Buccaneer Books

Consistant with the extremely high quality of all of his work, Exodus is likely the pinnacle for Uris. The story as fiction is compelling to the last sentence. That it is framed in a context of the real events of the times brings unignorable history to the view of readers now three generations later.

Dealving into the incredible chemistry that makes the middle east an emotional as well as a physical time bomb, it is not too difficult to separate fact from fiction and in the telling of this story, the two do not conflict. The story is true, only the names were changed. This is a story for the ages; a struggle of unbelievable strength and courage.

This is one of the few books i know i will read again, and perhaps again.

This is my favorite Leon Uris, unless I just read Armageddon. The story of the birth of Israel is given while telling the story of Ari Ben Cannan, a Jewish soldier who once served in the British Army and an American nurse called Kitty Fremont who meets him while serving Jewish orphans from Europe after World War II.

Uris provides a great background to modern Israel and how the Jews who emigrated there in the 19th and 20th centuries took back the land of milk and honey.

The brutal struggle for a Jewish homeland is bitter sweet, telling of the horrors the Jews endured both during World War II and their war of independence.

As always, Uris's characters are flawed, but likeable even more because they are. This is a beautiful story and one that is important today because Israel is still fighting for its right to exist and the Palestinians do not have the homeland they were promised as part of the UN mandate as well.

Two books stand above others. One is THe pillar of the earth from Ken Follet and the other one is Exodus. Both great historical fiction with characters you can live and dream. I highly recommend.

In the same manner that Herman Wouk's "Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance" took us through the vast event that was WWII, as seen through the eyes of a family of beloved fictional characters -- so does Leon Uris' "Exodus" carry us through the labor pains and birth of the modern State of Israel, as told through the lives of a family of fictional figures in that resurrected nation.

The story is huge in scope and Uris covers a lot of territory. He takes us from the Jewish displaced persons camps of post-war Europe, through the Zionist immigration into Palestine (much of it illegal) under the British mandate, then through the rebuilding of the land and the growing skirmishes leading to all out war for survival as the British withdrew (as prescribed by the UN) and the State of Israel was birthed - and immediately and overwhelmingly attacked by the surrounding Arab nations. Miraculously, Israel overcame their attackers, survived, and even thrived.

As best I can judge from the comparison to other sources, the historical sequence of events as described by Uris is accurate. The information is highly educational. More subjectively, Uris was Jewish and writes from a Zionist perspective. He depicts the Hebrews as noble, resourceful and courageous. Generally, the Arab elements are portrayed as cruel, deceptive, cowardly, and not given to playing by the rules. The British are painted as anti-Semites. I'll leave it to the reader to root out the truth of the matter. (If there is an epic novel championing the opposing viewpoint, I am as yet unaware of it).

Uris does not neglect the spiritual aspect and the acknowledgemant of the supernatural provisional and protective hand of God . . . the God of the Hebrews. Uris employs this sometimes by intimation and sometimes very directly.

The author did masterful research and presentation relating to the historical facts. However (at least in this early novel), his character development and continuity, and dialogue, is not on par with other 20th century master novelists (Herman Wouk again for comparison). Some chacterizations are overstated, others are fluid and changing, some are borderline silly. Also, Uris could have given us a little better peek at the personalities, quirks, foibles, etc. of the historical political and military figures of the era (David Ben Gurion is barely mentioned).

Still - this is an epic piece of modern historical fiction. If you deeply love or hate Israel, this is worth the read and highly recommended.

Of all the ineptly written books in the world, this one is amongst the top five. What's worrying is not that Exodus is badly written propaganda, it's that it's badly written propaganda that's still in print several decades after it was first unleashed on the general public. Why does this book have such a large (and growing) band of followers? I've seen/read comic books with more depth.

Every disgusting stereotype about Brits and Arabs was beaten to death.
Another issue I had was with the (lack of) character development; every character (with the exception of Ari Ben Canaan) was just flat and boring. Other characters that Mr. Uris could no longer be bothered with were suddenly killed off (e.g. Ruth and Sharona). Every gentile character was a stooge, half-wit, coward, barbarian, or any combination of the above. How does this get categorised as historical fiction? Aren't books in that genre supposed to be remotely balanced? The real story is not as black and white as is portrayed here.

This book had only one redeeming quality: the stories of characters escaping persecution in Europe. The stories of Dov and Karen before they got to Cyprus were interesting. However, I would seek recommendations on the million other well-written books that deal with that topic.

With regards to Mr. Uris' writing style, he clearly thought that every other sentence was so important that it warranted the use of an exclamation mark! This book was so painfully offensive that I finally put it down at page 238! I read it because someone I love asked me to, but I had to return it! No more! No more!

If you are looking for a book that makes you think this is the one. Written in 1867, its amazing that we are still having the problems that are embellished in this lovely book. This book helped me remember I need to be more empathic to others when they are limited in thier perception. And for me to never stop dreaming.

The first contact I ever had with this book was in fourth grade when my teacher read a couple of passages as a lead-in to geometry.
That being said, I need to tell you that I hated my freshman geometry course. My teacher didn't speak English; there were all these formulas, theorems, and postulates that we had to memorize; and we spent all our time doing useless proofs. But this is getting into my high school career, and away from a review of this book.
Even though I didn't enjoy geometry, I found this book fascinating. Don't be deceived by the subtitle; it's not a love story. Abbott uses the word "romance" in the sense of "epic." I guarantee that you will stop at least once while you're reading this book to try to wrap your mind around what the fourth dimension must look like.
The only criticisms I have are about the misogyny and the pacing. In Flatland, women are treated as second-class citizens, but this is not a major theme. A few times, particularly during A Square's conversation with the King of Lineland, I got bored. But overall the book was paced well, and I'm impressed that the 19TH century churned-out any book less than two hundred pages.

Incredibly easy and direct way to give a new perspective into a 1D, 2D and 3D "space"!

Flatland is written in 1800's English, so it might be a little bit tricky to get it straight, if you aren't a native English speaker. Sphereland is straight forward!!

Highly recommended!

