Languages Books

This could be the only book you may need on the topic of public speaking. While the author, Jeff Davidson, says that he is no a speech coach, he certainly has vast experience as to what makes successful presentations and he lavishly shares his experiences, observations, and training with his readers. At $14 this is one of the best buys you will encounter.

If you speak at all in the course of your professional or private life, get this book. You can't help but become a better speaker with it. It is like a complete guide, reference book, and speaking coach rolled into one.

The book Public Speaking by Jeff Davidson, was written mostly for professional speakers and not necessarily for classroom use. Our professor did not approve of the book for college students. The information presented can be used as an example.

If you speak at all in the course of your professional or private life, get this book. You can't help but become a better speaker with it. It is like a complete guide, reference book, and speaking coach rolled into one.

The Complete Guide to Public Speaking is a complete guide. I was quite impressed with the array of topics covered in this book. There are almost fifty chapters in all! I didn't get this book because I am nervous in speaking. I got it because I want to be a better speaker than I am. I feel that with this book, I will be. There are really good chapters on getting prepared for a speech, dealing with the audience, and even handling what goes
on after your speech. The chapters progress in a very quential, logical fashion. There are lots of exhibits, charts, and helpful lists that the author uses himself in his career as a speaker. While I don't aspire to be a professional speaker, I think that anyone who wants to advance in their career recognizes at one time or another that you're going to have to do some kind of speaking. To that end, this book will help a great deal.

I purchased this book at the recommendation of Brad Scott of Wildbranch Ministries. It is an excellant book having most biblical words that one would look up. Most words also have the 3 letter root derivative and the root defined. It is a great book for those that do not know how to extract the 3 letter hebrew root from a word (like me), I use it in conjunction with the programs Dvar3, InterLinear Scripture Analyzer 2 and E-sword all freeware and the Etymological Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew by Matityahu Clark which only contains hebrew roots. Rick

Felix Klein's masterpiece of scholarship is an unmatched resource for connecting Hebrew words to each other and to sources in other languages. I have found no other dictionary, either in Hebrew or English, of comparable scope and quality. Particularly useful to me has been Klein's coverage of words with Greek origins, something that has helped me find surprising links between Hebrew and English. Hebrew-Aramaic connections have also helped improve my Aramaic. I've used Klein to lock in vocabulary found everywhere from classical rabbinic commentaries to Hebrew editions of Harry Potter. Because the dictionary is printed overseas, for years it was available new only through relatively obscure specialty sources (if you could find it at all) or as a used book for hundreds of dollars. I am glad to find it in the Amazon catalog. The book isn't cheap, but you get much more than you pay for.

This dictionary contains may child words other dictionaries donot making it easier to find a word. This dictionary states the time period for the word and where the word comes from. I have seen nothing better.

This is a must-have book alongside Reuben Alcalay's dictionary and Matityahu Clark's Etymological dictionary of Biblical Hebrew. With these three dictionaries, I consider my collection of Hebrew dictionaries complete.

I purchased my copy of Klein's masterpiece about 15 years ago, and it has remained a true and trusty friend over the years. I view it as a standard reference which falls somewhere between Reuben Alcalay's straightforward _Complete Hebrew-English Dictionary_, and Wilhelm Gesenius's technical _Hebrew and English Lexicon_. Klein usually compares Semetic roots or terms (primarily Akkadian, Aramaic and Arabic), although he will sometimes turn to Egyptian and/or Greek. Each page is comprised of three columns of text, and the layout is very clear and easy to use with very legible type.

I am completely satisfied with the Pimsleur teaching method. It is simple, easy to understand, and I've learned more than I could have thought without being immersed in the language. I highly recomend a product like this, for those who are interested in diversifying their culture experiences. Chris

I am planning a trip to Turkey in a few months and wanted to learn turkish ASAP. This is an 8 CD set. There are two lessons on each. They are tagged so no need to name tracks when importing to iTunes etc.

If you have 2-3 weeks this 8 CD set is the way to go. If you have longer ...go for the next set which is 16 CD's. There is no written material and this is "spoken" turkish only.

