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Other The Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Other The
Strong Medicine
Published in Paperback by Pan (1985)
Author: Arthur Hailey
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Average review score:

Excellent!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2002-10-02
This book is Excellent for reading anywhere and anytime, reading this book you will learn (more or less) how think a pharmaceutical company to improve or create new medicine, you will also see how react the people that doesn't like this kind of companies that sincerely we all need them and they have to work with animals whether we like it or not.
We also see how doctors work, some for the cure of the people and some for the cure of their own bank account.
The life of Celia and Andrew was terrific, I want to live that way with my wife and I am not talking about the money, I am talking about the way that each one support the other one. Here is the only part that doesn't belong to the story, the affair of Celia, I don't know why it was written, is mentioned only once and is written in 15 or 20 lines, again, that part of the book doesn't belong to the story.

An excellent book from one of the best authors of the world
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2000-05-06
If there is one thing I like when I read a book by Athur Hailey, is that he's able to write about the world of medicine so greatly as the detective world or any other kind of story, mixing the writing of authors like Robin Cook, Mary Higgins Clark and Sidney Sheldon in a very good way: his own. So why didn't you rate this book 5 stars instead of 4? The answer is: Mr. Hailey's books are wonderful, but he wrote one or two dull lines. So... As for the case of STRONG MEDICINE, the author wrote a book that has a wonderful character and he develops them with an hability that I don't usually see. He gives an insight on the remedy world and makes you understand it completely well, what makes you be aware of how careful he was as for researching. In a few words, Arthur Hailey is one of the best authors out there, one of those that sometimes you hate for not writing as much as you want to read, which to me usually means a ton of his books. And Arthur have written only just a few, unfortunately. So, what you can do, is read read and read his books and also enjoy him. You'll discover one of the best writers you've ever read. Believe me.

A Look at the Right and Wrong of Drug Companies
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2005-01-02
Arthur Hailey was a great man. He provided insights into so many industries. Perhaps he got the best commercial works out of Airport and Hotel, but his commentary on other works was his greatest legacy.

Don't get me wrong - Hotel and Airport were great works. The looked into the problems of those industries. He books contained great merit; the adaptations to screen showed a big disater movie (Airport... and then Airplane).

Strong Medicine was his look into the ethical drug world, with all it's triumphs and problems. Medical breaktrhoughs in drugs are not without their costs. Can some drugs lead to harmful side-effects? Yes. Can some drugs be helpful to men and science? Yes. Can the FDA both cause good drugs to be delayed, and catch harmful drugs before they hit? Yes.

Arthur Hailey is a master of industry reseach. He understood no industry was without it's drawbacks and costs, and well as it's advancement to mankind. Strong Medicine shows both sides at their very best. Drug companies want the best ethical drugs they can make - but they are also not immune from making mistakes about their strong medicne.

10 years old and still going strong
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2000-12-20
Arthur Hailey is one author whose judgement I'd trust implicitly. He "captured" my trust when I was 13 years old when I first read "Final Diagnosis". "Strong medicine" is another great story in the same great Hailey tradition - attention to detail, an investigative journalism kind of style and best of all, real, believable characters.

Arthur Hailey is one of the best, Strong medicine is one of his best books and Celia Jordan, a remarkable character. Mr. Hailey, more power to you. Hope to read lots more from you in the years to come. Thank you for creating Celia Jordan (Strong Medicine), Dr.Pearson (Final Diagnosis), Margot and Alex (Money Changers), Jamie Howden (In High places).

Looking forward to more from you,

Role Model Heroine
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2000-02-03
This book changed my life. When I was 16, a friend called me on the phone in sheer excitement. "I just read a book about a woman who reminds me of you! " Needless to say, I rushed out to buy the book, stormed through its captivating pages, and was puzzled. The heroine is a modern career woman with principles and intelligence. I was a teenager. Why was she like me? Yet, over the years, I have found that the heroine has given me courage and guidance in times of challenges and has even led me to propose to my husband! Though not a recently written book, the heroine is a wonderful, encouraging, and inspiring role model for the women of today who want it all - a career, family, and self-realization. It is absolutely captivating and one that you will go back to read a second time and a third if not more.

Other The
Swahili: Lonely Planet Phrasebook
Published in Paperback by Lonely Planet (2005-09-01)
Authors: Martin Benjamin and Lonely Planet Phrasebooks
List price: $8.99
New price: $8.99
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Average review score:

Good resource
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-16
We used this book before and during our volunteer trip to Kenya.
It's a great resource, helps a lot, has all the basic things you wanna know (actually much more than you're going to need for a short trip), as well as slangs and even a few surprises (what to say in very specific situations, like when you're drunk or having sex (I'm guessing if they put this on the book, it must be because people asked for it)).
There are a few phrases they recommend I found out nobody uses anymore, and a few others that are used by people in the coast, but not by people in Nairobi area or other parts of the country, for example.
But still, I recommend it.
It's very small, fits in your pocket.
But there's so much information you really need to do your homework, study it before your trip, and mark the pages that interest you.

