in Exterminator! has he come as close to offering up this direct-if bleak-conversation with the reader. It's worth noting that, outside the world of book-lovers, this may be his most well-known work because it does such a stark and effective job of describing the day-to-day world as it's experienced by the junky.

Lynn Hoffman, author of the somewhat different bang BANG: A Novel

The Cd begins with the powerful witches scene-great music-definitely causing my students to sit-up and listen.

The Dover Thrift Edition is a good choice for a reading text because it presents the entire, unabridged play, and has enough notes to be helpful to inexperienced readers without overwhelming or distracting them. The omition of a scholarly apparatus makes the Dover Edition more flexible and keeps it from becoming outdated.

This product was great. It helped my students and I read and comprehend Macbeth so much better than us trying to read it and comprehend it. The actors voices are great! I think they do a great job being the characters on tape!

Virtually all editions of Macbeth will have at least some annotations. Rummaging through five different editions, I preferred the Yale University Press version, edited by Burton Raffel, as having the most comprehensive and comprehensible notes, as well as an excellent introduction to Shakespeare's play. Raffel not only explains the meanings of obscure words, but also gives brief notes pertaining to relevant history, geography, stage directions, etc, that are rarely addressed as fully by other editors. In addition, Raffel frequently gives the proper way to stress the syllables in a line when reading it aloud, which can be extremely helpful. (However, in most places these stresses need to be very subtle, so that you don't sound like "taDUM taDUM taDUM".) And Yale's page layout is among the clearest that I've seen.

(To find this edition: at Avanced Search, enter ISBN 0300106548; or, enter Macbeth as title, and either Raffel as author or Yale as publisher.)

As a bonus, this edition includes at the back a long essay on the play by Harold Bloom. This is not an uninteresting commentary, but Bloom desperately needs a good editor. His essay is not only at least three times longer than it should be, but is startlingly repetitious. Yale would have been wise to have asked Bloom for a rewrite.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was a dramatist whose genius is universally acknowledged, with a reputation as an actor, playwright and poet. He lived in an age of vast and significant changes characterised by the rise of the middle class and of a centralised government and the disappearance of medieval religious beliefs. England was transforming into a modern state. This was a time when self-realisation, self-respect and boldness of thought and action was idealised. Shakespeare's drama merely reflected the dramatic times of the age.

Shakespeare's genius can be reflected by the variety of his productions, where out of the 36 plays he has left, no two are alike and he managed to articulate the diverse subjects with exceptional expertise, handling both tragedies and comedies with ease.

Macbeth is a tragedy, intended to teach us a lesson about the human condition. The play is a tragedy about a wealthy Scottish noble called Macbeth who kills his king to gain the throne. During Shakespeare's time, this was a terrible thing to do, and from then on, Macbeth was doomed to die a tragic death.

The play starts with three witches confronting the great Scottish general Macbeth on his victorious return from a war between Scotland and Norway. The witches predict that he will one day become king. They also predict that another General called Banquo will be the father of kings, although he will not ascend the throne himself. The Scottish king, Duncan, decides that he will confer the title of the traitorous Cawdor on the heroic Macbeth. Macbeth, with the urging of his evil and ambitious wife murder King Duncan and ascends to the throne of Scotland.

Macbeth and his evil wife begin to do strange things, partly because of what they have done and also because they never get a whole night's sleep. Macbeth thinks he has to kill two of his former friends because he believes that they threaten his new throne. His efforts fail and he is eventually killed.

I am a long-time admirer of Dr Ramachandran's work (and Sandra Blakeslee's writings).

Dr Ramachandran's work is frequently references in literature about neuroscience.

I found the book first in Islamabad, where it had been published in New Delhi and sold for P Rupess 295. The illustrations in that edition were slightly smudged.

I ordered it from the United States hoping that the illustrations would be clearer. However, in this paper back edition, they are not that much clearer than in the Indian edition.

The wonderful content is the same, of course. Perhaps a hard back edition would have better reproduction of the illustrations.