Bottomline....this set is for those who can listen to 30 minutes of material daily.If you commute daily...dont think twice and just buy it. I would recommend listening to each lesson 2-3 times before proceeding to the next ( hence the 2-3 weeks). Also , I found it very helpful to supplement the learning process by spending a little time on learning the alphabet and phontics ( it is straight forward and I used youtube videos!) along with using a phrase book

This is the best method of learning a language I have ever experienced. I have studied many languages and would be surprised to hear of a method I have not tried. This is CD-only learning, nothing written, nothing read. You learn like a baby does -- a very big, smart, old baby. Here are some tips for making the best of a great method:

1. Do each lesson three or four times before going on to the next.
2. Do a lesson a day, five or six days a week.
3. Repeat everything the CD asks you to repeat. "Repeat" means say out loud.
4. Answer every question it asks of you.
5. Repeat every answer or example you are given.
6. Do your lessons without headphones and with sufficient volume on the CD player.
7. Don't be bothered by the speakers' fluency (speed) or the short time given for you to respond. Let these gently pressure you into your own fluency. If you need to, do a lesson more than the usual number of times until your fluency is passable.

Note: To see what I think about the larger 16CD Pimsleurs, search Amazon's So You'd Like To guides for "learn a language for no good reason". I talk there about when the big ones are good and when other cheaper options are better.

I've wanted to learn Turkish for a long time now. My wife is Turkish, and I can't communicate with her family (yes, I know, to some that would be a problem not worth fixing).

This is an excellent audio course, and it has no fluff in it whatsoever. You start playing the CD, and GO! I use it during my 1 hour commute each way in the car. As others have said, I sometimes need to rewind because I can't always think as fast as they want me to, but I transferred it to my mp3 player, and it's easy to go back a few seconds and try it again.

I've tried Rosetta stone, but basically it just sat there because I had to dedicate the time to sit in front of a computer and do it. For me, this is much better.

Be forewarned, however, that you need to repeat things out loud constantly, and if you are not in a private place, it's not going to work out.

In the very first lesson, they start by saying, "Listen to this conversation in Turkish." Only 30 minutes later, you listen to the exact same conversation and you understand it!

5 stars.

I admit that I was skeptical about whether or not I would truly be able to absorb and learn to speak and understand Turkish with 30 minutes a day for 16 days but -- Wow! I have had this product for 4 days and I'm not only impressing myself but the native Turks that I work with. At the beginning of the first 2 lessons, I was a little overwhelmed because I didn't think I was retaining any of it and I was struggling to recall the words. I'm not sure how but, at some point, it became almost second nature and I relaxed and the words came out. It helps that I have native Turks to converse with and I get extra practice.

I don't really see any negatives in this program except the price of the full set. I'm not sure why it is so much more but, since I'm hooked and want to know more, I'm considering buying it anyway. I guess that explains the price! I've tried to learn Spanish and French before with traditional methods and I can't speak either of them. I think the biggest thing that I noticed is my ability to understand the native speakers. They certainly do not speak it as perfectly as the people on the CDs and there are some slight variations in pronunciation but I still understand it.

I'm amazed that something actually was exactly as advertized.

Fundamental text in Linguistics and semiotic theory. Good edition - cheap and easy to read.

It's a classic and every teacher needs one. I was very glad to get this very nice copy quickly and cheaply. Thank you.

This text marks the beginnings of modern linguistics, and is a must for any linguistic bookshelf. This text is, surprisingly, somewhat difficult to find in bookstores, so I was happy to find this affordable copy at Amazon. I recommend this book, along with Bloomfield's Language, to anyone interested in the structuralist foundations of contemporary linguistics.

The thirties of the last century cradled the birth and growth of structuralist Linguistcs in many horizons like phonology ,grammar , etc ... and if we were about to ask who embraced that stream , we would - undebatably - find the name of Ferdinand De Saussure.

This fine book of his explained his structural approach to language and established a series of theoretical distinctions that have become basic to the study of linguistics.

Saussure made a differentiation between the (actual speech) or what we call a spoken language ,and the knowledge underlying speech that speakers share about (what is) grammatical.
For Saussure speech represents instances of grammar and the mission of the linguist is to find the underlying rules of a particular language from examples found in speech.
this is different than the descriptivist's p.o.v ,since the structuralist sees grammar as a set of relationships that account for speech ,rather than a set of instances of speech.

Once you grasp the main concepts of this oeuvre you can go further by reading Bloomfield's works on Structuralism.