Very well built up - simple to use!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-21
This course to teach yourself Swahili is easy for anybody - all you need is to take time and study.

Swahili: Lonely Planet Phrasebook
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-17
For a compact book on Swahili this is the best I've seen. The contents of this little gem were easily divided into useful and practical sections, covering a broader use of the language than I've come across in other similar type books. Each section was uniquely and clearly identifiable allowing faster access to put your fingertips on the words or phrases you need. This book also succeeds in helping the reader obtain a basic yet concrete understanding of the Swahili language where other similar books have attempted but failed.

Great comprehensive resource
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-19
This small hand-sized book is an excellent resource. Sections are seperated by practical categories (like food, social, and practical). Very easy to read, and really has everything you would need to get around.

Great book to have!
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-01
I had this guide when I went to Kenya, and I highly recommend it! It was very useful when I got very ill and needed to explain to a Swahili speaking doctor what was wrong with me. I also used it when I'd go to the Masai Markets and I always got a much better deal when I'd barter in Swahili. The Kenyans can speak English, but they appreciate it when you try to speak to them in Swahili.

I loved this guide so much I am buying copies for the members of my family who will be joining me for a holiday in Kenya this coming year.

It's an absolute must for any traveler!

Other The
Swimming Lessons and Other Stories from Firozsha Baag
Published in Hardcover by Houghton Mifflin (T) (1989-01)
Author: Rohinton Mistry
List price: $16.95
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This is the one
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-31
I am in the process of answering a questionnaire asking, if I could recommend one book to someone to read, what book would it be?

I came on this site to check the spelling of the full name of this book.

I love this book.

Short stories from the master storyteller of Bombay's Parsis
Helpful Votes: 11 out of 12 total.
Review Date: 2004-07-01
A collection of interwoven tales told from the perspective of the different residents of Ferozsha Baag, an apartment building in Bombay. All the stories are good; some are outstanding. In particular, the story of the son who emigrates to Canada to become a writer has a uniquely autobiographical feel to it. =)

Wonderful
Helpful Votes: 12 out of 14 total.
Review Date: 2003-01-13
I read A Fine Balance about a year ago and loved it. I just finished Swimming Lessons and I'm going out to buy Family Matters right now. He writes so beautifully and descriptively that you feel that you lived alongside the characters in his books.He's my favorite author right now.

Early Jewels in Mistry's Crown
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-02
"Swimming Lessons", a short story collection, may be Mistry's earliest published work. He of course wrote the awesome "A Fine Balance", a panoramic look at life in India circa 1975. "Lessons" is set in about the same time period and chronicles the life experiences of middle-class Indians from a particular apartment complex. Major characters in one story show up as minor characters in other stories, giving the book a novelistic feel. Emigration, experienced directly by Mistry in his early 20's as he moved to Canada, is a major theme of the book. The story "Squatters", contains a "story inside the story" that affect your thinking about the trials of emigration (as it relates to bodily functions) for a long time. Those who know Mistry will enjoy this look at his early writing. Newcomers to Mistry might enjoy the short story form as an intro before tackling the epic "A Fine Balance."

CLASSY WORK OF A MINIATURIST, HARDLY READS LIKE A DEBUT!
Helpful Votes: 23 out of 23 total.
Review Date: 2004-07-19
And I thought that "A Fine Balance" was Rohinton's best! Yet again, I find myself speechless in my admiration for his astute command of language. His precise and inventive prose never quits until he has portrayed an image in sentences. Images that I grew up with myself but never quite would have thought of expressing in the grippingly sensitive way he can.

Swimming Lessons is a collection of such reminiscences from the author's childhood in a Parsi neighborhood in suburban middle-class Bombay. The setting itself may be confined to a particular community, but his compassionate brush carves such a wide sweep of the minutest of human emotions that the sheer force of this book is not in its plot or setting, but in its recognition of the universal bounty of life.

Our quirky residents of 'Firozsha Baag' have every reason to be disconcerted and baffled with their difficult lives. The walls of their building complex are coming apart. Washroom flushes don't work. One family has the refrigerator that's shared by the entire colony, and another has the common telephone. Their lives are marred by simple everyday things, innocent infatuations, unconfessed fantasies, fatal jealousies, neighborhood bullies, petty thefts, memory lapses, shared newspapers, cultural/generational clashes, etc etc.

Yet, beneath this veneer of this seeming hardships glimmers a subtle undercurrent of hope and happiness, of a bond that does not need expressing in the common social forms.

The high praise that Mistry has garnered is not exaggerated. The man has a disarming sense of humor and a lingering sense of what makes literature great. I laughed, I cried, I sat back and pondered. I was especially stirred by the moving story "Of White Hairs and Cricket", and the cover story, which is saved for the last, "Swimming Pools."