Originally written with a Victorian theme, it is now a must-read classic for anyone who enjoys reading about the fourth dimension. The story is about a two-dimensional being (called A Square) living in a two-dimensional world (hence the title, Flatland). As a three-dimensional being imagining this two-dimensional world, you come to realize that you can understand higher-dimensional space through lower-dimensional analogies. In fact, A Square meets a three-dimensional being (A Sphere), and takes a journey beyond the second dimension. Although some readers may enjoy the book for its historical and Victorian period merits, math lovers can enjoy the book for its geometric insight.

If you are curious about the fourth dimension, you should also read:

- Spaceland: A Novel of the Fourth Dimension, Rudy Rucker's novel of the fourth dimension
- Flatterland: Like Flatland, Only More So, a continuation of the geometric idea from Flatland
- The 4th Dimension: Toward a Geometry of Higher Reality, Rudy Rucker's classic introduction to the fourth dimension
- The Visual Guide to Extra Dimensions: Volume 1: Visualizing the Fourth Dimension, Higher-Dimensional Polytopes, and Curved Hypersurfaces, a modern geometric introduction to the fourth dimension

Yes, many young people have been required to read Flatland against their wills. Yes, many people have missed the real point of the book. This book stretched the mind and imagination in ways that are fun and challenging. The author might not have been entirely serious in writing the book, but nonetheless provided serious food for thought.

I believe Flatland is an excellent (and quick) reading experience for minds in the formative stage, a stage I recommend maintaining throughout life. The book's theological implications were the most important to me. I had always wondered where heaven might be, how God can see inside us, and what the spirit is made of. I do not know if extrapolating the Flatland concepts into a fourth (or fifth) physical dimension reflects ultimate reality, but it provides a sufficiently possible and plausible explanation to remove rationalist objections.

The 3-D sphere that intersects the plane of reality provided the "Aha" moment. The sphere embodied perfection and could mysteriously appear and disappear. Explaining the view from above the plane to a flat square is as difficult as explaining the spiritual realm to a person unable to envision beyond the world seen with the eye. A greater-dimensional being floating above the plane can see inside the geometric shapes, reach inside their skins without intersecting their boundaries, think far more complex thoughts, and take them out of their limited reality to a better place they could not have imagined. If a Flatland person had no thickness, he would have no volume by our reckoning, and therefore no real existence. If there is a spiritual dimension and a person has no thickness in that direction at all, then he may not really exist either.

We have learned to adjust to modern concepts of reality that are no longer Euclidean and Newtonian. Perhaps we need a view of creation that is not limited by unfounded presumptions of limited dimensionality. After you ponder the concepts of Flatland and extrapolate them to your life, I wonder what new thought may form.

Very good read, his experiences keep you reading and you want to find out what happens next in his life.

Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you know there is a GREAT event coming up almost a week away in New York City. The American Place Theatre's Festival: Literature to Life is performing a theatrical adaptation of BLACK BOY by Richard Wright on September 20th, 2008. Don't miss out on this wonderful opportunity to see this moving autobiography come to life. Here's the information and can't wait to see you there!

The American Place Theatre's Fourth Annual Literature to Life Festival
Citizen and Censorship: Raise Your Civic Voice!
When: September 20th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Where: The Scholastic Auditorium Landmark Soho Building
577 Broadway between Spring Street and Prince Street
Tickets: Single Show Pass $20, Single Day Pass $55, Full Festival Pass
$100
To reserve tickets contact The American Place Theatre at
212-594-4482 x10 or for more information logon to
www.americanplacetheatre.org

I read Black Boy years ago and wanted to refresh my memory of the book. The author has a way of taking you into his world. I was rivited to the pages as I was all those years ago when I first read the book. I would recommend this book to anyone, young or old.

Often when you see books written about the life of black people in any point and time before the 1960's its main message is "My life was hard because white people are terrible," and that gets very redundant. However this was quite refreshing, as he did not harp on racism on every page. This is a very well written and intresting account of this man's unique life experiences and all the strange, crazy people he encountered within his family and outside them as well. People who have a few or several nuts on their family tree will be able to relate to Black Boy.

The best autobiography EVER, in fact I am not even sure it should be called autobiography because it is much more than that for many reasons. Autobiographies are often flat and either self pitying or glorifying, but this one is completely at another level. I was so impressed by the brilliant mind that shines through all obsacles, and his writing is just so natural, logical and insightful, not just about his personal life experiences, but about human suffering, senseless oppression, and unyiedling human spirit. Wow!

This book was recommended to me, and i bought it and it sat on my shelf for a time. I got it down the other day and started reading and could not put it down. It was amazing.
I was brought back to so many memories of the deep south and the attitudes, (that still are now today) prevailing in that time.
I admire this man's courage so much. I despaired at the attitudes the white people had tword him. The look, the tone of voice, the lonliness.
When he looks into the mirror for the first time, he is greeted by, himself yet a stranger.
To walk in another man's shoes is indeed a gift of God, and to be able to have compassion for that experiance is great.
This will be one of my fave. books along with Watership Down and several others i have read over and over again.
This would be a book you could read over again and get more and more from.
Amazing book.

'Black Like Me' by John Howard Griffin was bombastic when it was first published in the early 1960s. It brazenly articulated the differences on how people, in particular the author, are treated in the Deep South based on the color of their skin. The author had his skin darkened through chemicals and ultraviolet light. He traveled from New Orleans to Atlanta by road (mostly bus) and chronicles how people looked at him differently just because he was black. For a white man he found the experience utterly appalling. It was also staggering how various white men approached the author to discuss very crude sexual matters, thinking that African-Americans are only of any value based on their sexual prowess.

This book should easily be considered five stars by most reviewers. However the book is flawed. The author is not a particularly fine writer; he has a tendency to ramble. And I feel the author has taken some journalist liberties. I wanted more of the facts about people, what they look like, what they said and did, etc. But the author seems to be inconsistent; sometimes he wants to lecture us on racism, other times he delivers a documentary on his travels.


Bottom line: an important and very shocking read. Recommended.