Ferdinand De Saussure was well known as the father of modern literary structuralism, but he was also an avid lover of the modern sausage! De Saussure, "the sausage" (as his good friends called him) was a fun loving linguist.

I was in the bookstore yesterday and the title of this book caught my eye. My first thought was "Why the @*!# should I control my cursing? That's when it struck me that my language has gotten a bit um...colorful lately and I bought the book. I'm happy to say that it's entertaining, clever and it makes it's case. Will it make me curb my salty tounge in the future? Well, for a little while anyway, yes.

I bought this book because it received high ratings in one of my magazines: sort of half as a joke and half because I did feel like I was cussing too much.

This book was hilarious and not at all preachy. He used humor very effectively for deterring cussing. He's right, when you think about what you are ACTUALLY, literally saying...a lot of cuss phrases sound really stupid.

The personal narratives were also really effective. Not only did you see how this kind of negativity hurt others but sometimes...when you actually see the cussing in print it's embarrassing. What I am saying is, when you read it you realize that you may be being a little irrational.

A great book...a humorous look at working towards a behavior change. Good fun.

Ooh, this book made me cringe. I recognized myself more times than I cared to. I bought this book for the specific reason to help me curb my cursing and not only did it curb it, it has pretty much eliminated it.

Mr. O'Connor does an excellent job keeping the reader's attention. I appreciated his explanation of the two types of cursing: causal and casual. I have been able to eliminate casual cursing from my vocabulary and for the most part do very well with causal cursing even to the point of hopping around shouting 'shoot, shoot, shoot' when I stumped my toe recently.

I wish this book were required reading in public schools. My son's junior high is rife with colorful language. I know his language must have been just as bad as everyone elses. I had him and his buddy read through the book, and even through faked shocked giggles at the list of 'dirty' words the book got the point across to them and I've noticed that their language has cleaned up. I've even seen a dramatic decreases in the "Oh Gods" and "Gods" they say. They both said the book made a point of letting them know how ignorant they looked when their language was peppered with foul words. No, I didn't get them to read all the book but enough to make a difference.

Who am I? Well, suprisingly enough, a middle class college educated housewife with a strong religious backing who had found her language filled with the 'f' word and the cursing habit seemed ingrained and hard to break. Until I read Mr. O'Connor's book. Cringe, cringe, cringe....but it was worth the squirming hard look at myself to break this habit. I have been relatively curse free now for three months. The lessons learned in this book are not easily forgotten!

I first learned about this book when I saw the author (and two imposters) on the game show "To Tell the Truth". One of the panelists, comedienne Paula Poundstone (besides picking the wrong guy as the REAL James V. O'Connor), seemed to have a problem with the very idea of people encouraging others and themselves to clean up their language. After all, she curses and even allows her children to curse. Well, Paula, I think even you might enjoy this book if you actually read it. Far from advocating censorship, this book can be a valuable help to those who want to curb something that is as much a bad habit as smoking. Plus it is very entertaining, even hilarious in some places.

O'Connor is assuredly no stick-in-the-mud. There are probably more bad words used in this book than in 95% of the books out there, but they are there to make a point. When you read how these words are used, you can see how ridiculous they really sound. Plus, he gives many ideas for word substitutes, but he goes beyond that. Differentiating between "casual" and "causal" cursing, he suggests that it is easier to get rid of casual swearing. As for the causal, he attempts to attack it at the root, which is often anger and frustration, and points out that an attitude change is what is needed. If nothing else, this book makes you more aware of your use of language and how it affects you at work, at home, and, yes, in traffic. I know a guy who read this book and his cursing was curbed almost immediately because he was more aware and alert to it. (What, do you think I'm talking about myself? Hey, someone who knows me might be reading this right now, so keep your doggoned mouth shut!)

A surprisingly entertaining read with a lession for all of us.If you want to clean up your mouth-or clean up your act-I strongly recommend Mr. O'Connor's highly original book.