Couldn't recommend this brilliant compilation highly enough. It hardly reads like a debut.

Other The
Symposium (Oxford World's Classics)
Published in Paperback by Oxford University Press, USA (1994-03-17)
Author: Plato
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Average review score:

One of Plato's materpieces
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2002-05-07
Enthralling, entertaining, educational, and thought-provoking, "The Symposium" is one of Plato's classics. A group of men gathered at a dinner party in ancient Greece discuss the topic of love. Each man offers his view or definition of love, and the results are all different, engaging, and full of symbolism. Although it is a short book, one must not read it once and put it away; it ought to be be read again and again just to compare to what is "picked up on" each time. One thing always puzzles me: I will never know why Plato included the doctor (his name escapes me at the moment) have a bout of hiccups during someone's speech. I have never come up with a satisfactory answer - nor has any one I know, either. Nevertheless, this is an excellent read that I highly recommend for anyone - student and nonstudent. Enjoy!

passionately rational loving
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-21
The Symposium of Plato is a profoundly thought-provoking, entertaining and inspiring piece of philosophical writing. It is very short, yet infinitely more substantial than many longer works.

We are in Athens, 416 B.C.E. The scene is a banquet at the house of Agathon, who had the day before celebrated the victory of his tragedy. By the end of the party, seven men - and one absent but central woman - will have presented their views on the nature and meaning of Eros, or love.

There is no difficulty in keeping the characters distinct in our minds. Plato has great fun contrasting the opinions - and verbal styles - of tragic poet, comic poet, politician, physician and the rest, allowing absurdities and profundities to mingle freely. Socrates is very appealing, saint-like, yet utterly down-to-earth, playing his usual role of a 'philosopher' - one who 'knows only that he does not know' - always in passionate search of the truth, but catching only revelatory glimpses of its perfection.

Phaedrus gives the first speech, praising lovers' (especially homosexual) passion and loyalty, which makes them perform mighty and heroic deeds. Pausanias differentiates between virtuous, or spiritual love, and common, or bodily love. Virtuous love between men should not be primarily about sex, but about improvement and education of the soul. Eryximachus, the doctor, makes a mostly irrelevant (and boring) speech, claiming nature's contrasting elements illustrate the need to balance the healthy and unhealthy aspects of love. Aristophanes then delivers a brilliantly memorable speech, hilarious and poignant by turns, telling of how humans were once two-in-one, back to back, with two heads, four arms and four legs, with three combinations of sexes, male/male, male/female, and female/female. Their strength and speed made them threaten the gods, so Zeus cut them in half, leaving them to search forever for their other halves, and through love attempt to regain their original oneness. Agathon then gives an over-the-top, ecstatic speech, praising love as the youngest, most graceful of the gods, saying he brought order to heaven itself, 'empties men of disaffection and fills them with affection', etc, climaxing with the suggestion we all follow in love's footsteps, 'sweetly singing in his honour'.

It is then Socrates' turn. He performs for all conversations that took place between himself when much younger and Diotima, a 'wise' woman from Mantineia, to whom he had gone for instruction in the highest truths of love. In sum, the lesson is that love is the desire for the everlasting possession of the good and beautiful, which brings happiness. We crave immortality, in order to be happy eternally. We love our offspring, artistic works, laws and institutions, because they are all attempts to achieve an immortal name. These, Diotima claims, are the 'lesser' mysteries of love.

The 'greater' proceed from the 'lesser' in ascending steps. From one beautiful body the lover creates 'fair notions', then he sees all bodies are similar and equally worthy of love. From bodies he proceeds to the beauty of the virtuous mind, then the beauties of institutions and laws, climbing from there to the beauty of the sciences, until, after much growth in wisdom, he reaches the vision of all creation as beautiful. The final step is to rise to the contemplation of unchanging, eternal, absolute beauty itself. To spend your life in union with perfect beauty allows you to bring forth 'real' things, not 'images' and 'be immortal, if mortal man may'.

A drunken Alcibiades bursts in at this point, and gives a rambling, often funny, speech about his love for Socrates and how he - a very beautiful man - was spurned sexually by him. He describes Socrates' near-supernatural control of himself, totally above the effects of pain and pleasure. The book ends with a description of Socrates' companions all falling asleep as dawn breaks (after all-night drinking) and his going about his usual day.

Throughout the Symposium, Plato makes it clear that sexual relations are not the best thing at all for 'lovers'; they who wish for the highest happiness must seek to grow in virtue and wisdom and become increasingly detached from earthly pleasures. This is the origin of the phrase 'Platonic love'. Women were not considered their intellectual and spiritual equals in Athens at the time, so men of sophistication had to look to each other for emotional sustenance.

What then, we may ask, can the Symposium offer human beings today who are not interested in purely mystical/intellectual living and prefer the sexual and emotional satisfactions found in personal relationships?