Guy B. Scandlen

I'm a huge fan of Oliver Sacks. This book kept appearing as a recommendation on all the bookstores & online bookstores I've come across. While phantom situations is an extremely interesting topic, I found this book very dry compared to Oliver Sacks' books.

I'm not trying to say 'Don't read the book'. It's still an okay book because it's an interesting topic. But, it was tough reaching the end of the book -- I probably only kept reading in hopes that something amazing would come forth...

I'm a mean reviewer, I know. I'm not from the medical field whatsoever, so maybe that's why I don't have a deep appreciation for this book. The book is worth a chance if someone gives it to you, but it's definitely not worth the full retail price.

This book has an apparent modest sub-title: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind. Actually, it seems that the main aim of author is to uncover the way the brain produces a mind. Since all mental phenomena are biological phenomena, one can say that Ramachadran defends a kind of biological naturalism about the mind-body problem. All mental phenomena are in deed biological phenomena. Even when the Ramachandran is critical about evolutionary psychologists, he accepts that our brains are composed of relatively independent modules which were built by the blind hand of evolution. The same way, Ramachandran is sometimes critical about philosophical theories about the mind, but one can conclude that is deeply interested in philosophical ideas and he likes to speculated about it. Ramachandran is not one of those brain scientists that like to use sophisticated instruments to run their experiments. Simple, but intelligent, experiments are the core of this book. Presenting uncommon cases of brain lesions, the author goes one showing that those strange cases (persons with amputated limbs, persons who suffer from Capgra's syndrome, persons who feel deep religious experiences, ...) are logical consequences of the fact that the "self" is an illusion produce by our brains.
This is a splendid book to read. If you have some scientific and philosophical culture it is no difficult to understand the main thesis of the book. Perhaps Sandra Blakeslee gave a good help to the clarity of the book. A final word for Ramachandran's humor: clever and informative.
The optimism of Ramachandran must be balanced with a pessimist position like the one advanced by The Mysterious Flame: Conscious Minds in a Material World.

This book has a wealth of case studies that provide an awe inspiring look into the workings of the brain. Often the only way to gain new insights into the brain is when something goes wrong. Ramachandran does a wonderful job of presenting his collection. I first got this book as text during my undergraduate degree. I still delve into it for interesting reading and for its usefulness. Ramachandran is more technical than Oliver Sacks writing style in Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat, but it is still very readable and thought provoking.

I have a background in computer science and stumbled upon this book in my research of artificial intelligence. What Ramachandran presents here is hands down the most interesting science material for the lay person that I have yet to read. I have read many non-fiction books about quantum theory, artificial intelligence, information theory, futurology and space, yet the implications of the disorders presented in this book are potentially the most astonishing, particularly the left-side neglect cases. I especially liked how Ramachandran went through Freud's findings on the un/sub-conscious and related the brain disorders to extreme cases of Frued's defense mechanisms such as denial, distortion, projection.

I loved Richard Harris' earlier book Pompeii which I though was a work of subtle genius for its low key portrayal of a humble Roman civil engineer investigating water supply problems in a provincial town. It just turns out that the town was Pompeii on the eve of the eruption of Mt Vesuvius and the first warning was the drying up of public fountains. Imperium is something else entirely. It is the story of Marcus Cicero's rise to fame as Rome's greatest advocate and orator. Cicero is remembered as a brilliant but mild-mannered lawyer expert at legal maneuvers and forum speeches but lacking military skills. Unfortunately he was born into the age of larger than life generals like Pompey, Caesar and finally Mark Anthony who dominated the late Republic. Harris wisely focuses on his conflict with Marcus Crassus, historically a much more opaque figure. This keeps the spotlight on Cicero and allows him to shine. Reflecting on Roman liberty and rule of law, Cicero opined that `Rome is not a matter of geography... Rome is an ideal'. On the other hand he did make compromises. When his cousin Lucius took him to task, he is quoted as saying, `The trouble with Lucius is that he thinks politics is a fight for justice. Politics is a profession.' The book ends with Cicero attaining the consulship against long odds. As the book demonstrates Cicero repeatedly switched his allegiance from one faction to another and from populists to aristocrats with a view to self-advancement. Perhaps as a `new man' without family wealth or connections he felt obliged to do this. In the end however, he found himself isolated and friendless. The book, though, closes well before then, at the peak of his success.