John Christopher writes some pretty gripping science fiction novels about alien invasions (The Tripod trilogy) catastrophic shifts in the earth's weather (The Long Winter) and terrifying tales of the savagery that humans revert to when civilization breaks down (A Wrinkle In The Skin)-- potent stuff indeed. His books share with JG BALLARD a fascination for post-apocalyptic settings but are really psychological character studies about how people change to fit their environments. This book is perha...more John Christopher writes some pretty gripping science fiction novels about alien invasions (The Tripod trilogy) catastrophic shifts in the earth's weather (The Long Winter) and terrifying tales of the savagery that humans revert to when civilization breaks down (A Wrinkle In The Skin)-- potent stuff indeed. His books share with JG BALLARD a fascination for post-apocalyptic settings but are really psychological character studies about how people change to fit their environments. This book is perhaps Christopher at his starkest and most frightening. A man simply tries to take his family safely out of London to his brother's farm in the North after a genetically engineered bio-weapon gets out of control and wipes out the world's food supply, causing anarchy and chaos to erupt all over the globe.It is interesting to note that on the page the protagonist's actions and "him or me" ethos seem to make much more sense than they do in Cornel Wilde's gonzo 1970 film adaptaion, where the main character comes off as much more trigger-happy and casually lethal & ruthless than in the novel

This is one of the few books that having read at school I have returned to read numerous times. It is a fiction about a world surving, or not, against a virus which attacks all grasses. The determination by the party of people we follow while reading the book is ruthless, yet understandable.The book really draws you in and is difficult to put down. There have been times when I have been able to liken this novel to real life, for example when the United Kingdom faced Foot and Mouth recently, and when we had the Petrol Crisis. At times like this I think back to the book and wonder, could it turn out like that? Anyone who has read the book will agree, lets hope not.

Well, This book is one of a few books that you can't put down, it moves well, never stalls and should be put on to a reading list for schools.

Vast modernisation is already underway, aided by mans increasing desire for new technology. A biotechnology company is about to proceed with something of unspeakable horror.

Cross-contaimination and the swift death of ALL forms of vegetation on an international scale lead to global starvation.

Love for nature and love alone hold no place in society now. These ruthless biotech companies exploit the general public and fade away when the smoke hits the fan.

The scorched skies are a grim reminder of the naplam dropped before them in a bid to save mankind from the death of grass.

This isn't the latest book I've read but it is probably the best book I have read in a long time. It's a basic end of the world story. Some disease attacks plants of the grass family, eventually spreading across the whole world wiping out a pretty hefty portion of the world's food supply. So with no wheat and no rice things get a little tense, especially when all the livestock starve to death. And so it goes. All of it. And, like all such stories, there is a band of survivors seeking salvation; in this case a brother's natural fortress of a valley farm.

The action isn't particularly quick but I was on the edge of my seat pretty much the whole way through the book. It's not that it is suspenseful (I had figured the general shape of the story early on), it's how so normally some people approach this incredible disaster. Don't get me wrong, Christopher isn't a stilted writer and there are plenty of characters who act just like you would expect people to act in a whole-world-goes-belly-up situation. This story is about what happens when a bunch of people start thinking for themselves calmly and rationally about the titanic heap of crap they are in rather than wait for a festering mob of self-interested politicians to tell them what to do and that everything will be just fine. Then, these people start to act. They start tossing away social 'norms' like smelly old shoes as the situation worsens and brutality means survival. The protagonists don't actually become brutes themselves. They just figure out which brutal actions mean the difference between their next meal and going hungry. That's what kept me on the edge of my seat. The incredible tension that built up within and between characters as they consciously crawled down off the lofty moral peak of Western Civilisation into something less than barbarism, more or less intellectually intact. Christopher's writing delivers this tension right into your core.

Unlike my reviews, Christopher's descriptions aren't peppered with colourful simile and metaphor. They are crystal clear so that you really get the sense of the atmosphere. However, probably because he was writing in 1956, some events are kind of softened with contemporary euphemisms which kind of jolts the reader a little for their incongruity. But, it doesn't detract so much from the book as a whole and it's probably a better book for not having absolutely every detail of those events described with the same clarity as a grassless landscape. I enjoyed this book and will probably read it again.

A very good book for those who want to learn advanced concepts in OS. Since it is a open source the book is very useful in understanding how they look like. The paper quality is too good, which makes u read non stop. i luv reading this book. Price worth it. A good buy.

A BSD Bible. I never could read the Bible. I do Believe ...

650+ pages of truth and gore. I (as a sysadmin and BSD boomer) related most to the History (Ch.1) and Startup/Shutdown (final Ch.14). Memory management and other gore escapes me. GOOD JOB!