A great deal, I believe. In his introduction Benjamin Jowett states that Plato 'is conscious that the highest and noblest things in the world are not easily severed from the sensual desires, or may even be regarded as a spiritual form of them'. In other words, earthly pleasures and transcendent ones are inextricable. Plato used words such as 'good' and 'virtue' to describe freeing oneself from the world of the senses, by using our reason to choose correctly who - or what - to attach to as we move through life. If we choose correctly, be it friends, sexual or lifetime partners, we strengthen our sense of inner freedom, until finally we experience it at the deepest, mystical level - the profound shift in consciousness that Plato was pointing to as the highest good - which in and of itself is morally and values-neutral.

The genius of Plato is that he communicates the total commitment required to attain perfect freedom, and the moral obligation of all human beings to strive for the happiness it alone can deliver.




The Wit and Wisdom of Love
Helpful Votes: 24 out of 29 total.
Review Date: 2000-11-10
Plato's "Symposium" will always be read because there will always be people who question the nature of Love. Agathon's dinner party is the scene of a conversation between a small group of men, who go around the table offering their views on Love. What does Love mean to us to-day? Reading over the responses of the dinner-guests and their host, we find the same range of answers in Ancient Greece that we are likely to find now.

Phaedrus and Pausanias are utilitarians and materialists. Phaedrus looks at love between people and a proto-Burkean love for government and state. Pausanias complicates the argument, saying that there are two different kinds of love, one which is common and one which is heavenly - yet still oriented towards the real and the tangible. Eryximachus is a proto-Swedenborg, trying to reconcile or harmonize the two kinds of love.

The jewels of Plato's "Symposium" are Aristophanes and Socrates. Aristophanes gives us the profoundly moving depiction of Love as a fundamental human need, a desire for completion. For a writer of comedy, whose aim as an art form is forgiveness and acceptance, Aristophanes's explanation is no surprise, though its depth is amazing. While women are generally discounted throughout the "Symposium," not only does Socrates, as we might expect, completely astound his audience (both inside the book and out) with his progressively logical and ascendant view of Love, but he also does it through the voice of a woman, Diotima. When we realize that Socrates is a character in this fiction, and that his words originate in a woman, the egalitarianism and wisdom of Plato the author truly shines forth, like the absolute beauty he claims as the ultimate goal of Love.

Was Plato a feminist? I don't know. I do know that the "Symposium" is a tremendous book. I picked it up and did not stop reading it until I was finished. The style of the Penguin translation is smooth, with a lighthearted tone that can make you forget that you are reading philosophy. Plato's comedic masterpiece in the "Symposium" is the character of Alcibiades, who provides the work a fitting end. Get the "Symposium" and read it now. You cannot help but Love it...in a Platonic sort of way.

One of those works that will be read forever, hopefully...
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2002-09-11
Perhaps the most "literary" of all Plato's works, "Symposium" is the story of a dinner party gathering of great (and a few not so great) minds, whom engage in a discussion in praise of eros, or passionate love. It is considered literary because it is highly metaphorical, it's characters are drawn well and in some cases unforgettably, and it succeeds on many levels. It is not uncommon for Socrates to elevate the subject of discussion in any given dialogue to that of our earthly existence, and how we should go about it. Perhaps shocking to readers unfamiliar with the Greeks is the prevalence of homosexual love, particularly with young boys. But, if nothing else, this is an insight into ancient culture. And the absolutely magnificent speeches given by Aristophanes and Socrates remain profound and beautiful to modern readers, regardless of whether or not the other speeches are unpalatable to some. Also, Alcibiades, drunken, hilarious rant is not to be missed. Read in a single sitting, this work is almost sublime.

Love, Grecian Style
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2004-02-14
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Plato's "Symposium" is the story of Agathon's dinner party where conversation takes place with a small group of men, who recline, eat and drink around a table offering their views on Love. This story is an amazing account of how intelligent and yet so different a culture the men from ancient Greece were compared to our society today. Each speaker has this most amazing ability to tell two stories at the very same time, an creative artistic movement of what love 'is' in each and every story. applying and , metaphorically. intertwining a cultural, mythological story of the gods, giving far deeper meaning. In addition to this, the love relationships and sexual nature of these men also permeate an entire cultural feel to the story, enveloping a radical differentiation from our de-mystified and de-enchanted world back into a once existing world of substantial meaning and profundity.

Phaedrus, speaks first and relates how love is the greatest good, the beautiful, is shameful of ugly things and how only lovers are willing to die for one another.

The second speaker, Pausanias, applies two types of love, one Aphrodite, a common base love working at random with men's feelings, for money, for loving physical bodies, boys, men and women. The other type of love, from a much younger goddess, being a higher type, the heavenly, who only loves other men and boy love, but this is not physical body love but from affection of the mind of virtue and wisdom..