Initially I was concerned about Harris' foray into the extensively documented period of the late Republic because here many authors have gone astray. The decision to focus on the relatively low profile Cicero, shedding light on someone who is usually a supporting character in this type of story, proves a good one and gives readers a different perspective on the life of Rome. There are no accounts of battles. Instead we read about details of court cases and election campaigns. From this perspective, absent the wars of contest, things were not too different from the political life of our own time. Interested readers will also enjoy Colleen McCullough's voluminous Masters of Rome series.

Very good yarn, based of the life of Cicero as told by his aide de camp. I first was introduced to Harris, when somebody recommended Fatherland to me some years ago, I was blown away by that book, it was fascinating to think of a Germany victorious after World War II, the story unfolds as Hilter is celebrating his 75th, God help us, birthday, this book is not as original or as quick paced at that book, Imperium is more deliberate in its pace, but still it tells an interesting story of a great orator, who much to his horror, ushers in the Empire.

Imperium chronicles the rise of Cicero in the late days of the Roman Republic. Cicero's rise to power in the Roman Republic was even more surprising since it was accomplished without large personal wealth (though he had enough) and because he was adept at charting a middle course through the powerful political factions in Rome without being crushed by them.

Harris weaves a compelling picture of the late Roman republic -- with a particular focus on political intrigue. If you're a fan of Roman history, or of politics, you'll enjoy this work.

This is a novel about Cicero, told from the perspective of his amanuensis, Tiro. Starting in 79 BC and finishing in 64 BC, Mr Harris writes a powerful novel that portrays historical events and people in republican Rome while bringing both the times and the characters to life.

The life of Marcus Tullius Cicero (approximately 106 to 43 BC) essentially coincided with the decline and fall of the Roman Republic. Cicero was a lawyer, an orator, a politician and a philosopher. His writings continue to be a valuable source of information about these events. Cicero's political career was remarkable. At this time, high political offices in Rome, though technically achieved through winning elections, were almost exclusively controlled by a group of wealthy aristocratic families that had held them for many generations. While Cicero's family were aristocratic, they lacked the connections and the wealth to be part of the inner circle. And so, Cicero relies on his abilities to achieve his ambitions.

Court cases, intrigue, depictions of the politics of the time: all make for fascinating reading. By using Tiro as his narrator, Mr Harris provides a wonderful means of viewing Cicero slightly dispassionately both in terms of his actions and motivations.

I'd recommend this novel highly both to those interested in this period of history as well as to those interested in a great story.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Robert Harris (1957) is a successful English novelist. He started his writing career as a journalist, continued writing some non-fiction books till he wrote his first great success: "Fatherland" (1992) an alt-his novel exploring a world where Germany won WWII.
After writing some more noteworthy novels Harris has turned his attention to the fascinating world of Ancient Rome (one of my preferred themes) starting with "Pompeii" (2003) and more recently issuing the present "Imperium" (2006) the first volume of an intended trilogy about Cicero.

In order to write "Imperium", Harris has done a good historical research that reflects all over the novel. Details about daily life, social organization and politics amongst other items are blended seamlessly into the main argument.
Does this mean that the book is boring? By no means, Harris is able to show all these features and at the same time construct an engaging story that will trap the reader.

The story is as follows: Tiro, Cicero's slave & secretary tells his master life starting when Cicero was 27 years old.
The narration follows Cicero's initial learning with the most famous oratory Greek teachers; his marriage to Terentia a rich young woman in order to obtain enough wealth to be accepted as Roman Senator.
Cicero's first great accusations, as lawyer, against Verres corrupt Sicily's governor & his noble supporters.
The novel ends with Cicero being elected Consul and leaves the reader eagerly expecting the next promised volumes.

I'm a declared fan of Colleen McCullough's "Masters of Rome" series and this novel is a very good complement to that series, as it focus on the same historical period but picking a different view point and inferring diverse explanations to some facts and relationships as for example Cicero's support to Pompey.