Before there was comic "Soul Man" etc., there was this 50's investigative memoir about a white male 'passing' as a black man to 'experience' black culture. Also, try Philip Roth's "The Stain" movie and book based on a real life BM passing for WM.

This book is the account of a white man, named John Howard Griffin, who turned himself black to study the real extent of racism. It starts out with his experiences in New Orleans as a black man. He knew about some of the things that are done to black people, but didn't know the full extent of how much white people try to degrade the sense of value or self-worth of all black people. He experiences having to walk miles ot get a drink of water, working for hours and having just eough money to eat that day, and the whites attempts at lowering all black's self worth, including the "hate stare." However, New orleans is relatively nice for Bkacks. When he reads that in Mississippi there was a lynching case the FBI had found tons of evidence for and the White grand jury wouldn't even open the packet of evidence. The mississippe folks claimed they had wonderful relationships with the Negros. Griffin had even met some of them before, and talked about there relationships with the Negros. He saw a whole new side of them when he went as a black man. He was horrified at how inhumanely people could treat other people and shares very insightful thoughts ion what racism was really like.

I would highly reccomend this book for someone to read, although it's not for younger children. it''s more for tenns and audults. It has a plethora of large words that some with smallish vocabularies might not understand. Otherwise this is one of the best boos I have ever read and I highly reccomend you read it.

Though approaching the fiftieth anniversary of the events in this book, reading BLACK LIKE ME today shows both the inroads America has made towards erasing the blight of racial intolerance, as well as the limits that America has in truly educating itself about all kinds of Hate. Indefensible Hate still exists here, and there is no indication that it will make as great a stride in the next fifty years as it has in the last fifty.

Without question, this book should be required reading for all teenagers (and adults) across the country. To understand another's perspective is the first, primary step in eradicating intolerance. This book (which is a slight bit didactic at points) is the remarkable journey of a man who bothered to really try to understand the life of the black man in the American South as best as he could. Of course he could never truly KNOW, but he certainly took pains to do what he could to understand the experience better than anyone before.

Students (eighth-graders) in my Honors Language Arts class are required to read this book, and I hope they will discover from where we as a nation have traveled. Those who easily bandy about epithets or think unkind thoughts about others (whether because of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, heritage, or ability) might get an honest sense of perspective by taking the trip with John Howard Griffin.

Better yet, after reading this book, ask yourself these questions (and I will ask my students): "If given the opportunity to change my appearance so dramatically as to appear to be from a different race for six weeks, would I do it? What would I fear going into it? Suppose I was told after four weeks that it was impossible to change back; how would it make me feel?"

For a country that falsely prides itself on equality for all, I believe that our conversations about racial equality are sorely lacking in our public dialogue. BLACK LIKE ME would be an excellent place to start a meaningful conversation.

I enjoyed the book. Now it's obvious where lots of information came from that appears in later Titanic books.

Walter Lord did his homework on the Titanic's fateful night in this unforgettable and memorable book. He did not need to create fiction or suggest anything to the contrary. In fact, he writes about it from the survivor's perspectives. Despite the horrors, what shocked me was the situation in the lifeboats in the aftermath of shell-shocked people who have watched their loved ones, mostly their husbands, go down with the ship. I don't know why California didn't seek to assist them or inquire about the distress signals. We'll never know what makes people ignore others in time of great distress. When the Carpathia arrived to pick up the survivors, they are shocked by the news that Titanic is gone and they are the only ones to tell a shocking story of so many people's last moments on earth. Forget James Cameron's movie, this book is real and faithful to those fifteen hundred men, women, and children who perished as it is to the survivors who never recovered fully. Because of the Titanic disaster, every ship since was required by international shipping law to have enough lifeboats for everybody on ship and supplies during the worst of disasters. The last pages of the book are the names of those who died and survived. Where they embarked for their final destination to New York City but most of them would never make it there. I remember survivor Eva Hart who lost her father in the disaster that it was all about arrogance. The ship had to be fast, unsinkable, and yet the disaster was unthinkable. She said her mother, Miriam Hart, lashed back with a comment that has stuck with me for years that when saying the ship is unsinkable is like tempting fate to occur. Mrs. Hart, Eva's Mother, spent her nights awak and days asleep as if a premonition of this ship never making New York City. This story was not included in this book but Walter Lord does his best and it's remarkable that he prefers facts to rumors or gossip. It has taken me years to read this book maybe because of all those who perished still resonate with the Titanic's ultimate fate. The Titanic was the ultimate ship and none has ever come close in the ship's genius, magnificience, style, and sophistication. The third class passengers never enjoyed it. The second and first class passengers must have felt like they were in heaven with first class service catered to their needs and fancies. Rest in Peace, Titanic, and all those who have sailed with you on that fateful trip. You will always be in my heart as the ship of dreams and destiny.

At 11:40 p.m. on the night of April 14, 1912, the White Star liner Titanic, on its maiden voyage to New York, struck an iceberg in the north Atlantic. Less than three hours later, the ship known to the world as "unsinkable" was on her way to the bottom of the sea.

The unexpectedness of the event, along with the shocking number of lives lost (more than 1500 by most estimates) and the many stories of carelessness and incompetence contributing to the disaster, cemented the Titanic into the collective consciousness of Western culture. Countless articles, exhibits, books, and movies (the most famous, released in 1997, grossed over $1.8 billion in worldwide revenue) have documented and fictionalized various aspects of the tragedy. Even nearly a hundred years later, it would be difficult to find someone who had never heard of the Titanic.

In 1955, while many of the survivors of the Titanic's first and only voyage were still alive--and before the journalistic novel became fashionable as a genre--Walter Lord researched and wrote a minute-by-minute account of what happened during the ship's final night. Called A Night to Remember, Lord's account provides an interesting blend of minute details and broad sweeping overviews in its description of what happened onboard the ship.

The book is easy to read and goes very quickly. Lord gives his prose a very journalistic feel, with short sentences and easy language. Entertaining is hardly the right word to use for a description of an event that claimed so many lives, but compelling describes the account pretty well. Lord puts readers right on the deck of the doomed ship, and then right into the lifeboats and, later, into the courtrooms and newspaper editors' offices during the aftermath of the sinking.