Aristophanes has the hiccups, so it is Eryximachus, a doctor, who speaks third, applying the idea of love as a double love; "for bodily health and disease are by common consent different things and unlike, and what is unlike desires and loves things unlike." p.82 The god of art was said to implant love as a healing art, all such love guided by this god. "It is quite illogical to say that a harmony is at variance with itself or is made up of notes still at variance." "So love as a whole has great and mighty power, or in a word, omnipotence ."

Aristophanes, the comic writer, gives a moving account of Love as a absolute human need, a desire for completion to the point of each person once shaped differently being cut in half, taking our current shape, in need of the other to complete the whole of what we once were. "For first there were three sexes, not two as at present, male and female, but also a third having both together," and they were violent, strong and forceful and would even attack the gods. So Zeus and the other gods held a meeting and decided to cut them in halves and make them weaker. From then on, they were sexually drawn to one another, both heterosexual and homosexual, reasons all due to the way of the cutting of the halves.Lesbianism and boy to man love is freely spoken of and justified according to this story of the gods. His moving speech on the beauty and virtue of love however, is according to Socrates, true only in the sense of romanticism and fictional idolatrous admiration of what love should be. For Socrates found such a romantic explanation of love as untrue to what love really is and what love contains, as it does not contain all the beauty and good.

The fourth speaker, Agathon gives a moving speech on the beauty and virtue of love however, it is according to Socrates, true only in the sense of romanticism and fictional idolatrous admiration of what love should be. "For all the gods are happy . . and love is the happiest of them all being the most beautiful and best . . the youngest of gods." In his speech, love is every good, virtuosos and beautiful thing.

The last speaker, Socrates, found such a romantic explanation of love to be untrue, for what desires good, virtue and wisdom is only something that does not contain such, something lacking, and therefore lacking it desires such things. Love only desires what it lacks. Love is neither beautiful nor ugly. "To have right opinion without being able to give reason is neither to understand nor is it ignorance. Right opinion is no doubt something between knowledge and ignorance."

It is so interesting how common and free sexuality and homosexuality were, how each man present commented on the beauty of the young men in their glory of youth. Alcibiades, jealous of Agathon, also a young beautiful male, makes a moving speech how Socrates refused his love and how other like young men, also were moved with his amazing wisdom and prose.

While women are generally discounted, and the bonding of affection in male love was considered a higher love by Pausanias, Socrates explanation of love, by far the most profound, was one he received from a woman named Diotima. Here, as another reviewer has stated, shows Plato's the egalitarianism and wisdom, like that of the beauty and ultimate goal of Love.

Later a group of men crash the party and the drinking really gets started. Some leave, while Socrates stays all night, never loosing integrity from his drinking and leaves with all his integrity.

Other The
Tatterhood and Other Tales
Published in Paperback by The Feminist Press at CUNY (1993-01-01)
Author:
List price: $10.95
New price: $5.98
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Collectible price: $13.40

Average review score:

The stories I grew up with.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-18
This is an amazing collection of tales with female protagonists. I grew up on this book and I've loved it ever since I heard the first story. I finally bought my sisters and their daughters a copy since my sisters also grew up on it. We lost the family copy, probably when I was in grade school, most likely to a teacher who saw the value of such a book. Its got tales from various cultures, and various themes. Its not always just the love of a man that she's fighting for, which rocks. I love this book!

Tatterhood Rides Again!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-15
I remembered this collection of world tales from my own youth and was pleased that it was just as vibrant and fun as I remembered. Although the tales center around female protagonists, children and adults of any gender can enjoy the action, wit, and surprising tales featured here.

just what the doctor ordered
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-04
My 8 yo daughter has been getting a little sarcastic as of late. I turned to stories to try to remedy the situation. Tatterhood has opened up her world with strong, often humorous, female role models. I am so glad I bought the book! My 6 yo son and my husband and I enjoy it as well.

Wonderful collection of heroic women
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-08-19
This is one of the best collections of fairy tales featuring strong and enterprising hereoines. It includes stories from may different cultures, but all feature clever, resourceful women who overcome adversity. some of the stories were already familiar to me, but many I'd never read before. If you thought all fairy tale heroines were ninnies like Cinderella and snow White, you need to read this excellent book and discover women like Kate Crackernuts, Clever Manka, Sea Girl, and the Three Strong Women.

Not Extremely Memorable, But Well Done
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2001-08-23
My mother purchased this book for me as a very young girl, along with other collections of short-stories, and I remember being enchanted with it. The legends are fascinating, although I don't think the fact that they were all about young women and girls ever crossed my mind (an observation that leads me to believe this book would be good for boys, as well).

I recently re-read the stories, and was delighted. I remember being confused as a girl, since the places, people, and customs are mostly foreign, and so I wouldn't recommend these books to any one younger then six. And even then, with the lack of pictures, it's great for adults to read to kids (no matter what age, within reason). Worth the money.