"Imperium" is a very commendable historical novel that will be fully enjoyed by history buffs and general public too. I eagerly await the next two promised volumes!

Reviewed by Max Yofre.

Helmed by "Platoon" director and Vietnam vet Stone, "Born" is a profoundly moving portrait of a macho athlete whose horrific battle experience causes him to reassess his politics and reorient his give-`em-hell attitude. Cruise, in an ambitious turn away from heartthrob roles, plays Kovic with precision and conviction, especially at his darkest moments, delivering the finest work of his career. Co-written by Stone and Kovic, "Born" reflects the pain and anger felt by an entire generation of returning US soldiers, and will leave a lasting impression.

How could it have happened? Thousands of innocent soldiers and civilians killed for nothing? The most powerful nation on earth, having free speech and a free press, duped into a totally unnecesary and even counterproductive war? A Congress fooled by a dissembling and deceitful administration, with few dissenters.

Well, it happened again in 2003, and watching this movie, one of my favorites, is even more heartbreaking now than it was when I first saw it years ago. It's a period piece starting in the '50s, beautifully filmed, wonderfully acted, and perfectly capturing the spirit of three decades that I know well from personal experience. It's the story of Ron Kovic, who volunteered for duty in Vietnam, was severely wounded, and returned to find that not only had the war been unnecessary, but he and his fellow veterans were not all that welcome, especially when they started exercising their rights to protest the continuation of the war.

This is Stone's best movie by far. The joys of family life, the horrors of war, the pain of catastrophic injury, the trauma of alienation, the exhilaration of redemption... all are depicted movingly and accurately. In this movie, Stone is uncharacteristically as understated as John Williams' wonderful score. There are scenes, such as when Cruise's character, based on a real story, returns to his old neighborhood on Long Island to find his parents,family, and neighbors uneasily prepared for him, that always bring tears to my eyes. But that is just one of many such scenes.

Stone also is dead-on in his depiction of the attitude of the American public toward returning Vietnam veterans and the veterans' despair and bitterness. Alas, I fear that we have not seen yet the development of those same feelings as we have yet to see very many returning Iraq War veterans in this war, which never made any sense, but we will.

It's amazing to watch this movie again now and to see all the parallels with Vietnam, beginning with the killing of innocent civilians, confusion in the fighting, deaths of minority and working class kids, etc.

Like I said, it is heartbreaking to see this happen again, but this movie ought to be re-released or be shown in schools. Of course, being realistic, it has so much profanity and explicit references to sex that it will never be seen by those who ought to see it--impressionable kids who are brainwashed by government propaganda.

A side note: George W. Bush was probably at the 1972 GOP Convention that is depicted in the last part of this movie, so he was probably there when Ron Kovic and other Vietnam Veterans against the War were spit upon and gassed by police. Why John Kerry and his campaign did not bother to mention this--and a number of other things having to do with unnecessary wars--in the 2004 campaign is beyond me.

This is a movie to watch with your teenage son or daughter and to discuss afterward.

To be in a hot sun in a thick heavy uniform is very hard especially for those who never been in hot countries.You'd get easily confused and combined stupidities.
This movie features an ambitious young man dreams to be a hero of his land fighting enemies in other people's land.Ron Kovic has been brought up in a good family,but ends up for the rest of his life on a wheelchair.This... must be hell.
If you're born without legs,you'd never feel this kind of suffering.if you don't have love but have your legs,it would be different.Think what war can do to your children.
Kovic is interprated by Tom Cruise, an actor we have never seen so sad and depressed like in this movie.Oliver Stone is to me the 'Hero' of Vietnamese war's movies.Never forget that handsome Yankee Doodle Boy as young Kovic too.

Born on the Fourth of July follows the journey of Ron Kovic from his innocent childhood in the 1950's through his experience in the Vietnam war and its aftermath. His painful journey reflects the tumultuous journey that America took during the Vietnam War years.

Tom Cruise, delivering an intense performance as Kovic, and director Oliver Stone, a Vietnam Veteran, allows us to share in the raw emotions of the character. John Williams provides a brilliant score to add to the emotional punch.