Chapters are entitled with snippets of the dialog that occurs within each. Examples include "There's Talk of an Iceberg, Ma'am," "God Himself Could Not Sink This Ship," "There Is Your Beautiful Nightdress Gone," and, perhaps most poignant, "Go Away--We Have Just Seen Our Husbands Drown."

The book's primary weakness is that in trying to include glimpses of so many people's experiences, Lord was mostly unable to go into much depth with any of the individual characters. Unlike later books in this genre--such as Blackhawk Down or The Perfect Storm, both of which describe in detail the experiences of a relatively small number of people during catastrophic events--A Night to Remember has to catalogue the experiences of over 2,000 individuals. Lord manages to include a lot of names, but without any background or detail, they quickly become meaningless.

Though the scope of the book (probably necessarily) minimizes the amount of emotion connected with the tragedy, there are a few emotive moments when the reader realizes along with a child or a wife that a beloved husband or father will not be coming on a lifeboat. Depictions of the wireless operator sleeping onboard the nearby Californian, panicky passengers in lifeboats violently refusing to assist drowning swimmers, and determined high-society men donning formal evening dress to "go down like gentlemen" evoke flashes of emotion as well.

Overall, the book is worth reading for its historically accurate picture of what actually happened on that cold April night. Though it's no literary masterpiece, it is informative and interesting, particularly for anyone who has seen James Cameron's movie or read Clive Cussler's book and would like to know the real story. The book contains nothing objectionable (except for the event itself), and is suitable for any reader. I recommend it without reservation.

I just re-read Night to Remember for the first time in many years, and was reminded why it got me hooked on Titanic lore. It is truly the definitive book on Titanic and one of the best works of narrative history ever written. Its pacing, style, and most importantly its factual underpinning make it a timeless classic,

Two things set A Night to Remember apart from every other book and film on the subject of the Titanic:

First, with the exception of the ship breaking up as it sank (and the official record, with its conflicting testimony, shows it could have been written either way in 1955) and the use of the first SOS (which Lord corrected in later editions), there is not a single fact in the book that has ever been proven wrong. And, oh, how supporters of Capt. Lord of the Californian have tried.

Second, this is not a book about the sinking of the Titanic so much as it is a book about the PEOPLE involved in the event of the sinking. Take just the first sentence of the first chapter: "High in the crow's-nest of the new White Star Liner Titanic, Lookout Frederick Fleet peered into the dazzling night." Remember back to your English grammar classes and you will note that the subject of this sentence is a person, not a ship. So it is throughout the rest of the book. As readers, are we not more compelled by people rather than objects? Of course we are.

And as Walter Lord reminds us from the first that this is a story about people, so does he employ the expertise of a reporter and the flair of a novelist. The reporter . . . Who? Frederick Fleet. What? He peered. When? Night. Where? The Titanic's crow's-nest. Why? He was a Lookout. But by dressing up these facts with a few choice words and phrases ("High up", "new", "dazzling"), Lord draws us in dramatically.

Over the years, science and technology have given us greater insight into the building, operation, and physical break-up of the Titanic. But no one has ever come close to Walter Lord in recreating and relating the events of the night of April 14 - 15, 1912.

"Cheaper by the Dozen" is a wonderful, entertaining portrayal of life in the early part of the last century, combined with universal themes about family life that today's readers can very much relate to. As a member of a family of 10 children from New Jersey growing up in the middle of the twentieth century, this book about a large family from New Jersey in the early twentieth century particularly resonated with me. It was and still is one of my favorites. Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, were pioneers in scientific management and engineering, and this book portrays their entertaining adventures in applying these techniques to the raising of their 12 children. After not having read "Cheaper by the Dozen" in over twenty years, I recently read it again with my teenage son, and thoroughly enjoyed it - even more so than I had as a child, with the added perspective of parenthood. It is highly entertaining, and I literally had tears in my eyes I laughed so hard in certain sections.

The book is written by two of the Gilbreth "dozen". Its anecdotal style is mostly light and entertaining, and a certain amount of poetic license was taken in writing about actual events. It should not be viewed as a completely accurate historical biography of the Gilbreth's, nor was that the intent. (If you are looking for that I would recommend "Time Out for Happiness", by Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr., and "Making Time" by Jane Lancaster, both of which are generally available. Internet searches will also lead you to lots of additional information, pictures and even some film footage of the Gilbreths.)

Although sometimes portrayed as a book appropriate for children, I would not recommend this book for pre-teens for a number of reasons. First off, some of the language (although relatively mild by today's standards) as well as issues discussed (such as those hinted at and referenced in stories about the older daughters dating) are really not appropriate for pre-teens. Secondly, and my only real criticism of the book, is that there a few portions and references which were acceptable by the standards of 1948 when this book was published, but would now be considered less appropriate and insensitive: a small section containing a stereo-typical portrayal of a Chinese cook, a brief mention of the parents putting on a minstrel show to entertain the children (which went over my head as a teenage reader), and the referral by Mrs. Gilbreth to off-color language as "Eskimo". These are reflective of the time period, but a bit of guidance for younger readers on these issues might be useful (for my son, I used these as "teachable moments" regarding how standards have changed). I still highly recommend the book as an entertaining, fun read both for teenagers and adults.

Everyone who has a funnybone needs to listen to this story. I read it as a child and it was hysterical to me then, and now as I sit and listen to it read, with some feeling...it is only funnier. And yet it is filled with the warmth of a family that loves and tries to know and understand one another--with all its warts and foibles. It's very real. Real; funny. Do yourself, or someone who needs a good laugh, a very real favor...get hold of this original audio story of "Cheaper By the Dozen." And ENJOY.

We are a family that loves to be together. In the car sometimes we run out of things to talk about and the radio is not always the best for our 6 and 8 year old. So at the library we saw this and gave it a try. The kids books on tape make my husband and I fall asleep. So we went for this knowing nothing about it. Not big TV watching family. We loved it.We could not listen if not all four of us were not in the van or someone would get up set. It was nice. We still talk about this book on cd about the Dad and the family we have fell in love with. We got Marly and Me and that was nice but this was GREAT.