Other The
Teachings on Love
Published in Paperback by Parallax Press (1998-12)
Author: Thich Nhat Hanh
List price: $16.00
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Average review score:

Fundamentals of Love & Life
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-29
This talk is simple, yet deeply wise. I have listened to many, many talks and teachings about the spiritual path and this is by far the most useful and the most healing. Not only are the precepts which he outlines, practical, effective and healing, but the sound of his voice is truly a healing presence in itself. I have my own copy, I gave my son a copy (he's 21) and I also gave a copy to my partner. I have explored various spiritual paths and would not consider myself a buddhist, but can't image these teachings being foreign to anyone who believes that god is a loving and truly compassionate being. I've rated this as five stars but the truth is it's off the star chart.

Wonderful and inspirational
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-13
My husband bought me this book for our 10th wedding anniversary. It was one of the best gifts I've ever received. It speaks to the reader in a very personal way. It makes one believe that with love for all beings, we can achieve peace. Even if it's as simple as not being upset when driving in your car. It helps one to realize what/who is important in one's life and to learn to appreciate it/them.

Wonderful
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-06
I love all of Thich Nhat Hanh's writings, this is no exception. He will speak directly to your heart, and your heart will resonate with the truth of his message, no matter which of his books you read.

One of the best books in my collection
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-08
The author has this flow in his writing that captivates you. No matter what religious practice you follow, this book will touch your heart in some way and definately elivate your mind. It is written by a Buddhist monk but his teachings are universal and it truely opened my eyes to new light. This is a must have in any person's book collection that has any want to grow as a person.

Great book, great Dharma!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-05
Zen Master Thich Naht Hanh's approach to teaching Zen Buddhism is enlightening. I have found many of the teachings very useful in the practice of true Dharma. I believe anyone can practice these teachings regardles of faith or religious affiliation. It is a wonderful book which anyone following a spiritual path can profit from. It is inspiring and full of the energy of mindfulness we all need to live freely and happily.

Other The
The Technique of the Love Affair
Published in Hardcover by Pantheon (1999-01-09)
Author: Norrie Epstein
List price: $19.95
New price: $4.49
Used price: $0.79
Collectible price: $20.00

Average review score:

the previous review is just stupid
Helpful Votes: 14 out of 14 total.
Review Date: 2003-12-31
Why do people post who have NOT read the book they are writing a review for?! Like the poster below. Don't bother seeking Dorothy Parker's review of Technique of the Love Affair, like I did, thinking Parker maybe wrote more, because it's IN THE BOOK! And is, like, a paragraph long, at best; more than half is quoted on the very page you're reading!

That rant aside, I love this book. While one should take its advice as lightly as its tone, it has invaluable tips for relating to men, especially the majority who, as Moore describes, are conformists congratulating themselves for being exceptional individuals, ie, supremely attached to the particular status symbols and labels of their class. Which, as an influence in paramour/mate selection, is NOT to be underestimated, personal experience has shown me. Moore's advice has been especially enlightening during some perplexing encounters with the male species; I am increasingly indebted to her as I get older. Doris Langley Moore deserves more appreciation!

Should be given to every girl at puberty
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-07
Wonderful book, not very politically correct though. What I really loved about this book is that it provided a framework on how to be, rather than a detailed list of rules. It seemed to recommend easing into ones natural state with time rather than a indefinite charade. I regularly re-read it to help with my dating practices.

I have NOT read this book! However . . .
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 51 total.
Review Date: 2002-02-02
I have NOT read this book! However, if you can get your hands on "The Portable Dorothy Parker" (available through Amazon), you might want to read HER review of this book.

You can't put it down
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-13
This book is so elegantly and beautifully written that the words just jump off the pages. The good sense that is written is self-evident - i.e you don't read it thinking "oh thats not how I feel" but simple truths, well-written just resonate with the reader. Like other books of simple truths this book is timeless and can be applied easily to the "modern male" - I'm sure men would not be overjoyed to realise how predictable they are, but my friends, you are, but then women are too. This shows a woman how to play the dating game. However, I do think it is interesting to note that it was written when Miss Langley-Moore was 22 and she later divorced her husband of twenty years and ended up remaining single for the rest of her life. She seemed to find her greatest interest and joy in the fashion world and in writing. So, perhaps, on a human level "playing the game" isn't spiritually satisfying in the long run - even the author admits it is "hard to do but worth the candle". She seems to have decided in her forties it wasn't worth the candle after all. However, in terms of staggering effectiveness this works. I can attest to that and it also gives a woman some good boundaries to work within so one doesn't end up a victim of their emotions. Its also really good guide for getting those men you may previously have thought were out of your league. I can assure you they are not - in fact the more successful and intelligent the more they seem to respond to these techniques!