This film was made when Stone could command a big budget post-Platoon and before he succumbed to the excesses of his later films - Born on the Fourth of July stands as his finest film.

Everything that people love and detest about Oliver Stone's films is in full flower here--ambitious theme, strengthen visual style, undisguised political biases...

The film is also an important turning point in Tom Cruise's career, completing his transformation from rising star to serious actor... He received his first Academy Award nomination for his role as antiwar activist and Vietnam veteran... Though Ron Kovic's story is presented as a distillation of the political and a violent social commotion that America went through from the mid-sixties to the mid-seventies... At heart, it's propaganda...

Stone begins the story as a twisted cinematic version with boys playing war in suburban woods... It's Massapequa, Long Island, 1956...

Ron Kovic grows up as a typical American white kid who believes in God, country, sports, and sex... His father's (Raymond J. Barry) leaving his forceful mother (Caroline Kava) as the dominant personality in the home... To Ron, she's a repressive slave driver who sets a standard he can never measure up to... That, in part, is why he enlists in the Marines, straight out of high school... Cut to the Cua Viet River, October 1967, where Sgt. Kovic is in his second tour...

The short vision of Vietnam that Stone presents here is even more surreal and horrifying than the violence in "Platoon." An attack on a village is a disaster, and the Marines' retreat from it is even worse for Kovic... That nightmare is settled when Kovic is seriously wounded, sent to a MASH unit, and then to a Bronx Veteran's Administration hospital...

Paralyzed from the waist down, Kovic sank into a deep depression... From that moment, the next hour or so is a steep downward spiral of self-pity, drunkenness, anger, misery, and, most important, guilt over one incident for which he cannot forgive himself... It's honest, unflattering, and ugly...

Cruise's performance is one of his best, capturing both the cocky, insecure young man and the haunted veteran...The motion picture is never boring and, until the last reel, the action moves forcefully...

If Stone had elected in the middle section to spend less time rolling about with pleasure in Mexican fleshpots and to pay more attention to Kovic's full development, he might have created the antiwar epic he was aiming for, revealing the physical and psychological costs of one of the most tragic events in history...

Helmed by "Platoon" director and Vietnam vet Stone, "Born" is a profoundly moving portrait of a macho athlete whose horrific battle experience causes him to reassess his politics and reorient his give-`em-hell attitude. Cruise, in an ambitious turn away from heartthrob roles, plays Kovic with precision and conviction, especially at his darkest moments, delivering the finest work of his career. Co-written by Stone and Kovic, "Born" reflects the pain and anger felt by an entire generation of returning US soldiers, and will leave a lasting impression.

How could it have happened? Thousands of innocent soldiers and civilians killed for nothing? The most powerful nation on earth, having free speech and a free press, duped into a totally unnecesary and even counterproductive war? A Congress fooled by a dissembling and deceitful administration, with few dissenters.

Well, it happened again in 2003, and watching this movie, one of my favorites, is even more heartbreaking now than it was when I first saw it years ago. It's a period piece starting in the '50s, beautifully filmed, wonderfully acted, and perfectly capturing the spirit of three decades that I know well from personal experience. It's the story of Ron Kovic, who volunteered for duty in Vietnam, was severely wounded, and returned to find that not only had the war been unnecessary, but he and his fellow veterans were not all that welcome, especially when they started exercising their rights to protest the continuation of the war.

This is Stone's best movie by far. The joys of family life, the horrors of war, the pain of catastrophic injury, the trauma of alienation, the exhilaration of redemption... all are depicted movingly and accurately. In this movie, Stone is uncharacteristically as understated as John Williams' wonderful score. There are scenes, such as when Cruise's character, based on a real story, returns to his old neighborhood on Long Island to find his parents,family, and neighbors uneasily prepared for him, that always bring tears to my eyes. But that is just one of many such scenes.

Stone also is dead-on in his depiction of the attitude of the American public toward returning Vietnam veterans and the veterans' despair and bitterness. Alas, I fear that we have not seen yet the development of those same feelings as we have yet to see very many returning Iraq War veterans in this war, which never made any sense, but we will.