While some might consider "Cheaper by the Dozen" to be a children's book, I found it funny and interesting as well. As an only child, it was bewildering to even consider the idea of such a large family! In addition, I loved the father's motion study antics. Recommended for anyone seeking a lighthearted but worthwhile read.

It is very, very rare to come across a book that is purely and simply fun to read. The reason that this book is a classic is that it has managed to be just this. This is the story of Frank Gilbreth, his wife, and their twelve children around the turn of the 20th century. If you imagine that a family of fourteen would provide many, many occasions for humor, you would be very correct. This book is an account, written by two of those twelve children, of the many interesting and humerous events which befell them growing up in such a large family. The family is made even more enjoyable and strange by the extremely unique father who was a pioneer of motion-study, and who did such things as covering the walls of their home with lessons about astronomy, morse-code, etc. It is very interesting to read, but, most of all, it is very, very fun.

My only complaint is about the absolutely horrible cover on the new version. Why on earth would you use the cover from the Steve Martin movie with the same title as the cover for this book, which bears NO connection to the book except that it is about a large family? It is an incredibly tastless and transparent attempt to cash in on Martin's popularity.

Overall grade: A+

Even though the characters in Uncle Tom's Cabin are "fictional", the story is realistic about American slavery during the life of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin met a great deal of resistance in the south, because it exposed the skeleton in America's closet. Abraham Lincoln said to the Stowe...."so you're the little lady who started the great war". Stowe is not an impressive novelist; her writing lacks literary style. But that doesn't matter. Stowe is recognized for her courage to confront the world with a frank and uninhibited portrayal of American slavery.

I jumped into this book mainly to work on reading lists that i had seen it appear on. I did have the vague idea that most people do of what it is about, but would of been hard pressed to really give any serious detail of the story before hand. So after a little research i jumped in, and this was my experience.
While the novel overall was good, i must admit that I was very glad when it was finally finished. The tale follows several different characters and the different fates that they have according to the choices they have made. The characters are very well drawn out, although today many would be considered somewhat stock. I think it will be a long time before I forget Tom, Eva, or St.Clare for instance. The tale does set up a brillant bit of emotional drama, and brings forth a moral tale in such a way i'm almost shocked that it was so popular. In today's society I can't imagine that a story with such strong overtone's would be successful. The writing today is still clear and fairly easy to read. The quality of the prose and the sentances to have their moments as well. Sometimes the religion and the moralizing does come on very strongly, but along with the sentimentalness one can forgive the author when realizing the massive evil insitution she was facing.
This is probably not a book that the average reader will read for kicks. However, from a literary and historical perspective it is quite great. It is slightly scary to imagine where the world would have been without it as well.

1. SLAVERY WASN'T SO BAD AFTER ALL. I was surprised to find out that this book supported slavery. Of course, you have to wade through the melodrama and Christian speechifying -- about 95% of the book -- to get at Ms Stowe's thesis, but once you do it becomes clear. To Ms Stowe, slavery and capitalism are just different manifestations of evil human greed (St. Claire's speech, pp 239-241 in my edition). Old slavers who whipped their charges to death must be smiling now, knowing that they're being compared to the Rockefellers, Carnegies, and Bill Gates.

Ms Stowe deems many factors that separate capitalism and slavery to be irrelevant. The fact that under capitalism families weren't separated is irrelevant. The fact that people could emigrate freely is also irrelevant. The fact that people were not forced off their farms and into the cities is irrelevant. The fact that proletariat, even in Ms Stowe's day, were protected by labor laws is irrelevant. The fact that life expectancy for the proletariat increased vis à vis farmers is irrelevant. The fact that the proletariat were not chosen for racist reasons is irrelevant. The fact that a worker could become an entrepreneur and eventually a capitalist is also irrelevant.

2. CHRISTIANITY DOESN'T CONDEMN SLAVERY. Ms Stowe does a fine job (inadvertently) of showing that Christianity contains doctrine that supports slavery, and no doctrine that outright condemns it.

3. AMERICA IS FOR AMERICAN INDIANS. Ms Stowe states at the end of chapter 43 that Topsy, after receiving a decent Christian upbringing, became a teacher in "her own country" -- Africa. Ms Stowe believes that Africa is Topsy's country because she is descended from Africans, and conversely that the United States is not Topsy's country. Of course, if one were to apply the same logic to everyone in the U.S., only native Americans would pass the test. Pack your bags everyone!

This novel delivers the truth of the horrifying effects of slavery on both the slave and the master; delivering the message that slavery is damaging to society as a whole. 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' is a historic classic but it is also very relevant for today. I believe this novel should be read by everyone so that slavery will always be understood as a terrible and frightening condition that affects entire societies. Also, 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' is not a difficult read; the writing feels fresh and it is truly a page-turner.

For whatever reasons, I'm one of those who, over the years, never gave "Uncle Tom's Cabin" much thought. I'm afraid I dismissed the book based on the derogatory cliche of describing a complacent black man as an Uncle Tom. What a pleasure to find how wrong I was.

Although the style of narration, the punctuation style of the day and the evolution of contractions, compound words and other bits of syntax show this book to be from the mid 1800s, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is a modern novel. It is largely without the stifling level of detail offered in other books of the time, and it pushes the concept of omniscient narrator (perhaps along the lines of Vonnegut in "Breakfast of Champions") to a level that would likely be absurd in another story and purpose.

And Harriet Beecher Stowe did have a purpose - a daring, countervailing, completely forward-thinking challenge to the complacency of the day. The action of the story concludes in the second-to-last chapter. In the last chapter, called simply "Concluding Remarks," Stowe, referring to herself in third person, explains how she came to write the book, and in so doing pulls the reader beyond the realm of fiction in order to cap off her sermon. And a 500-page sermon is exactly what "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was and is.