First of all you should be warned that this is not an introduction to get started with UNIX kernel programming. The Design of the UNIX Operating System by M.J. Bach provides a good general introduction to UNIX kernel programming. The design and implementation of the FreeBSD operating system is an excellent book to deepen knowledge of the UNIX kernel by looking how a current UNIX is implemented in practice. Even if you plan to write code for another kernel, working through the FreeBSD kernel with this book as a guide is a good excercise to become consious of the fundamental problems and solutions in kernel design. FreeBSD (or any of the other BSDs) is a good starting point, because the BSDs have relatively stable kernel subsystems and APIs due to the long cycles in BSD development.

The writing style of the authors is to the point (don't expect a novel) and clear. The troff typesetting of the book gives it a consistent style and simple, but clear diagrams (though I heard that some diagrams were hand-drawn). The book doesn't just drop the reader in a kernel subsystem. The second chapter gives a detailed explanation of the various kernel subsystems, and the relation between the subsystems. The third chapter gives a summary of what is expected from a kernel from the user level. Combined these two chapters give the reader the necessary conception of the FreeBSD kernel to start looking at individual parts of the kernel in detail. Most remaining chapters are logically ordered, in that subsystems are ordered from parts with less dependencies to parts with more dependencies (e.g. memory management and I/O are covered before filesystems).

If you are interested in UNIX programming, you should have this book on your bookshelf (as well as a CVS checkout of the FreeBSD kernel tree to read the implementation).

For the other side of the story, you may wish to check out the most recent "Inside Microsoft Windows" or "Microsoft Windows Internals" by Mark Russinovich.

Before I encountered this book it was quite a bit of frustration in attempt to learn BSD and UNIX to the point I can really use it. For some reason there so many good books in a subject with one of two inclinations: or the book is too theoretical and very little of the real workflow provided or it is too down to earth and it is difficult to understand what is behind the sophisticated command line zingers.
I found this book to be well balanced, well written and generally providing good, accessible way to get into BSD. I have followed advise in someone's review here and coupled this book with Linux and UNIX for a beginner training suite, 4DVDs + 2CDs includes 4 Unix Academy Certifications ed.2008. To my great surprise I have to say they really have made an outstanding training outfit!
If you really ready for a training and do not expect that UNIX will come to you overnight it is worthy book and deserves your attention.

This book gives a basic description of a right brained visual learning style and some very easy to implement strategies for helping right brained learners.

Then I read this book and applied a few of the very simple exercises into his everyday routine. Last year he received his MFA in photography and experimental animated film from the California Institute of the Arts. He now has a job at USC and is excited that one of the benefits it offers is free classes. He wants to pursue a degree in Civil Engineering! Most importantly he is happy and proud of himself, with good reason.

This book saved his life!

This book is a fantastic resource for activities on right-brained learning. Vitale's format is very easy to follow. The lessons are practical and easy to use. I have used this book in my classroom and have found that the lessons engage students and help them to understand difficult concepts.

I read this book twelve years ago. As a homeschool mom it helped me understand the ways I needed to work with my child. Now, as he approaches graduation...he is a musician and speaks two languages fluently. I will never forget the day this book fell into my hands!

about brain mysteries and learning. Her book helps to make a dent in that pathway of mystery. She gives practical advice as well as personal stories to support her point of view. This is a must have for any teacher.

Brian Garner is the man. He had me hooked from Legal Writing in Plain English. Modern legal Usage gives the modern legal writer confidence to dispense with legalese and write with precision. I will use this book as a reference throughout my career.

As an editor of legal newsletters, I do not know what I would do without this absolutely necessary tool of the trade. Not only do I, a non-attorney, find it indispensible, but my colleagues who are members of the Bar are constantly borrowing my copy "just to check." And whatever they, or I, am checking--it's in there.

Garner has a way of condensing solid and often very intricate information into a few paragraphs so succinct, and so informative, that anyone can understand. When one is rushing against a deadline, editing for and about attorneys and the law, reaching for Garner often makes the difference.

I would give up my dictionary before I would part with this book, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Garner has earned his place in the annals of legal writing and editing, and I hold him--and this book--in the highest esteem.

I'm starting my second year of law school. I got this book near the end of my first year, and it proved to be an invaluable tool for editing journals and working for law firms over the summer. I wish I had this earlier.

As a side note, I would strongly recommend this book over Garner's American Usage if you are in a legal field. Even non-legal terms are covered in a way more useful to legal writing.