The Best!
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-08
The top book on male-female relationships ever! Originally published in the 1920's it's the great great great grandmother of them all.
Yes. This clever, intelligent, honest, ray of light should be required reading for all girls and women!

I may start buying stacks of copies and handing them out to strangers, it's that good.

Other The
To Destroy You Is No Loss: The Odyssey of a Cambodian Family
Published in Paperback by East/West Bridge (1998-01-01)
Author: JoAn D. Criddle
List price: $19.95
New price: $19.95
Used price: $10.73

Average review score:

A frightening, moving and important story
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2002-01-05
Joan Criddle has woven a gripping account of the personal experience of one young woman, Teeda Butt Mam, and her family under the oppression of the Khymer Rouge. Although I knew a little about Cambodia's killing fields, this book reveals in considerable detail the brutality and horror of Pol Pot's regime. Yet, it's an inspiring tale of survival, courage, and family loyalty under the most extreme conditions of deprivation, fear and suffering. I couldn't help but wonder if I would have had the strength, ingenuity and willpower to survive such horror. The book also includes many interesting details about traditional Cambodian life and culture.
I highly recommend this book. It's an amazing story!

A frightening, moving and important story
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2002-01-05
Joan Criddle has woven a gripping account of the personal experience of one young woman, Teeda Butt Mam, and her family under the oppression of the Khymer Rouge. Although I knew a little about Cambodia's killing fields, this book reveals in considerable detail the brutality and horror of Pol Pot's regime. Yet, it's an inspiring tale of survival, courage, and family loyalty under the most extreme conditions of deprivation, fear and suffering. I couldn't help but wonder if I would have had the strength, ingenuity and willpower to survive such horror. The book also includes many interesting details about traditional Cambodian life and culture.
I highly recommend this book. It's an amazing story!

A frightening, moving and important story
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2002-01-04
Joan Criddle has woven a gripping account of the personal experience of one young woman, Teeda Butt Mam, and her family under the oppression of the Khymer Rouge. Although I knew a little about Cambodia's killing fields, this book reveals in considerable detail the brutality and horror of Pol Pot's regime. Yet, it's an inspiring tale of survival, courage, and family loyalty under the most extreme conditions of deprivation, fear and suffering. I couldn't help but wonder if I would have had the strength, ingenuity and willpower to survive such horror. The book also includes many interesting details about traditional Cambodian life and culture.
I highly recommend this book. It's an amazing story!

A JOURNEY THROUGH HELL AND BACK
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2001-06-30
THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOK I EVER READ. I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF WORKING WITH VITOU AND I HAD THE FIRST HAND ACCOUNT OF HIS STORY. HE NEVER STOP TO AMAZE ME FOR THEIR WELL TO SURVIVE.THIS STORY SHOW THE TERMENDOUS COURAGE AND STRONG WELL TO SURVIVE AMONG MONSTERS WHO HAVE NO REGARDS TO FELLOW HUMANS, YOU HAVE TO WORK HARD AND RISK YOUR LIFE EVEN FOR THE BASIC NECESITY OF LIFE JUST TO SURVIVE. THIS IS AN EPIC OF FORGOTTEN HOLOCUST AND THE STORY OF A CAMBODIAN FAMILY GOING THROUGH HELL AN BACK. A SUCCESS STORY OF A FAMILY MOVING TO A COUNTRY WITH A DIFFERNT CULTURE AND LANGAUGE AND MAKING SOMETHING OF THEMSELVES. I AM PROUD TO BE A FRIEND OF VITOU AND I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF KNOWING HIM. EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK, IT WOULD MAKE YOU APPRECIATE MORE OF WHAT YOU HAVE IN LIFE.

The Cambodian Holocaust
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2002-07-22
When I was younger I heard bits and pieces about Cambodia and Pol Pot in the news, but didn't really know what it was about. Through "Destroy You" I finally know about the horrendous and evil history that was being made in that country during the 70's and 80's. This biography follows the story of one particular educated Cambodian family who was exiled from Phnom Penh, along with the entire city full of inhabitants. The Khmer Rouge was doing its job of "cleansing" the city of anything of western influence. Most of the educated populace, including doctors, teachers, lawyers, etc., were murdered, leaving a population of mostly uneducated slaves whose job was to work in the rice fields all day long. Music, laughter, and play were not allowed. The people were taught that everyone was of equal value and equally dispensable, and everyone should work hard to contribute to the good of all with the meekness, acceptance, and fortitude of the water buffalo.

Meanwhile, entire villages were massacred if complaint about the government was overheard. Life was incredibly miserable, especially knowing of friends and relatives that had been killed or had disappeared. When Viet Nam invaded Cambodia tens of thousands of Cambodians attempted escape to Thailand, but Thailand did not want them all, and forced many back at gunpoint, killing anyone, including children, who refused to climb down the treacherous, land mine-studded cliff back into Cambodia. Throughout this book I was grieving about the incredible evil that humans can perpetrate against other humans, and amazed at the endurance and determination of this family and others that managed to survive all this horror.