To quote Stowe from the last chapter, "For many years of her life, the author avoided all reading upon or allusion to the subject of slavery, considering it as too painful to be inquired into, and one which advancing light and civilization would certainly live down. But, since the legislative act of 1850, when she heard, with perfect surprise and consternation, Christian and humane people actually recommending the remanding escaped fugitives into slavery, as a duty binding on good citizens,- when she heard, on all hands, from kind compassionate and estimable people, in the free states of the North, deliberation and discussions as to what Christian duty could be on his head,- she could only think, These men and Christians cannot know what slavery is; if they did, such a question could never be open for discussion. And from this arose a desire to exhibit it in a LIVING DRAMATIC REALITY [emphasis the author's]. She has endeavored to show it fairly, in the best and worst phases. In its BEST [emphasis the author's] aspect, she has, perhaps, been successful; but, oh! Who shall say what yet remains untold in that valley and shadow of death, that lies the other side?"


Within the narrative arts can be found a gray area between complete fiction and straightforwrad documenting. Within this area itself is a fine line of storytelling that sheds the fluff factor of fiction and the yawn factor of documentation. A story told along this line is not only compelling but offers to the receiver of the story a glimpse of what a life in the world depicted by the story must have been like. Or at the very least might have been like. This glimpse, whatever else it is, will be visceral, allowing the reader an actual emotional link. Finding this line is hard, staying on it harder and pulling off a finished work while remaining true to the line harder still. This is what Stowe did, a century before such a point of view emerged again in Americam media.

As such, Stowe explains that many of the characters are based on real people - yes, there really was a man as horrible as Simon Legree - and that most of the events in the book were based on true events known to her personally or through trusted reporting. This novelizing of reality was so compelling the book would be translated into twenty-two languages.


It would be relatively easy to take sentences and paragraphs out of context and reach the conclusion that Stowe decried slavery while holding the black race paternalistically. It's very possible to find any number of passages and label them as apologetic and paternalistic. There is, in fact, paternalism throughout the story, but this is a reflection of America ten years before the Civil War; and by the end of Stowe's "Concluding Remarks" this paternalism is gone.

I would describe the main apologist, St. Clare, who is keenly aware of the state of his own culture, as more of a rationalist. By making this character so, Stowe is able to open our eyes, as she opened many eyes of the day, to the subtler forms of defacto slavry - not at all to excuse slavery in general as some kind of natural order, but to bear witness to those toiling in other forms of captured work.

In 1851 the scullery maid of an English country home was not a slave, of course. Her employment was voluntary, after all, and at the end of a year she would have a few schillings to her name. But economically, perhaps even geographically, her freedom was largely unavailable to her, and so while not a slave under the law, the other side of her employment was the delivery of herself to twelve- or fifteen-hour days of scrubbing pots and pans. The delivery of herself to, at the end of any of those days, climbing three or four flights of a rear stairs to a garret; to a social life limited to the kitchen staff, which itself was a hierarchy that lorded over her; to little hope of marriage, if that's what she wanted, or to any sort of a life she might call her own. Why? To keep from starving to death.

And think about this today. Are you watching a 27" color TV with full remote that cost $199? Do you honestly think that set could have been made, boxed, shipped to a port in Asia, shipped by boat to the US, shipped by train and truck to your local StuffMart and sold to you profitably for one or two day's wages while every worker along the way was treated fairly? Do you care?


For the vast majority of those reading this review slavery is an abstracted and distant topic. It is a practice from a long ago past that might be given two meetings in a high school American History class, a cursory survey from which students might understand the concept of the economics of buying, selling and breeding human beings, from which they might be encouraged to imagine the suffering implicit to such practices.

Stowe's great achievment in writing "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was to belie the nuts and bolts, the mere logistics and schematics of slavery. She established for the reader the point of view of the slave, of a human life set against the legally sanctioned bureaucracy of slavery. She successfully depicted a person - an individual, a human being - sold as a product, warehoused as a product, transported as a product, and then set to use as an organic machine that was discarded and replaced when it broke. More to the point, she allows us glimpses into the inner lives, thoughts and prayers of those sold, warehoused, transported and used up while their ties to family and place, while their smallest hopes, are given credence only as an afterthought that may never coalesce. Only if, after having purchased a brother or a mother, there should be enough money remaining to buy the sister or the child. Only if it should be convenient and expedient for the planter to do so, only if it should strike that planter's fancy one particular afternoon but
not another.

This book is as meaningful today, in new ways, as it was in 1851, and that is wholly remarkable.

This is a re-read for me, and one that I have to admit doesn't hold up nearly so well as an adult. Part of this is not the fault of the book as much as it is the fault of its many imitators. The foppish irresponsible aristocrat who is actually the super-competent avenger of justice has, in the meantime, been done-- done to death-- done again-- done some more. It lacks the kick that it had when I first read it so very long ago.

None of which makes it a bad book, not at all. It is still fun to read. Lots of romantic not-quite betrayal, love and derring-do. I don't think it's really a great book, that's all.

Orczy is worth a read simply for the influence that her work has had on other later authors. Don't expect too much, and you should be pleasantly surprised.

(Has anyone out there read any of the follow-up books to Pimpernel? Despite having loved this as a kid, I never read any of the other books with Sir Percy as the main character. Are they any good? Leave me a comment and let me know.)

When I first began reading this book,I wasn't quite certain I was going to enjoy it, as the English prose wasn't quite my type. However, after the first few chapters, I became an ardent fan of this spellbinding novel! What an incredible love story it is...and it's not one of those books that you read once, and then put back on the shelf, never to be taken down again, either. It is one which you can read again and again, and each time you do, it is as new as when you FIRST read it. It is one of those few novels that retain innocent romantic dialog, and yet it is intriguingly poetic and beautiful beyond words.
Everyone I've recommended this story to, agrees with me that it is well worth reading. The story of Percy and Marguerite, quickly becomes every girl's dream love story!

This book was thoroughly enjoyable. It almost seems way ahead of it's time as an 1800s version of the modern thriller novel. This book is a great adventure and a spy thriller set in the time of the bloody French Revolution. It has romance, action, espionage, twists and turns, and fun characters. At times the plot is fairly predictable, but it still manages to keep you on the edge of your seat. This book is a fun and entertaining read if not deep. Definitely recommended as a light summer read and an alternative to much of today's popular novels.