This is a must-have and a must-read by all who use the English language professionally, including attorneys, journalists, teachers, etc.

This is, by far, the single best resource on legal usage one can buy. I never cease to be amazed at how often I pull this book off of my shelf to find it giving me a clear and accurate answer to a usage question. I purchased this book several years ago after attending one of Garner's legal writing seminars. That seminar and this book have dramatically improved my legal writing skills. Those two tools positively influence my writing every single day. If you follow Garner's advice and guidance, you will eliminate deadening and condescending legalese from your legal writing and replace it with clear and concise prose. My clients appreciate receiving contracts that are actually readable and my contracts are less frequently subject to alternative interpretations because ambiguities are largely eliminated. As a lawyer or paralegal, do yourself a favor and buy this book. Better yet, buy this book and take Garner's Advanced Legal Drafting seminar. You won't regret it.

When it comes to slander Austria almost to the point of ridiculousness, Thomas Bernhard has no peer. In this book he gives vent to his well-known hatred for the country through the character of Franz-Josef Murau, a middle-aged Austrian writer self-exiled in Rome who bears resemblance to many Bernhard's characters and ultimately to the author himself. By means of Bernhard's visceral, vertiginous prose, with touches of off-color humor and ironic resignation, Murau ruthlessly inquires into his own soul as he tries to unravel his painfully disenchanted past and come to terms with his dreary origins. A good novel by an interesting writer.

This was his latest novel to appear in English. It is masterfully constructed,elegantly disturbing and satisfyingly challenging.

Extinction is undoubtly one of the most powerfull litrature creation in the last 20 years. Bernhard takes his readers to a journy in his main charcter's (we don't know his name) obssesive mind or better say a journy in our own mind. Bernhard forces us to think, to contemplate our life and values, and the sharp mirror that he puts infront of us makes it a very hard task to do. This precious creation has a relevant political insight. When you see the current political scene in Bernhard's homeland, Austria, you can just admire his brave look on his country's malaises a country which refuses to stand and face it's Nazi past. Jurg Heider success in the last National election colors Bernhard work in a very realistic color.

There is great joy to be had from this wonderful book. Its first joy is its prose - sparkling in its clarity, musical, effortless - which carries one along on a journey through the thoughts and feelings of Viennese 48 year old Franz-Joseph Murau. Intellectual resident of Rome, alienated by choice from his Austrian family, friend to Archbishop Spadolini(who is also his mother's lover!), he receives a telegram that his father, mother and brother have died in a car accident making him at one stroke inheritor of the family's wealthy estate. He is now MASTER OF WOLFSEGG. The first half of the novel THE TELEGRAM concerns his recollections of childhood and relationships and events that shaped his life. Example: " At first we always tell ourselves that our parents naturally love us, but suddenly we realise that, equally naturally, they hate us for some reason - that is to say, we appear to them as I appeared to mine, as a child that didn't conform with their notion of what a child should be, a child that had gone wrong. They had not reckoned with my eyes which probably saw everything I was not meant to see when I opened them. First, I looked in DISBELIEF, as they say, when I stared at them, and finally, one day I SAW THROUGH THEM, and they never forgave me, could NOT forgive me.(p 76)" The second half of the novel THE WILL concerns his attendance at the estate where he oversees the funeral and greets and reflects upon the range of visitors paying their respects.

Example: "In ROME I often lay on my bed, unable to stop thinking of how our nation was guilty of thousands, tens of thousands, of such heinous crimes, yet remained silent about them. The fact that it keeps quiet about these thousands and tens of thousands of crimes is the greatest crime of all, I told my sisters. It's this silence that's so sinister, I said. It's that nation's silence that's so terrible, even more terrible than the crimes themselves.(p 231)" This bare outline of the two parts cannot prepare you, dear reader, for the experiences of this novel. It is as if one becomes privy as another Viennese Mr Freud did, to the real secrets of the heart of an individual, an individual nevertheless, shaped by the world in which he was born but determined to realise some truths about that world. WE are privy then to the feelings, equivocations, doubts, fears, guilt and searching. It is a revalatory experience, scaldingly honest, which provides one man's analysis of 20th Century Austrian culture, including National Socialism, the class system, religion, architecture, cuisine et al. Sometimes mocking, sometimes self excoriating, sometimes savagely funny, we travel with Mr Murau through his thoughts and feelings at this turning point in his history. In the end, Mr Murau makes a stunning act of redemption which concludes his statement and rounds off this wonderful work of literature on a joyous note. Please accompany, or perhaps follow,this novel with a large dose of HAYDN. Most modern novels pale into the ordinary compared to this work.