A story like this can yank us out of any tendency towards self-pity or complaining about the minor difficulties in our lives. I have also read the follow-up book, "Bamboos and Butterflies", about this family after they immigrated to the U.S. Their will to survive is carried on as they integrate into a new culture, and reminds us of why so many seek refuge in the U.S.

Other The
The Trial and Death of Socrates: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Death Scene from Phaedo
Published in Paperback by Hackett Publishing Company (1980-06)
Author: Plato.
List price: $3.95
New price: $0.99
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $18.95

Average review score:

The Trial and Death of Socrates (3rd Edition) by Plato, John M. Cooper
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-07
This purchase saved me a lot of money compared to the price in the campus bookstore.

Expensive
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-08
Of the eight books I bought, it was the most expensive (cost per page) for all that I received. Although it was in great condition, so were some of the others.

The Trial and Death of Socrates
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-21
I was totally pleased with the entire process. The book arrived surprisingly quickly and was in perfect condition.

In the name of Iran
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2006-04-04
This book was pleseant to read because Socrates was accused of corrupting of young Greek people's mind. Socrates made mockery of his trial. Eventually, he was convicted and was order to drink poison to die.

The Trial and Death of Socrates
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-09
This is a must for anyone who is interested in the writings of Plato and what little we know about Socrates. The footnotes provide excellent refrences to phrases, gods and place names that the average reader may not be familiar with.

Other The
The Umbrella Man and Other Stories
Published in Library Binding by Rebound by Sagebrush (2001-03)
Author: Roald Dahl
List price: $15.50

Average review score:

Well Worth Reading
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-09
Though Roald Dahl's reputation comes mostly from his children's books, these stories, though mostly aimed at adults, are worth reading. This book is full of short stories with somewhat bizarre twists to them, though they are enjoyable all the same. My favorites are Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat, The Butler, The Landlady, Parson's Pleasure, The Umbrella Man, Vengeance is Mine Inc., and Taste.
In Vengeance is Mine Inc., Two brothers named George and Claude move to New York with only four hundred and fifty dollars. When they run out of money, they become desperate. Then, Claude gets an idea. The brothers start a company called Vengeance is Mine Inc., which sends out letters to rich people who have been insulted in the newspapers, offering to punch the offensive columnist them in the nose, black their eye, put a rattlesnake (with venom extracted) in their car, or kidnap them, take off their clothes (except for underwear), and dump them on fifth street at rush hour.
After just two days of sending out letters, they already have to punch someone in the nose, put a rattlesnake in someone's car, and kidnap someone (with the above specifics). Do you want to know if they succeed? If you do, you'll have to read the book.
However, if you do decide to read the book, you will end up reading a lot of other great stories in addition to this one. The endings are just as varied as the topics of the stories. Several are slightly gruesome, others are very interesting, and one of them is very sad. Generally, though, they turn your expectations inside out and upside down, with witty (though sometimes outdated) humor and clever plot lines. If you enjoy this kind of thing, I highly recommend that you read this book.

The umbrella man and other stories
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-11
It has taken me nearly ten years to complete my collection of Roald dahl books in hard back and this was worth the wait.

Awesome
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-09-27
Simply an amazing book. Roald Dahl does have quite the reputation for creating children's books, but this is no child's book. Each story is so brilliant that you would think there were several decades of planning put into each one. A few will leave you frightened, some will leave you gasping, some might leave you roaring with laughter, and others will have you feeling sad.
But I assure you, no matter what feeling these stories leave you with, each and every one will be accompanied by satisfaction.
Roald Dahl was a saint when it came to children's books, but if you haven't read any of his Young-Adult (I like to call them) classics, then you have no idea what true literature is. I also recommend some of his other non-children's books, such as, one of my favourites: Going Solo.

Umbrella Man
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2003-03-30
I am a huge Roald Dahl fan, so naturally I am a bit biased. I love this compilation of short stories, and I constantly reread my favorites, which include Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat, The Butler, Man from the South, The Landlady, The Umbrella Man, The Way Up to Heaven, Royal Jelly, Taste, and Neck. If you like Roald Dahl's stories as much as I do, I recommend Dahl's Omnibus, which compiles most, if not all of his short works.

Rain Rain Go Away
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2001-01-21
Thirteen tales of horror and hilarity from master storyteller: Roald Dahl. How much will you pay for revenge? Would you stake a bet on your little finger or on your only daughter's hand in marriage? Each of the thirteen stories collected here will grab your attention and keep you riveted till the very last words. By turns shocking,ironic,humorous and touching, these tales are filled with bizarre twists and unexpected delights. This collection proves Roald Dahl's standing as one of the world's finest storytellers. My favourites in this book are The Umbralla Man, Mrs Bixby and the Colonel's Coat,Parson's Pleasure and Taste.


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