This was such a great book that it has found itself on my re-reads for the October,the finest month. Margurite, Sir Percy, The Fishermans Rest, Dover, Calais, The Chat Gris...What a story. And That Demmed Ellusive Pimpernel. Once the book starts ,it does not stop. It rolls like a snowball. Being near the end of August now I am looking at the book on the shelf with greed. Buy it read it and savour it.

It is most unfortunate that I must disagree with the vast majority of the reviewers of this book, as I had high hopes for it after hearing it compared to the work of Dumas. I was rather disappointed with The Scarlet Pimpernel, however, as I found it to be of rather mediocre quality. It was rather unpolished compared to Dumas, which is surprising considering the haste with which Dumas penned his numerous volumes. The Scarlet Pimpernel is simply not nearly as fun and exciting as either Dumas, Stevenson, Shellabarger, or Sabatini (the other swashbuckling authors). What I found most unappealing about it was Orczy's apparent underestimation of the reader. The first three quarters of the book is obviously supossed to leave the reader guessing as to the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel, but it was rather easy to guess who it was early on in the book, and by the half-way point it was so blatantly obvious that no one could conceivably be surprised by the much-hyped discovery of the hero towards the end of the book. Add to this the over-the-top melodrama and frequently cheesy dialogue and you have the makings of an average adventure novel.

Some may think that I have been harsh with this book. That may be so, but if it is it is because I am so shocked that others dare favorably compare this to the masterpieces of Dumas, or to the great Zorro writings of McCulley. Orczy is not a terrible writer, but it is rather outrageous to compare her to the great swashbuckler authors. She is almost entirely missing the raw spirit of adventure present in others, and this spirit is at the very heart of the adventures of those like Dumas. For me there was no point in this book where I was entheusiastically turning the pages, eager to find out what would happen to the main character, following with glee each turn of events. This is not at all because the main character is female. It is because the main character is not the hero, and is not even adventuresome. To be quite frank, she is rather boring until toward the very end of the book, and even then she does not endear herself to the reader in the manner of a D'Artagnan or an Edmond Dantes. There are no supporting characters worthy of comparison to Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. Even the villains are rather boring (not to mention wooden), leaving us with little to really care about in this book. I think author's intended "hook" was supossed to be the mystery about who the Scarlet Pimpernel is, but this was entirely lost by the half-way point, so I found the last half of the book rather unremarkable.

The most redeeming merit of this book is not its enjoyability, but its historical significance. The dual persona of the hero was the inspiration for further variations on the theme, beginning with McCulley's Zorro in the early 20th century and subsequent rise of superheros. It is hard to imagine that such a motif is so recent, but we really do have Orczy to thank for that, and I am truly grateful, for The Mark of Zorro is one of my favorite books. Beyond that, however, my advice is to stick to Dumas, Stevenson, Shellabarger, and Sabatini. They are all far better than this.

Overall grade: C+

The architecture of the 900 page story is comprised with a current day story at the Tell, an archeological dig in Israel, where artifacts and maps are introduced with a brief interpretation that are then woven into a story in humanity that may have taken place at that period of time. He begins with the family of Ur living in a cave and a story on how a wife urges her husband to farm as it brings about a more stable life style with a higher degree of predictability in feeding their own. In their trial and error attempts at farming, using primitive scientific method, she draws errant conclusion that lead to rituals. As the chapters progress, moving time forward in quantum leaps chapter by chapter, Michener maintains the lineage of the family Ur and their desire to simply figure out the laws of the universe or in other words reality. The rituals turn in to religions and the mystery of faith, which eventually gains a name Yahweh, or God. With that name, man humanized god, which caused them to drift away from God or in other words reality, and render themselves dependent on interpreters of the mysteries of faith, or in other words not yet explained phenomena of our universe, God.

Before the Jews got the ultimate Roman boot from what was finally called Palestine, many laws were written to interpret Moses' original Torah. Jewish priests congregated and spent days ad nausium codifying day to day life with every attempt to build a fence around their faith in God. Circumcisions, cleanliness, health, marriage, and diet were some of the areas discussed in this book. Many of the laws would not pass the test of today's American justice system. What you learned was that the Jews take a degree of pleasure making life hard on themselves. They did this because of their feeling that strict obedience would be required to maintain a connection with God as opposed to the land, This inspired inappropriate rituals at times. Michener leaves the impression that Jews prompted their own exodus and built laws in anticipation of creating the mortar to hold them together as a people as they were cast to the wind.

In the course of the discovery of how things work Michener draws a parallel theme of the conquests of what we now know as Israel by the Egyptians, Babylonians, Romans, Muslims, Crusaders, Mamelukes, Turks, and the English. Yes believe it or not, the Jews fought against the Arabs and their English allies in 1948. I learn once again where our current Middle East problems lay at the hands of the colonists of the 19th century

Please view the complete review at my blog site: [...]

A friend recommended The Source to me when I mentioned how much I loved Leon Uris's Exodus. While Exodus gave me a whole new appreciation for the Nation of Israel, The Source looked at the land in a much greater scale. There were always Jews present in the Holy Land, but Michener looks at all of the people who occupied the area, specifically Makor, where an archeological dig uncovers evidence from thousands of years of history. From the first cave dweller to the days of Roman occupation to the Crusades to the Arab-Israeli conflict, Michener explores the lives of Jews, Christians and Muslims during various periods of history. As it followed a particular family line from the original Caveman to the Arab fighting for Israel's independence, the narrative returns back to the dig where the archeologist are trying to gain understanding of the times and the people they are revealing. But with so many narratives spanning 1,100 pages, I often lost track of earlier stories and forgot about connections that were made through the centuries. This being my first experience with Michener, I will remember to take notes when I next embark on one of his massive tomes. Overall, though, I enjoyed the Source and it enhanced my appreciation if the Holy Land and struggles it has endured throughout the ages.

An excellent, rich book. But I gave up after 889 pages, thinking every other chapter would end in a massacre, just as the rest of the book seemed to. But it was terrific storytelling.

I am a lover of historical fiction and this book is one of my favorites. I highly recommend it for anyone familiar with some of the history but even more so for those looking to learn more about the evolution of religion.