It's amazing to watch this movie again now and to see all the parallels with Vietnam, beginning with the killing of innocent civilians, confusion in the fighting, deaths of minority and working class kids, etc.

Like I said, it is heartbreaking to see this happen again, but this movie ought to be re-released or be shown in schools. Of course, being realistic, it has so much profanity and explicit references to sex that it will never be seen by those who ought to see it--impressionable kids who are brainwashed by government propaganda.

A side note: George W. Bush was probably at the 1972 GOP Convention that is depicted in the last part of this movie, so he was probably there when Ron Kovic and other Vietnam Veterans against the War were spit upon and gassed by police. Why John Kerry and his campaign did not bother to mention this--and a number of other things having to do with unnecessary wars--in the 2004 campaign is beyond me.

This is a movie to watch with your teenage son or daughter and to discuss afterward.

To be in a hot sun in a thick heavy uniform is very hard especially for those who never been in hot countries.You'd get easily confused and combined stupidities.
This movie features an ambitious young man dreams to be a hero of his land fighting enemies in other people's land.Ron Kovic has been brought up in a good family,but ends up for the rest of his life on a wheelchair.This... must be hell.
If you're born without legs,you'd never feel this kind of suffering.if you don't have love but have your legs,it would be different.Think what war can do to your children.
Kovic is interprated by Tom Cruise, an actor we have never seen so sad and depressed like in this movie.Oliver Stone is to me the 'Hero' of Vietnamese war's movies.Never forget that handsome Yankee Doodle Boy as young Kovic too.

Born on the Fourth of July follows the journey of Ron Kovic from his innocent childhood in the 1950's through his experience in the Vietnam war and its aftermath. His painful journey reflects the tumultuous journey that America took during the Vietnam War years.

Tom Cruise, delivering an intense performance as Kovic, and director Oliver Stone, a Vietnam Veteran, allows us to share in the raw emotions of the character. John Williams provides a brilliant score to add to the emotional punch.

This film was made when Stone could command a big budget post-Platoon and before he succumbed to the excesses of his later films - Born on the Fourth of July stands as his finest film.

Everything that people love and detest about Oliver Stone's films is in full flower here--ambitious theme, strengthen visual style, undisguised political biases...

The film is also an important turning point in Tom Cruise's career, completing his transformation from rising star to serious actor... He received his first Academy Award nomination for his role as antiwar activist and Vietnam veteran... Though Ron Kovic's story is presented as a distillation of the political and a violent social commotion that America went through from the mid-sixties to the mid-seventies... At heart, it's propaganda...

Stone begins the story as a twisted cinematic version with boys playing war in suburban woods... It's Massapequa, Long Island, 1956...

Ron Kovic grows up as a typical American white kid who believes in God, country, sports, and sex... His father's (Raymond J. Barry) leaving his forceful mother (Caroline Kava) as the dominant personality in the home... To Ron, she's a repressive slave driver who sets a standard he can never measure up to... That, in part, is why he enlists in the Marines, straight out of high school... Cut to the Cua Viet River, October 1967, where Sgt. Kovic is in his second tour...

The short vision of Vietnam that Stone presents here is even more surreal and horrifying than the violence in "Platoon." An attack on a village is a disaster, and the Marines' retreat from it is even worse for Kovic... That nightmare is settled when Kovic is seriously wounded, sent to a MASH unit, and then to a Bronx Veteran's Administration hospital...

Paralyzed from the waist down, Kovic sank into a deep depression... From that moment, the next hour or so is a steep downward spiral of self-pity, drunkenness, anger, misery, and, most important, guilt over one incident for which he cannot forgive himself... It's honest, unflattering, and ugly...

Cruise's performance is one of his best, capturing both the cocky, insecure young man and the haunted veteran...The motion picture is never boring and, until the last reel, the action moves forcefully...

If Stone had elected in the middle section to spend less time rolling about with pleasure in Mexican fleshpots and to pay more attention to Kovic's full development, he might have created the antiwar epic he was aiming for, revealing the physical and psychological costs of one of the most tragic events in history...