"Extinction" is the story of Franz-Josef Murau, a wealthy Austrian gentleman living in Rome as a private tutor in German literature. His tastes run to the esoteric and philosophical, and his relationship with his student, Gambetti, is intellectually mutual. He has just returned to Rome from the wedding of his younger sister, Caecilia, to an "obese wine cork manufacturer," held at the family estate in Austria, called Wolfsegg. At the wedding were his parents, older brother Johannes, and his other younger sister, Amelia.

He receives a telegram in Rome: "Parents and Johannes killed in accident." For the first half of this 320-page book (each half being one unbroken paragraph!), he describes his life, and his narration becomes a deep reflection on his childhood and life to date. He delivers a marvelous psychological portrait of himself, as well as the family members who have just died, and his long-dead Uncle Georg, whom he remembers with great fondness. He hates his family deeply, and the feeling is mutual. He is a philosopher, they are down to earth. He is an aesthete, but they are simple folks. He is a scholar, but they are hunters and farmers, despite their fantastic wealth and their prosperous family estate. Only Uncle George understood him, artistic, free-spirited, and educated. Franz-Josef reflects passionately on his current situation, and tells us many stories of himself and his family.

For the second half of the book, he describes the funeral at Wolfsegg. Lacking parents and older siblings, he is now the master of the estate. His sisters look to him for leadership. He must now decide what to do with the estate. Will he move back to Wolfsegg in Austria, a land he loves, but an estate he hates? Will he pass it to his sisters and remain in Rome, a city he cherishes more than any other? Bernhard will stun the reader with the beauty of the resolution, but will do it in his own literary fashion.

During the story, we learn Franz-Josef disdains Catholicism and National Socialism (i.e., Nazism) in equal parts. His mother had been having an affair with a Catholic Archbishop in Rome, a relationship which was supposedly secret, but which all her children seem to know of. The Archbishop is a close family friend, and will certainly visit the estate for the funeral. His father had many Nazi friends, unbelievably still openly Nazi all these years after the war. He tells us of the fun times he enjoyed playing at his estate's Children's Villa, and how disappointed he was when it was shuttered. He vows to open and restore it when he is master. He tells us of the five libraries---five!---scattered about the estate, similarly shuttered up, collecting dust despite a half-dozen generations' worth of valuable books stored within. He tells us childhood stories of his parents, his brother, and his sister, all disdainful, and heaps contempt upon his brother-in-law, whose name he cannot even bring himself to utter, in generous proportions. At one point, he bathes in his father's bath, and wears some of his clothes. Is this a metaphor for his feelings? We learn that he blames his father only for being such a simple man, but hates his mother passionately, for dragging his father into the mud.

We struggle with the idea that this is an unreliable narrator, and we are only hearing one side of a two-sided story, but unlike Italo Svevo's masterpiece, "Confessions of Zeno", it is clear that despite this narrator's one-sided story, there is no reason to disbelieve him. He is as critical of himself as of others, and he demonstrates the pettiness and crudeness of his family in many different ways. We trust him, not only because he is self-critical, but because despite his self-confidence, he is not a fool. We also learn some untoward truths about his family, and a few hidden secrets, which cannot be dismissed, even from the most unreliable narrator. His angst comes from a simple sentiment, expressed early on: "I can't abolish my family just because I want to." He struggles to resolve the question of extinction: Must he extinguish himself to satisfy his family? Must his family be extinguished to satisfy himself?

Finally, after a rollicking narration of heartfelt emotions and deeply-help philosophies, Bernhard's narrator demonstrates how he chooses to reconcile his thoughts and feelings, his inheritance and his sisters, his legacy and his future, and all the elements demonstrated through the length of the novel braid together like a jewel. Bernhard's prose is difficult for those unfamiliar with experimental or cutting-edge literature, but actually not very difficult once one tries. Curious readers will greatly enjoy engaging their mind with this book. If they wish to sample a smaller work before digging into this one, Bernhard's "Yes" is another masterpiece of style and depth. Both are rewarding, brilliant works from a literary master.