Michener, in his usual style, created a masterpiece of well-researched historical fiction in this novel. The book begins in the 1960's (the present at the time the book was written) on an archeological site. As the scientists dig through time from top to bottom, Michener starts from the beginning, the bottom layer of the site. The location of the dig, a site in the then newly-founded Israel, makes the stories of the city which once stood there hugely important to the history of the world. The interesting thing about this book is that the stories are still important today. Take one quote from the book..."...they had been promised certain heaven if they killed an infidel." Sounds familiar, right? But this quote is in a different context than you might think. It was the Thirteenth Century then, the ones promised heaven were Christian Crusaders, and the infedels were Muslims. The cyclical events of the area around the archeological cite, where the three major religions of the world were birthed, are told in great detail in this book. The inability of people to learn from history also is told. "When men ignite in their hearts a religious fury, they inflict at the same time a blindness upon their eyes," says the Muslim character in the book. One of the Jewish characters says,"...all of us, Catholics, Arabs, Jews, have got to work out some sensible pattern of life for the world..." This forty year old book has several insights to offer the modern reader. First, it shows us the world as it was when man differentiated himself from the animals. Then, it shows us as it was when man decided to serve one God. Finally, it shows us how it is now that we serve one God in many different ways. You must read this book if you have interest in the history of Israel and the Jewish people (which you should if you live in America). After all, as Michener described one of his characters, "...this reasonably intelligent professor was aware that those who worked in Israel lived under the hammers of history, under the constant threat of annigilation, but he seemed not to be aware of the parallel fact that he in New York and his brother in Washington lived under precisely the same threat." Hopefully, this time, we learn the lessons.

I know there are probably a lot of people that would gag on the sugary sweetness of this book, but as a book for little girls it is absolutely enchanting. Even as an adult I still adore its sweet little heroine and her bravery and goodness.

The story is about Sara, a pampered little girl who travels to New York to attend school whilst her father does his work. She begins as the gem of the school, the administration falling over her, or more precisely Daddy's money. Then tragedy strikes, and Sara is left as poor orphan shuffled to the attic with the rats and the servants.

Good think she has such spunk to get through this hard time!

Don't worry, it's not entirely eye-rolling. Sara truly develops as a precocious character. While she was never villainous, we see her become kinder and more aware of the misfortune in the world around her despite her own problems.

It's an enchanting, dramatic story full of rich character and Burnett's signature gorgeous writing.

This book is about a rightly raised little girl and how she turns out - nearly PERFECT. This goes to show parents to BE NICE TO THEIR dependant and helpless little kids - brats are raised by @sshole parents, NOT by kind and loving parents, as Sarah's dad had been. It is about a very serious battle of the Self. Sarah says to every one "me and you are the same. it just so happens that I was born rich and you born poor." It doesn't make us WHO we are." which is true, but then her self-doubt manifests "who knows? maybe I am kind and generous because I have everything I could ever want. I give someone 100 pence and I don't lose anything because I have many many more. maybe if I was poor or had to work I'd be cruel and just a total Miss Michnkin or something." Note: these quotes are not exact from the book.

at this, "the Magic" steps in so that she DOES become poor and wretched, and thus proves to herself that she is who she is BECAUSE SHE IS, NOT because of being rich and doesn't work. Being poor and wretched gives the child the opportunity to manifest her inate kindness in unprecedented ways, like giving other people food when SHE herself had been so cold, wet and very hungry. See, she could not have proven this to herself had she stayed rich, and she apparantly needed to. All in all, a beautiful story of truimph of good over evil, abundance over poverty, exuberance over stale bread, and self security over self doubt (which she didn't have before). A truimph of the SELF shown where it always begins in life - in childhood. We are used to seeing this type of stuff in adults but adults do NOT have the same battles as children do. For one, adults are not helpless, dependant, and our battles are not as serious life-and-death. so, whatever empathy we have for other adults, should be increased a thousand times for children, like this soldier this little girl. yeay!

Having been already exposed to both film versions of the book, I was finally curious enough to engage myself in this classic and this time with my seven year old daughter.

Needless to say this is a fairly direct departure from the films. Sara Crewe and her world is not the sappy musical world of Shirley Temple nor the melodrama of the more recent version. This is an exploration of character. Sara Crewe is struggling with her identity and the toolkit she had built up to cope with life and discovers that poverty and cruelty cannot repair a hungry stomach or a lonely heart. Readers may be surprised by the ending which is far less melodramatic than the film and frankly much better. This book is a more gentle Oliver Twist. It is a reminder to us all that we cannot hide from the torments of the world around us. Instead we must face the trials of society if we are to make them better.
At the end of the story, Sara learns the true meaning of being a Princess and the ending is as poignant as anything I have read for it is real drama based on real situations.

Just as a caution please be aware the language is a bit dated. The term 'queer' is used to describe strange long before other meanings were added on. The term 'oriental' and 'yellow man' were used as well but this is just a reflection of the time, not overt racism.

Good to see that readers are still enjoying this marvelous 1905 book which makes it a century old. Reminiscent of Dickens, but mercifully shorter, the prose flows in beautiful rhythms keeping young readers and readers like myself who are young at heart poised to keep on reading to find out what becomes of our tough little heroine.

Sara had a charmed life as an only and beloved child which fortified her through later immense difficulties as she fell from riches to rags. Her ability to tell stories and to help others saved her from the appalling treatment she received from the aptly named Miss Minchin. The author's own life (1849-1924) as a child parallels that of her heroine.

Young readers will find Sara a loving spirit to emulate. We are truly THERE with her on every page. When she eats her hot cross buns and tea we long for the same. Although drawn out at the end, the book ends at a surprising and perfect place.

My son and daughter were both enchanted by this story as I read it to them a few weeks ago. We all fell in love with Sara and her very active imagination. She inspired us to do good, as she did.

I thought it provided an excellent opportunity for us to discuss how important it is to treat others with respect, even when you think you will gain nothing from it. Sara seemed to be nothing more than a lowly pauper, but the man who chose to provide some beautif